Either a) ISP is going broke (I doubt it), b) ISP does not really own REGAL EMPRESS (doubt that too), or c) there is some other reason that they let her get arrested etc.

I wonder what that reason is?

PS: For those who do not know... REGAL EMPRESS, under the name SCANDINAVIAN STAR, was the ship that made ISP so infamous in the first place, especially in Scandinavia where they are a lot more infamous than they are here, due to publicity by the media there etc. (that was STAR's field of operation at the time of her... er... incident).

More later when I dig up a quote explaining...

[ 05-07-2003: Message edited by: cruiseny ]

She was saved and renamed Candi and then rebuilt and I believe was renamed again Regal Voyager or something like that. I'm relying on memory so some of the details may be wrong but that's the gist of it.

Regal Empress was started.. and privately owned by key executives from Liberty Travel and GoGo Tours. Who knows who owned what shares at the time of arrest.

However, even without seeing cash flow statements.....and the rest of the financials... it was easier to let her go to the block........and cheaper in the long run.

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Originally posted by ocngypz:
Oh for crying out loud... get off ISP's back. They were Regal's management company.

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And her registered owner, according to a contact who has access to Lloyd's confidential list of owners...

Not to mention that even her publicly stated owners (Regal Cruises) just happen to have the same address as ISP... And that Fred Kassner (owner of Liberty Travel) was formerly an executive of ISP and was a partner in many of their ships (including, apparently, the ill-fated SCANDINAVIAN STAR).

It has been established that there is more to ISP than meets the eye...

[ 05-10-2003: Message edited by: cruiseny ]

International Shipping Partners was a ship owning and management company based out of Miami, led by Niels-Erik Lund, formerly an executive at Denmark's highly respected DFDS.

In the late 1970s, DFDS was putting together a new operation, called Scandinavian World Cruises, to operate a passenger/car ferry service between New York and Florida. The problem, of course, was that such a service would violate the Passenger Services Act of 1886, better known as the "Jones Act", which forbids foreign vessels from operating in between US ports. Scandinavian World Cruises, led by Bruce Nierenberg, a former NCL executive (and later founder of Premier Cruises), was convinced that they could change this, but instaed found US lawmakers far more resistant than expected to change. The "solution" was to purchase and refit two smaller vessels, and to operate the new ship (SCANDINAVIA) from New York to Freeport, Bahamas, with passengers and cars then transferring to one of the other ships to Florida. The venture foundered, the SCANDINAVIA was pulled from the route, and the other ships remained, their primary function now being day-long gambling cruises from various Florida ports to Freeport. DFDS appointed Niels-Erik Lund as President of Scandinavian World Cruises in 1982 as this transition was taking place. Scandinavian World Cruises became SeaEscape, and was sold in the mid-1980s by DFDS, Lund going along with it. Lund and the investors of SeaEscape founded International Shipping Partners in 1987, and proceeded to invest in various passenger shipping businesses worldwide, as well as peddling their services as ship managers (to Premier, for instance).

ISP became notorious in connection with the 1990 fire aboard the SCANDINAVIAN STAR. The SCANDINAVIAN STAR had operated between Tampa and Freeport since 1984 for SeaEscape, which during that time left the hands of DFDS and became, essentially, ISP's first venture. The ship had been sold in 1990 to another one of ISP's associated companies, and put in service between Oslo and Fredrikshavn. Less than a month later, an arsonist (perhaps a disgruntled crew member) set fire to a bundle of laundry. The entire inside of the ship burned, and 158 people were killed. Investigation revealed that the ship did not have proper fire protection. While several officers and the owners of the Danish "front company" that supposedly ran the ship were taken to court and held responsible, a private investigation was led by survivors and family members of deceased victims, which led to the conclusion that the ship had never been sold before, but rather that ISP was still responsible. (By this time it was too late to take anyone to court.) In the meantime, the ship was towed to Southampton where she was laid-up under the name CANDI. In 1994, she was sold to ISP (this time under their own name), and was refitted in Italy and renamed REGAL VOYAGER. The ship operated on various routes in several parts of the world, most recently between Puerto Rico and the Dominican Republic. The ship is presently laid-up at Port of Spain, Trinidad, and available for charter. ISP has denied involvement with the ship during the time of the accident, claiming that she was sold by SeaEscape at which point they had nothing more to do with her until buying her at auction in 1994. Because of the inability to re-open the official investigation, it is thought that the entire story of the SCANDINAVIAN STAR disaster has not been unravelled (and will probably not be), however widespread blame has been placed on ISP for allegedly negligently operating the ship, and this has put a black cloud so to speak over all of ISP's ventures since then, and seriously eroded their credibility. Apparently they have become quite notorious in Norway and Demark, Niels-Erik Lund's attitude during a television interview on state-run Danish television has been described as "evasive". A Google search for "International Shipping Partners" came up with this Norwegian site on the topic, unfortunately, it is in Norwegian, so I cannot read it - but it looks quite interesting and demonstrates the interest in Norway and Denmark in ISP and their involvement with what is, of course, one of the worst and most well-known recent maritime disasters, along with ESTONIA and HERALD OF FREE ENTERPRISE (the operators have in all cases come under intense criticism).

