Worldport Corp of Hong Kong has lost its battle to prevent the auction of its only cruiseship, which is set to go under the hammer in Malaysia on 8 October.

The Admiralty Division of the High Court of Malaya Kuala Lumpur has ordered the 18,500-gt Oriental Dragon (built 1972) be sold via a sealed tender process.

Known in its heyday as the Sun Viking, it was one of a trio of cruiseships that launched Royal Caribbean. But brokers say it is unlikely to attract a trading buyer given its age and will likely join a growing list of older cruiseships heading for the scrapheap due to Covid-19.

Prior to the pandemic, the Oriental Dragon had been chartered to a Malaysian company for use as a casino cruiseship out of Penang.

The charterer was responsible for covering all operating expenses and crew wages, but when it went out of business after the cruise shutdown, Worldport was left with the responsibility of settling a pile of unpaid debts and crew wages.

An unpaid multinational crew arrested the Oriental Dragon in February, claiming they had been left abandoned on board for nearly a year.

Deprived of charter hire for several months, the shipowner had no cash to settle these debts in order to regain control of the ship.

Following the arrest, the High Court ordered the immediate repatriation of the 243 seafarers from China, Myanmar and Ukraine, which was successfully undertaken by specialist marine insurance intermediary Seacurus, which is managed by Thomas Miller Claims Management.

Legal sources familiar with the case said Worldport tried to fight off attempts to have the ship auctioned. It argued it was securing additional investors who would provide the funds that would allow it to pay off all claims against the ship.

However, Worldport was unable to line up any white knight before an order of sale was issued on 13 August.

Interested buyers have been requested to contact either the Sheriff of the High Court or the law firm of Shearn Delamore & Co in Kuala Lumpur.