The majority of the Hapag-Lloyd Cruises fleet is returning to the home port of Hamburg by next month after voyages were cancelled due to the coronavirus pandemic.
The German line’s expedition ship Hanseatic Nature is expected to be the first to return on April 20.
Sister vessel Hanseatic Inspiration and the two luxury ships, Europa and Europa 2, are also on their way back to Hamburg and are expected to arrive in the port on May 2.
They will remain there until they can start operating their schedules again, according to the company.
Final ship Bremen will remain off Auckland in New Zealand.
Hanseatic Nature picked up crew from its sister ships in Bridgetown in Barbados to return them to Hamburg.
The last passengers on board the fleet were returned home on March 21.
The line brought 1,000 back early with charter flights organised as scheduled services had been cancelled.
The two expedition vessels will go to the Blohm+Voss shipyard for repair work.
Chief executive Karl Pojer said: “We wanted to give as many crew members as we could the opportunity to return home as soon as possible.
“This posed a logistical challenge due to the suspension of flights and the travel restrictions in place currently.
“Therefore, we took matters into our own hands for the return transport and transformed the journey of our Hanseatic Nature into a ‘crew cruise’.
“So we are bringing our crew back to their families safe and well.”