Delos Shipping has confirmed that it has purchased its first cruiseship.

The US investment firm bought the 22,800-gt World Odyssey (built 1998), which leads a double life operating as the Deutschland at different times of the year.

While declining to explain why a cruiseship took its fancy, the company said it was purchased in a long-term sale-and-leaseback structure. The deal closed this year.

The 604-passenger ship comes with stable long-term employment. In the European summer cruise season, it operates as the Deutschland for Germany’s Phoenix Seereisen. For the rest of the year, it is used as a floating university by the US-based Institute for Shipboard Education (ISE).

Dallas-based Delos owns two handysize chemical tankers.

The outfit describes itself as an opportunistic buyer of bulkers, tankers and containerships, with a preference for sale-and-leaseback deals of five to 25 years, as well as distressed assets.

According to German cruise industry sources, Phoenix has extended the charter of the World Odyssey to the end of the 2025 summer cruise season, while ISE announced last week that it had extended its charter until the end of 2027.

Made in Germany

The ship was built at Howaldtswerke Werft in Germany as the flagship of cruise operator Peter Deilmann Reederei.

The ship was used for many years as the backdrop for a popular German television series, Das Traumschiff.

While it had been acquired specifically for the ISE charter, Phoenix was quick to charter the vessel for the summer months. It was a shrewd move that allowed it to attract many of the ship’s loyal clientele who had been left ship-less after Deilmann went bust at the end of 2014.

Cruise brokers say that Absolute Nevada began marketing the World Odyssey for sale last year. The company also owns the 2,300-gt Americana (built 1988), a US-built coastal cruiseship that has been laid up for some time.

Delos told TradeWinds it is considering buying more cruiseships because it “likes the space”, but any deal would have to have a solid structure and an established operator with good credit.Delos told TradeWinds that it is considering buying more cruiseships because it "likes the space", but any deal would have to have a solid structure and an established operator with good credit.