The two top executives of ailing Asian cruise operator Genting Hong Kong have quit.
The resignation of Lim Kok Thay, the company's chairman, chief executive officer and executive director, and Colin Au its deputy chief executive officer, group president and executive director, was announced on Monday.
Their departures come as Genting revealed suspensions for its Asian cruise brands.
In a statement to the Hong Kong Exchange, Genting said Lim and Au's resignations were made in consideration of joint provisional liquidators being appointed by a Bermuda court on 20 January.
Both have a long history with Genting Hong Kong stretching back to when the company was first founded as Star Cruises in 1993.
Lim, who holds a 76% stake in Genting Hong Kong, is the son of Genting Group founder Lim Goh Tong, whose rags-to-riches tale of a Chinese emigrant who built up an multibillion-dollar business empire is the stuff of legend in Asia.
Both Lim and Au were tasked with launching Star Cruises, which was widely credited with launching modern-style mainstream cruising in Asia.
Star Cruise rapidly expanded, and in early 2000 bought Norwegian Cruise Line (NCL) in a move that propelled it into the third place among the world's largest cruise companies.
It was around that time that Star Cruises was demerged from the Genting Group and listed on the Hong Kong exchange as Genting Hong Kong.
NCL was later listed in New York, after which Genting gradually exited ownership of the company by gradually selling off its stake.
Au departed the cruise company and returned to the main Genting Group to look after its US gaming interests shortly after the NCL takeover.
He made a surprise return in 2013 to spearhead the acquisitions of Crystal Cruises and three German shipyards. Dream Cruises, a new mainstream Asian brand, was launched at the same time with two newbuildings from Meyer-Werft that had originally been ordered for Star.
The German yards were quickly tasked with building a raft of newbuildings for all three cruise lines, which were grouped together under the banner of Genting Cruise Lines.
Au told TradeWinds in 2017 that he had returned to the company to oversee its expansion before it lost its position as the market leader in Asia.
Industry analysts say Lim and Au's long-term bet on the industry was scuppered by the pandemic, which left the company in a precarious financial state when revenue dried up at the same time the company had taken on a very high amount of debt to pay for its rapid expansion.
Suspensions and diversions
Dream Cruises and Star Cruises, Genting's two Asian brands, have announced suspensions that could put their future survival in doubt.
Dream Cruises, in a statement released on Sunday to which TradeWinds was referred on Monday, said it was suspending future bookings for an initial period of two weeks from Friday, 21 January until Friday, 4 February.
The company did not indicate whether cruises on its only operational cruise ship, the 150,700-gt World Dream (built 2017), would cease during this period. The ship departed Singapore on a three-night high seas cruise on Sunday evening.
Star Cruises, which only recently returned its 40,000-gt Star Pisces (built 1990) to service on short domestic cruises out of the Malaysian port of Penang, will suspend cruise operations on Tuesday.
The company said all customers with bookings for future cruises will be issued with refunds.
US-based luxury cruise operator Crystal announced on 19 January that it would suspend cruise operations after its three cruise ships completed the voyages they were undertaking at the time.
On Monday, Crystal's 20,500-gt Crystal Endeavor (built 2021) was sailing in Antarctic waters, although it will be laid up in the Argentinian port of Ushuaia at the completion of the cruise.
The 51,000-gt Crystal Symphony (built 1995) diverted to a cruise pier at a Genting-owned resort on the Bahamian island of Bimini last Friday after a judge in Miami issued an arrest warrant for the ship on behalf of fuel supplier Peninsula Petroleum.
The final ship in the Crystal fleet, the 68,900-gt Crystal Serenity (built 2003) is due to lay up in Aruba at the conclusion of its current cruise.
