The ongoing revival of the cruise industry is giving Greek ferry and cruise ship owner Marios Iliopoulos an opportunity to finally to cash in on a clutch of cruise ships he acquired at the beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic.
The Sea Jets ferry mogul’s 55,600-gt cruise ship Aegean Myth (built 1993) has been sold to a French start-up company at a price that indicates that values for older, mid-sized cruise ships are finally on a steep upward trajectory after languishing at close to scrap value since Covid-19 brought the cruise industry to an abrupt and extended halt in 2020.
According to well-placed industry sources, the ship has been sold to Marseilles-based CFC–Compagnie Francaise De Croisieres for slightly in excess of $30m, with Piraeus-based Masters Shipping acting as brokers.
Dennis Vernardakis, who heads the brokerage, confirmed to TradeWinds that he was involved in the transaction, but declined to comment on any of the details due to confidentiality reasons.
Iliopoulos was reported to have paid only $10m for the ship when it was acquired from the Carnival Corp subsidiary in July 2020. At the time the ship was worth only $8.5m as scrap, according to VesselsValue data.
CFC’s corporate registry documents list Clement Mousset as its president and Cedric Rivoire-Perrochat as its chief executive officer.
The pair are respected veterans of the French cruise industry. In November 2019 the pair launched, Croisieres Maritimes et Voyages in partnership with UK-based cruise operator Cruises & Maritime Voyages (CMV).
The French version of CMV was set to launch in 2021, but the project stalled after CMV UK became a casualty of the pandemic. The ship that CMV France would have operated, the 20,800-gt Astor (built 1987), was to have been renamed Jules Verne, but ended up being auctioned off for scrap.
TradeWinds was unable to contact CFC and its two senior executives for comment on their plans for the Aegean Myth. Industry sources said they believe the company will use the ship to launch a contemporary cruise product tailored to the French-speaking market, similar to what they had planned for CMV France.
Iliopoulos was a prolific buyer of cruise ships when nobody else wanted them back in the early part of the pandemic.
He acquired two of CMV’s elderly cruise ships at auction and promptly resold them for recycling at a profit.
Five more modern cruise ships were acquired at bargain prices from Carnival Corp and Royal Caribbean Group. These ships, deemed more likely to find a trading buyer, have been kept in lay-up in Greece under the care of Piraeus-based Optimum Shipmanagement.
