Cruise & Maritime Voyages (CMV) has revealed it will be adding the two cruiseships just sold Carnival subsidiary P&O Cruises Australia to its fleet.
An announcement from the company has not only confirmed recent market suggestions that the company was behind the purchase of P&O Australia’s 55,800-gt Pacific Aria (built 1994), it is also the buyer of the 70,300-gt Pacific Dawn (built 1991) .
Details on the price paid and how the deal was structured were not revealed. Past purchases have seen vessels acquired by individual shipowning entities affiliated with its Greek parent company Global Maritime Group and then chartered to CMV.
The Pacific Jewel will be handed over to CMV in Singapore in March 2021, with the Pacific Aria to follow in May. Early indications from the company that the Pacific Jewel will be operated by CMV in the UK market while the Pacific Aria will join the fleet of German subsidiary Transocean Cruises.
Transocean currently operates the Pacific Aria’s 55,500-gt sistership Vasco Da Gama (built 1993, ex Pacific Eden) and the 20,700-gt Astor (built 1987). Prior to the new ship being added to the fleet, the Astor will be transferred across to a newly-formed French subsidiary that would operate it under the name Jules Verne.
The company has not stated whether the Pacific Jewel will replace any of the older, smaller ships currently operated in the UK market by CMV. Two of these, the 22,100-gt Marco Polo (built 1965) and the 16,200-gt Astoria (built 1948) are the oldest ocean-going cruiseships in commercial service, but remain extremely popular with CMV’s clientele. The Astoria is chartered from Portuguese interests.
If CMV keeps its older ships, it will operate a seven-strong fleet of small to medium size cruiseships in 2021, with a total fleet capacity of 9,000-berths based on two passengers per cabin. This would represent a 30% increase over its current capacity.
P&O Australia is replacing the Pacific Jewel and Pacific Aria with the 109,000-gt cruiseships Golden Princess (built 2001) and Star Princess (built 2002), which will be transferred across from Princess Cruises, another Carnival subsidiary.
