P&O Cruises UK has confirmed the sale of a 20-year-old cruiseship and said it intends to compensate passengers who had booked holidays on the vessel.

The UK-based brand of Carnival Corp said the 2,272-berth Oceana (built 2000) will leave its fleet this month. TradeWinds reported on Monday that the ship had been sold.

Paul Ludlow, president of P&O Cruises UK, said the company was "sorry to disappoint" guests who had reservations, but said that the divestment was necessary for the Southampton-based cruiseship operator.

“During this pause in our operations we need to fit the fleet for the future and ensure we have the right mix of ships once we resume sailing," Ludlow said in a statement on Tuesday.

“Whilst we and many of our guests will miss Oceana, her departure will allow us to focus on our remaining ships in the fleet, as capacity expands with the delivery of Iona later this year followed by her sister ship, scheduled for 2022."

The 184,700-gt Iona has been built at the Meyer Werft shipyard in Germany, but delivery has been delayed by the coronavirus pandemic.

P&O is offering a 125% credit on a future cruise credit or a refund to all guests who have booked a holiday on Oceana.

Mystery buyer

TradeWinds understands the vessel has been sold for further trading to Greek buyers and is currently taking on bunkers in Southampton, England, before its delivery to Greece.

"The information we have, (not yet confirmed), is that a Greek shipowner is negotiating to buy Oceana for Chinese interests," Michael Lambros, principal for Greek cruiseship owner Majestic International Cruises, told TradeWinds.

"Rumours in the market give selling price close to scrap value."

There are two main Greek players in the cruise market, but both have told TradeWinds that they are not the buyer of the Oceana.

Celestyal Cruises, which operates Greek island cruises, has confirmed they have not bought the Oceana or any other ship.

Global Cruise Lines, the Greek parent company of UK-based Cruises & Maritime Voyages (CMV), has also denied purchasing the vessel and said it is unaware of who has bought the ship.

A week ago, it was announced that Carnival's subsidiary Costa Cruises had sold the 75,200-gt Costa Victoria (built 1996) for demolition in Italy.

Francesco Ferrari, mayor of Piombino, Italy, said the cruiseship had been sold to the San Giorgio del Porto Shipyard for scrapping at its Piombino Industrie Marittime facility.

This announcement came two weeks after Carnival chief executive Arnold Donald said his company plans to retire six ships within the next three months.