Crystal Cruises shutting down this week: reports

New reports are suggesting that Crystal Cruises’ operations will end this week.

In addition, the company, which has faced recent financial and legal challenges, is letting go nearly all of its employees as creditors, which will no longer fund liquidation, take possession of Crystal’s ships, according to sources that spoke to Seatrade Cruise News.

On Feb. 9, an audio recording posted to Twitter – by a man claiming to be captain of the Crystal Symphony, which was recently arrested in the Bahamas over an unpaid fuel bill – said Crystal’s office in the U.S. “is closing down.”

"Unfortunately, this is the end of Crystal Cruises, and we don't know what's going to happen in the future," the voice said, adding the "the ships are for sale…I know you probably have a lot of questions, but I unfortunately don't have any answers right now."

READ MORE: Crystal Serenity, Symphony seized by feds in Bahamas

Reports suggest that V.Ships Leisure, appointed by the line's liquidators, will assume management of Crystal's ships.

As reported earlier this week, both Crystal Symphony and Crystal Serenity were seized by U.S. marshals and taken into custody this past weekend.

The arrest warrant, signed by a federal judge in Miami, stems from a lawsuit filed by Peninsula Petroleum Far East, which claims Genting Hong Kong (parent company for Crystal Cruises and Star Cruises Limited) owes $3.4 million in unpaid fuel costs ($1.2 million of which is linked to Symphony).

READ MORE: Crystal Symphony diverts to Bahamas with 700 aboard to avoid arrest warrant

A third Crystal ship, Crystal Endeavor, also faced arrest upon completing its final itinerary on Friday (Feb. 4) in Ushuaia, Argentina. 

However, a report later confirmed that Endeavor resolved this issue in Ushuaia and was allowed to sail onwards to Montevideo, Uruguay.

Crystal's Jack Anderson, interim president and CEO, has yet to comment on the company’s imminent closure.

However, Anderson did, last month, announce that Crystal would be suspending all future ocean sailings through April 2022, as well as river cruises through May, after parent company Genting Hong Kong filed to wind up its assets after running out of cash.

“Like you, we are devastated by this action, but it is the most prudent decision in this current business environment,” Anderson wrote in a letter to partners at the time.

A Bermuda court appointed liquidators to oversee Genting’s assets, which include Crystal Cruises and Asia-based Dream Cruises.

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