News

Astor owner Premicon Hochseekreuzfahrt files for insolvency

Details: Written by Kari Reinikainen Kari Reinikainen; Category: Top Headlines Top Headlines; Published: 07 November 2014 07 November 2014

Premicon Hochseekreuzfahrt GbmH & Co. KG MS Astor, which owns the 1987 built cruise liner Astor that is operated by the London based Cruise & Maritime Voyages group, has filed for insolvency at the district court of Bremen in Germany, media reports say.

This is the second German owner of a single cruise liner that runs into financial problems in a short period of time. The company that owns Deutschland, which is operated by Peter Deilmann Reederei filed into voluntary administration a few weeks ago.

The owner of the 20,606 gross ton Astor is part of the Munich based Premicon group, which sold Trans Ocean Cruises and that operates Astor in Germany, together with three river cruise vessels and a ship management company, to Cruise & Maritime Voyages earlier this year.

It is expected that Astor will continue to operate normally despite the problems at its owner company, German media reports say.

It should be noted that Cruise & Maritime Voyages is in not connected to the Premicon group and that no concerns have been expressed over the British cruise operator's finances.

Would be Jihadists have started to use cruise ships to reach Iraq, Syria - report

Details: Written by Kari Reinikainen Kari Reinikainen; Category: Top Headlines Top Headlines; Published: 07 November 2014 07 November 2014

Interpol, the international police body said some of those trying to join militant groups in Iraq and Syria had used cruise lines to get to countries including Turkey, the BBC reports. It said checks to passenger lists should be extended from airlines to cruise operators before the issue became more of a problem.

No figures were put on how many militants had travelled in this way. Speaking in Monaco, Interpol's outgoing chief, Ronald Noble, said countries should conduct checks on all passengers using airports "and, more and more, cruise lines."

The Turkish authorities say they have deported hundreds of suspected foreign jihadists in recent months after detaining them at airports and bus stations.

Interpol's director of counterterrorism, Pierre St Hilaire, told AP news agency that this had led prospective fighters to make alternative travel arrangements in an effort to avoid detection.

"Because they know the airports are monitored more closely now, there's a use of cruise ships to travel to those areas," he said. Regular stops at ports in the region would allow prospective fighters to disembark undetected and make their onward journey to Syria or Iraq untracked by security agencies.

"There is evidence that the individuals, especially in Europe, are travelling mostly to [the Turkish coastal town of] Izmir and other places to engage in this type of activity,"St Hilaire was quoted by the BBC as saying.

Interpol officials said the militants' use of cruise ships had emerged only in the "past three months or so". A recent United Nations report estimated there were 15,000 foreign jihadists from more than 80 countries fighting with Islamic State (IS) and other extremist groups in Syria and Iraq.

"In order to prevent their travel and identify them, there needs to be greater information-sharing among the region, among national security agencies," St Hilaire said.

Norwegian plans $680 million note issue to part finance Prestige acquisition

Details: Written by Kari Reinikainen Kari Reinikainen; Category: Top Headlines Top Headlines; Published: 04 November 2014 04 November 2014

Norwegian Cruise Line, a subsidiary of Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings Ltd. said it is proposing to issue $680 million aggregate principal amount of senior unsecured notes due 2019 in a private offering

“The company intends to use the net proceeds from the Offering to fund a portion of the purchase price and related fees and expenses for the previously announced acquisition of Prestige Cruises International, Inc. for $3.025 billion including assumption of debt,” Norwegian Cruise Line Holding said in a statement.

“Norwegian intends to finance the remaining portion of the Prestige acquisition, as well as to refinance Prestige's Oceania and Regent Credit Facilities and satisfy and discharge the indenture governing Prestige's Regent Senior Secured Notes using $1.05 billion of borrowings under its New Term Loan A and New Term Loan B facilities available cash and an additional share issuance. The Offering and the New Term loans are expected to close concurrently with the Prestige acquisition,” Norwegian said.