Deutschland, the sole remaining vessel of the failed Peter Dreilmann Kreuzfahrten company in Germany, has been sold to an undisclosed US buyer, who intends to return the vessel to service and to retain its name, the administrator of MS „Deutschland“ Beteiligungsgesellschaft, the failed company that owned the ship, said in a statement.
The buyer has paid an instalment of the purchase price, which has not been disclosed, and would settle the rest by the end of May, said Reinhold Schmid-Sperber, lawyer at Reimers Rechtsanwalte, the German law firm that has acted as administrator of the previous owner of the ship.
The buyer has experience in the international cruise industry and it intends to return the ship to service under its present name and to retain most of the crew that has been employed on the vessel.
Deilmann, which had operated the ship on charter from its owner, ran into financial difficulties last year and subsequently collapsed. German media reports say the vessel has liens and liabilities that amount to €60 million and it is not known whether the sale price of the 1998 built, 22,496 gross ton ship would cover these.
Deutschland is the only major deep sea passenger vessel that flies the German flag. Deilmann attempted to switch the ship under the Maltese flag before its collapse to reduce costs. It is not known whether the ship would retain the German flag under the new ownership.
