THECRUISE shipEdinburgh Castle has been put up for sale after its owner, Castle Cruising, went into receivership with debts of ú11m.
Castle, which was put into the hands of the receiver by its main creditor, the Royal Bank of Scotland, is seeking a refinancing deal that will allow it to keep the vessel.
However, Premier Cruises has expressed interest in buying the ship, which has a capacity of 1,010, and repositioning it at Port Canaveral or Houston. Edinburgh Castle had been chartered to Direct Cruises, which intended to operate ex-UK cruises to the Mediterranean and the Canary Islands between March 31 and October 31 this year.
Direct’s cruise operations manager Peter Kearns said: “Our sales have been so-so. The market as a whole isn’t doing that well in terms of ex-UK cruising, and we are in line with the market.”
He said 90% of customers booked on Edinburgh Castle had agreed to transfer their cruise to Direct’s other vessel, Apollo.
Apollo’s first two cruises of the summer season, scheduled for April 3 and 10, have already been cancelled due to lack of demand and the need to make last minute adjustments to the ship.
Receiver PriceWaterhouseCooper said several companies were interested in buying the vessel, but no sale had been agreed.