American Queen Steamboat Co (AQSC) is acquiring Victory Cruise Lines from SunStone Ships.
A deal, which includes the 5,000-gt cruise vessels Victory 1 and Victory 11, is expected to close in January 2019.
The purchase of Victory will allow AQSC to operate cruises beyond US rivers where it operates the 166-passenger boutique paddle wheel vessel American Duchess on the Mississippi and Ohio Rivers.
Its other two US-flag riverboats are the American Queen and American Duchess, with a newbuilding, American Countess, under construction in Louisianna, scheduled for 2020.
Victory as recently as July added the 220-passenger Victory 11 (built 2004), the former Sea Discoverer of Denmark’s Clipper Group.
AQSC says details will be announced in the coming months of how this ship and its identical sister, Victory 1 (built 2001), will be deployed. They are currently being marketed as overnight cruise vessels.
Victory is also reported to be seasonal charterer of one of the Infinity-class expedition cruiseship newbuildings being built for Miami-based SunStone at China Merchants Heavy Industry. To be named Ocean Victory, it will have capacity for 180 passengers.
SunStone says in a statement that Victory’s rapid dominance of the Great Lakes cruise market lay behind AQSC acquiring the company, including the brand name.
Terms of the transaction, however, have not been disclosed.
AQSC chairman and chief executive John Waggoner said purchasing Victory 1 and 11 “will fuel the continued success and growth” of his company.
He added: "These vessels enable us to provide guests with more diverse cruising options, particularly in the Great Lakes, a region our customers have been requesting for years.”
Hans Lagerweij, president and chief executive of Victory, says his company’s Great Lakes bookings are already 35% ahead of actual sales in 2018.
Victory’s chairman is former Premier Cruise Line boss Bruce Nierenberg.
SunStone affiliates Cruise Management International and CMI Leisure are responsible respectively for technical and hotel management of Victory’s ships.
Niel-Erik Lund, SunStone’s president and chief executive, said: "We believe we have found the perfect home for Victory Cruise Lines by selling it to AQSC and we are certain they can make this well-known, respected and accepted product an even better brand for the future.”
