Helsinki Shipyard has launched a tender for the sale of an
expedition cruise ship the yard is building for Swan Hellenic – the third of
its type.
“Cruise ship hull no. 518” is being sold “As Is” and
“Where Is” with no mention of completion of the vessel or a delivery date.
It is the second time this year that the Helsinki
Shipyard has launched a tender to sell the cruise ships being built for Swan
Hellenic, whose problems have arisen from the fact that the three cruise ships
were financed by the new cruise line, working with the Russian leasing company
GTLK.
The contracts called for the vessels to operate under
long-term charters to Swan Hellenic, after delivery to GTLK. Unfortunately for
Swan Hellenic the sanctions imposed against Russian financial institutions in
April 2022 after the invasion of Ukraine prevented GTLK from making payments on
the cruise ships.
That meant that leasing company GTLK Europe was forced to
default on the second cruise ship under construction. In June Helsinki Shipyard
used the tender process as a means to sell the ship, free of any encumberments
from the lease company. Swan Hellenic was the successful bidder and placed the
vessel, named SH Vega, into service. At the same time, the company was working
to purchase its first cruise ship, SH Minerva, which was also caught in the
sanctions.
“Helsinki Shipyard Oy seeks to obtain the best fair
market value for the vessel and reserves the right to reject any and all bids,”
they write in the new tender, which began on November 25th. Bids are due on
December 9th. The winner is due to be announced on December 12th .
Swan Hellenic ordered the third cruise ship in October
2020. It was to be a larger version of the first two vessels that were built by
the Helsinki Shipyard. Swan Hellenic is currently operating its first two
expedition cruise ships in Antarctica.
At a length of 410ft the vessel is longer than the first
two cruise ships, which are 337ft long. The third ship will be able to accommodate
192 guests, compared with a maximum of 152 on the first two vessels. The third
vessel will be about 12,100 gross tons compared to 10,600 gross tons for the
first two vessels.
Due to the economic sanctions imposed on Russian
companies, the shipyard in October was also denied an export license by the
Finnish Ministry of Foreign Affair for an LNG-powered icebreaker order by
Russian metals and mining giant Norilsk Nickel (Nornickel). The Norilsk Nickel
icebreaker, which would have been the largest and most powerful diesel-electric
icebreaker ever built in Finland, was a key part of the shipyard’s future
workflow.