Apparently the Danish authorities have re-opened their investigation of this disaster, with new allegations that the fire may have been intentionally set by crew with the knowledge and approval of SeaEscape/ISP management in an insurance fraud scheme. (You may recall that the generally accepted hypothesis was that the fire was set by a disgruntled crew member who later died in the fire he allegedly set.) This strikes me as very odd, seeing as they actually bought the ship back and spent a considerable sum rebuilding her as REGAL VOYAGER... But what HAS apparently been quite well-established is that SeaEscape owned the ship, that SeaEscape was part of ISP, and that they were responsible for the negligent operation of the ship. This is the most I can gather on this very interesting case, as I do not speak a word of Norwegian or Denmark. Perhaps some of our Scandinavian-based members could elaborate (as this is much more well-known in that part of the world)?

[ 05-10-2003: Message edited by: cruiseny ]

Frad Kassner was never an executive with ISP, he was one of the founders and Chairman of Go-Go Tours. He was also the founder of Fantasy Cruises, having chartered the Britanis and later selling the Fantasy brand to Chandris.

Fred Kassner got back into the game with Regal in 1993. I believe the ISP involvement stemmed from an executive at ISP also being a part owner. A few years after the inception, Stu Graff became a partner, I believe buying out the other. When Fred Kassner past away, his daughter Michelle took over his interest in tandem with Graff. For all intents and purposes, Graff has been running the show since 1996 or so. I first me him in 1996 and he is an excellent businessman and lavished a lot of love and money on the ship.

Additionally, it is not that surprising that the address of the Empress's registered owner is the same as ISP. Why is the Oceanic's owner located at the same address of Seahwak Maritime? And why is the registered address of Regatta and Insgnia's owners in Monaco? It's the address of Matinoli, the marine and technical managers of the ships.

Doug, until one has a deeper understanding of the intricate inner workings of the cruise industry, one shouldn't make base assumptions. Perhaps it's wiser to ask questions or for confirmation than make statements.

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Originally posted by SoBe Tim:
Frad Kassner was never an executive with ISP, he was one of the founders and Chairman of Go-Go Tours.

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Mr. Fred Kassner, owner of Go Go Tours and Liberty Travel, part owner of ISP until 1993, and a major investor in many of the ISP-managed vessels, passed away on October 6.

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Additionally, it is not that surprising that the address of the Empress's registered owner is the same as ISP.

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I didn't say it was surprising... Just stated that it was.

Anyhow, I trust the person on another group (you know which I mean) who said that according to Lloyd's, ISP was listed as her registered owner, as I have no information counteracting that.

[ 05-11-2003: Message edited by: cruiseny ]

Fred had a monetary investment in the company, he was not an executive.

Lloyd's is certainly not an authority whome I would question except in this case, it's very well known that Michelle Kassner and Stu Graff were the (majority) owners. I won't say that ISP wasn't heavily invloved, but in this case, they are not the owners.

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Originally posted by gpcruisedude:
Maybe with the demise of Regal, you may see Liberty Travel involved in some other aspect of cruising sometime in the future, as the itineraries and their business plan was highly succesfull! I think it's just the engine thing that took them down, otherwise their product was excellent!

So who knows what's in store?

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