Classic International Cruises

Classic International Cruises was a British-Australian owned shipping company operating five luxury cruise ships, most notably their flagship, the rebuilt ocean liner MS Athena.^[2] The company only operated cruise ships that are former ocean liners, the classic ships of their day (hence the company's name).

History

Their first ship, MV Funchal

Classic International Cruises was seemingly founded in 1985, with the purchase of the MV Funchal as the Arcalia Shipping Company Ltd, which eventually became Classic International. They operated the one ship until 1994, when they bought the Princess Danae. The Princess Danae entered service with an all-white hull and a sailing ship logo on her funnel. Funchal was given a yellow and blue striped funnel and a white hull, but by 2000 her livery was changed to what now all Classic International ships have.^[3] Since 2000 they have purchased 3 ships, Arion, Athena and Princess Daphne, the near-identical sister of Princess Danae.^[4] With their main headquarters in Neutral Bay, Australia, the company also has several branches based in Paris, France, Piraeus, Greece, Lisbon, Portugal, Stockholm, Sweden, and London, England.^[5]

Due to unpaid bills by the line, the company's four ships, Princess Danae, Princess Daphne, Athena & Arion have all been arrested, the only ship not arrested is the Funchal which is laid up pending refurbishment for SOLAS.^[6][7][8]

On 20 December 2012, it was resolved to place the company into liquidation.^[9]

In the beginning of 2013, the recently created cruise company Portuscale Cruises, led by the Portuguese entrepreneur Rui Alegre, bought Princess Danae, Athena, Arion and Funchal, assuming as well the liabilities of Classic International Cruises.^[10]

Ships

The MS Athena unloading waste.

Ship	Built	In service	Tonnage	Status as of 2015	Image
Funchal	1961	1985-2013	9,563 GRT	Formerly a Portuguese passenger liner and presidential yacht. Transferred to Portuscale Cruises in 2013, keeping the same name, and currently in service.
MV Princess Danae	1955	1994-2013	16,335 GRT	Rebuilt 1972, identical to Princess Daphne. Transferred to Portuscale Cruises in 2013 and renamed Lisboa, currently in dry-dock.
MS Arion	1965	1999-2013	5,888 GRT	Originally Yugoslavian passenger ship MS Istra. In 2013, transferred to Portuscale Cruises and renamed Porto, laid up.
MS Athena	1948	2005-2013	10,603 GRT	Originally Swedish ocean liner MS Stockholm, rebuilt 1994, under charter to Phoenix Reisen in 2009. In 2015, transferred to Cruise & Maritime Voyages and renamed Azores.
MV Princess Daphne	1955	2008-2013	15,833 GRT	Rebuilt 1972, renamed Princess Daphne 2009, awaiting to be scrapped in Alang, India.

References