A cruise ship has been held in port in Madeira with 460 passengers stranded on board due to claims against the vessel’s owners.
The Van Gogh ship was last night in the port of Funchal, the penultimate port of call on a round-the-world cruise. Cruise ship owners Club Cruise had organised for the cruise to go ahead despite the collapse of holiday company Travelscope, which had originally chartered the ship.
Passengers were said to be preparing a petition to be sent to ABTA to request immediate repatriation to the UK.
Van Gogh Cruise Line said it was informed late yesterday that Travelscope’s joint administrators Menzies Corporate Restructuring had obtained an order detaining the vessel in respect of “alleged claims against the owners of the vessel in relation to previous charter agreements with Travelscope”. The dispute is understood to involve a £2 million debt by owners Club Cruise.
Lawyers for the cruiseline’s owners Club Cruise were last night liasing with the authorities to allow the dispute to be handled after the ship’s return to Falmouth.