the Greek owners of Delphin Kreuzfahrten's "Delphin Voyager" (the former "Orient Venus") have decided to pull the ship from service. It arrived at Piraeus this afternoon where passengers are being disembarked.

Delphin Kreuzfahrten claims that the reconstruction of the vessel was not done as specified in the charter contract and that the owners have failed to correct these shortcomings. As a result, Delphin has cut the charter rate, which led to "Delphin", a company owned by the Delphin Group, being arrested at Villefranche last month on behalf of "Delphin Voyager's" owners.

With "Delphin Voyager" taken from them by the owners, Delphin has announced that Delphin Kreuzfahrten GmbH, Delphin Cruises GmbH and Conpart Hotelmanagement & Catering-Service GmbH filed for insolvency this afternoon.

One has to assume that sister company Hansa Kreuzfahrten, which is a Delphin Cruises GmbH brand, is also affected as it is no longer an independent company within the group.

It remains to be seen whether the insolvency administrator plans to continue operations of the Hansa Kreuzfahrten brand.

Best,

Raoul

[ 10-12-2010: Message edited by: r.fiebig ]

It's interesting that the ship has been berthed on the breakwater pier well away from the two cruise terminals.

I understand DELPHIN is also scheduled to arrive in Piraeus tomorrow.

Cheers

incoming reports suggest that "Delphin", which was scheduled to call at Piraeus today (and never showed up) has been diverted to Split, Croatia, instead.

Best,

quote:

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Originally posted by haco:
Hello readers,
I don't understand the whole story....Who can explain the real situation!
Thanks in advance,
Haco

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I agree with Haco and am totally confused! What is going on and have there been any further developments? Raoul - help!!

reports suggest that "Delphin" has been detained in Venice on behalf of Enterprises Shipping & Trading S.A., while "Delphin Voyager" has been detained in Perama, probably on behalf of Delphin Kreuzfahrten GmbH / Mr. Hey. So it appears that each of the opponents has had the other's ship detained.

With Germany's strict insolvency law, a company must file for insolvency very quickly, as delayed filing of insolvency is considered a criminal offence.

I am not aware of the concrete reason(s) for filing for insolvency, but it appears that with "Delphin Voyager" taken from them and in context of the Greeks' financial claims, Delphin kreuzfahrten had no other choice but filing for insolvency. It also appears that it was obvious for Mr. Hey that the Greeks would have "Delphin" detained as soon as possible following the removal of "Delphin Voyager" from Delphin Kreuzfahrten so Delphin Cruises GmbH, a sister company which ownes and operates the Hansa Kreuzfahrten brand, filed for insolvency, as well. And Conpart obviously filed for insolvency with both ships served by the company being removed from service.

"Delphin Voyager's" cruises has been cancelled until further notice (and anything but a cancellation of all upcoming cruises would be a surprise) while "Delphin's" cruises until mid-December have been cancelled, as well. Hansa Kreuzfahrten and the administrator hope to resume service December 17th, 2010.

Also, Hansa Touristik (not to be confused with Hansa Kreuzfahrten, there is no connection!), which is the German GSA for Classic International Cruises, has announced that all upcming "Princess Daphne" cruises announced by Hansa Kreuzfahrten will operate as planned. Hansa Kreuzfahrten has not yet announced whether bookings for those cruises will be honored. If not, Hansa Touristik will take over these bookings. Clients will have to make another deposit for their booking, however, as the original one is part of Delphin Cruises GmbH's / Hansa Kreuzfahrten's "insolvency mass" and therefore inaccessible. Since all German travel operators must have an insurance which protects clients's payments in the event of an insolvency, clients can file a claim with the insurance company to have the original deposit refunded.

Best,