Cruise ships, Crystal Symphony and Crystal Serenity were seized in the Bahamas following a US warrant for $4.6 million worth of unpaid fuel bills.
The Crystal Cruise ships were diverted to the Bahamas, in an attempt to evade arrest on charges filed against it by fuel supplier, Peninsula Petroleum Far East.
Peninsula Petroleum filed the complaints in Florida last month, following Genting Hong Kong’s legal attempts to wind up Crystal Cruises, because “it will imminently be unable to pay its debts as they fall due.”
Despite being on expeditions that were expected to end on US soil, Crystal Symphony and Crystal Serenity intentionally avoided US ports. The Crystal Symphony which was supposed to return to Miami on January 22nd, to mark the end of a 14-day Caribbean cruise, was forced to dock and discharge 300 passengers who were then ferried to Florida on the 23rd of January.
Genting Hong Kong, the parent company of Crystal Cruises, is part of a bigger conglomerate that includes Genting Malaysia and Genting Singapore.
The head of the company is Malaysian tycoon, Lim Kok Thay.
