Cyprus-based cruise line Swan Hellenic has regained control of an incomplete cruise ship financed by sanctioned Russian company GTLK.
Finnish builder Helsinki Shipyard put the 125-metre SH Diana up for auction last month after the original buyer failed to take delivery.
The yard said it had exercised its right to sell the vessel.
The auction ended on 9 December and after analysing bids, Swan Hellenic was declared the winner, with the price remaining confidential. The company was due to have operated the vessel on a lease from GTLK.
The new owner and the shipyard will now enter into a fresh agreement for the completion of the vessel, which is scheduled to be delivered in March.
This will give it time to start cultural expedition cruises of the Mediterranean from the beginning of April as planned.
Andrea Zito, chief executive of Swan Hellenic, said: “We are happy to have secured SH Diana, a Polar Class PC6 vessel with state-of-the-art ship technology and sustainability that will enter service as planned in April.”
Kim Salmi, Helsinki Shipyard’s CEO, added: “The shipyard is satisfied with multiple inquiries and received bids. We are also happy to announce Swan Hellenic as winner of the tender, as it naturally helps [the] next step, the fast agreement and continuation of works for completion of the vessel according to the plan in March”.
The ship is the third that Cyprus-based Swan Hellenic was building at the yard.
The 12,100-gt, 192-berth SH Diana, assessed as worth $132m by VesselsValue, was ordered in October 2020 at €130m ($135m).
Earlier vessel bought back
It has a maximum speed of 15 knots and has been built to Lloyd’s Register class.
In June, Swan Hellenic managed to acquire outright one of the earlier expedition cruise newbuildings that Helsinki Shipyard put up for auction after Russian lessor GTLK defaulted on payments.
The cruise operator said its bid to acquire the 10,600-gt polar-class SH Vega (built 2022) was accepted by the yard after a sealed tender auction.
