Ambiente Kreuzfahrten, the German tour operator, has commenced operations on 12 March as the chartered vessel Azores sailed from Lisbon, a day late due to technical problems.

The 550 passenger vessel is on charter from Portuscale Cruises, the Lisbon based company that took over most of the assets of Classic International Cruises, the Portuguese company that failed in 2012.

Ambient is based in Berlin and Azores is scheduled to operate cruises in the Mediterranean, Black Sea, Baltic Sea and in the Norwegian and Greenland waters for the German company.

Azores was built in Sweden in 1948 as Stockholm. However, it was completely rebuilt in Italy in 1994, when it re-entered service under the name Italia Prima.