Virgin Voyages has become the latest cruise line to divert tonnage away from the Red Sea due to the threat posed to commercial shipping.
The Richard Branson-led UK cruise operator’s 110,000-gt Resilient Lady (built 2022) will now sail around the Cape of Good Hope on its 27 March repositioning voyage from Australia to Europe.
“Like many other cruise brands, we have been watching the conflict in the Middle East closely, connecting regularly with global security experts to consider the impacts to the repositioning voyages planned for Resilient Lady in 2024,” the shipowner said in a travel update.
“We remain concerned about potential escalations in this part of the world over the next 12 months and the risk this presents for safe passage through the region.
“As a result, we have been left with no choice but to make changes to Resilient Lady's repositioning voyage taking place on March 27.”
Instead of sailing via the Suez Canal, the ship will now depart from Sydney and sail around the coast of Africa with stops in Mauritius, Durban and Cape Town in South Africa, Namibia, Cape Verde, Tenerife, Casablanca, Barcelona and Malta before arriving in Piraeus, Greece.
“All passengers on these former three legs of the repositioning voyages will have guaranteed spots on these sailings at no additional cost and a price protection commitment in place,” Virgin Voyages said.
If these dates are not convenient, the cruise line said passengers will receive a future voyage credit based on their paid balance or a full refund.
“We know that based on our conversations with passengers and travel partners, they understand the complex geopolitical challenges that have arisen making this change necessary,” the shipowner added.
With the likely continuation of this escalated regional conflict, Virgin Voyages said it was now conducting a “full review of other geographically similar repositioning voyages and linked sailings”.
“We will provide an update before the end of February on any further changes we will need to make,” it added.
Late last month, Carnival Corp confirmed it would be diverting a number of its cruise ships around the Cape of Good Hope due to the deteriorating security situation in the Red Sea.
The company said it would reroute itineraries for 12 ships across seven brands, which were scheduled to transit the Red Sea through to the end of May.
Carnival said the Red Sea rerouting was expected to have an adjusted earnings per share impact of $0.07 to $0.08 for the full year 2024, with the vast majority of the impact in the second quarter.
