The 9,600-gt cruiseship Funchal (built 1961) was sold at an auction held in Lisbon on Wednesday for EUR 3.9m ($4.4m).
The buyer is understood to be linked to an undisclosed British hotel group.
Cruise industry observers who attended the auction yesterday said that purchaser interest at the auction came mainly in the form of representatives from the Turkish shipbreaking industry.
The veteran Funchal last operated for Portuguese cruise operator Portuscale Cruises until Bank Montepio pulled the plug on the operation and seized its ships in early 2015.
Indications are that the cruiseship will be moved to the UK for use as a floating hotel. It will thus become one of a handful of older ships utilized in such a role.
Montepio had financed Portuscale’s acquisition and a substantial refit of the vessel when it took over the assets of bankrupt Classic International Cruises in 2013.
The new cruise venture never got off the ground and the Funchal only operated for a brief period during 2014. Numerous attempts have been made to sell the ship via private treaty since then.
In October Montepio sold Portuscale’s 5,900-gt cruiseship Porto (built 1965) to Turkish shipbreakers.
The bank charters a third vessel, the 16,200-gt cruiseship Astoria (built 1948), to UK-based Cruises & Maritime Voyages (CMV) although it is still listed for sale with brokers.
