The cruise ship World Dream, one of the prime assets of failed Asian cruise operator Genting Hong Kong, has been placed on the auction block nine month after it was arrested by KfW IPEX-Bank.
The High Court of Singapore has ordered that the 150,700-gt World Dream (built 2017) be sold through sealed tender auction. Bids are due in at the Sheriff of Singapore’s office on 21 December.
Cruise industry sources say the auction will serve as a true test of the value of large, modern cruise ships as almost no ships of its size and age have so far been involved in a sales and purchase deal, let alone an auction sale.
VesselsValue estimates the scrubber-fitted World Dream to be worth in the region of $654m, although brokers who work the cruise sector say it is difficult to gage whether this is an accurate figure as there are no reference transactions involving a cruise ship of this size.
The closest comparison would be the sale of its identical sister ship, the 150,700-gt Genting Dream (built 2016), which Genting sold to a consortium of Chinese banks for $700m in a sale and lease back deal back in January 2020.
Industry observers believe the World Dream is likely to attract a small number of serious bidders given its probable value and the unlikelihood of either the Court or KfW IPEX-Bank being willing to let the ship go at a fire-sale price.
TradeWinds was told by several sources that likely candidates would include established cruise majors eager to acquire a relatively new, high-quality ship to replace older, existing tonnage. The ship could also potentially attract the attention of private equity interests willing to bet on the continuing recovery of the cruise sector.
There is also a very strong possibility that Singapore-based Resorts World Cruises (RWC), the new cruise line established by former Genting majority shareholder Lim Kok Thay will be actively coveting the ship.
RWC launched in May by chartering the Genting Dream from its Chinese lessors.
Court-appointed surveyors who recently conducted a detailed inspection of the World Dream found the ship to be in very good condition despite a prolonged period in lay-up at an anchorage off Singapore.
According to their report, which is posted on the Sheriff of Singapore’s website, the ship has been looked after by a 127-strong crew that has maintained the ship in a “ready condition for deployment”.
Maintenance and housekeeping activities have been ongoing, with the ship’s air-conditioning system kept running to ensure proper ventilation and to keep a low-humidity environment the common interior spaces and passenger cabins.
The sale of the World Dream will leave only one unsold Genting cruise ship, the 75,300-gt Explorer Dream (built 1999), which is currently laid up off Port Klang in Malaysia.
All the company’s other ships have been sold or scrapped, including the incomplete 208,000-gt newbuilding Global Dream, which in early November was sold to Disney Cruise Line for an undisclosed sum.
