Cruise & Maritime Voyages (CMV) brought together two of its ships, Columbus and Vasco da Gama, 12 miles off the coast of Phuket, Thailand, to carry out a passenger transfer operation between the two ships before repatriating them to the UK and Australia.
The Columbus was on a four-month round-the-world cruise, while the Vasco da Gama was sailing north from Singapore through the Suez Canal to Tilbury, UK. The operation transferred 239 passengers and 500 pieces of luggage in five and a half hours, using tenders between the two ships.
The Columbus is now heading to the UK with 907 passengers and 619 crew members on board. The nearly 8,000-nautical-mile voyage includes a technical stop in Colombo, Sri Lanka, transit through the Suez Canal, and arrival in Tilbury on April 13.
The Vasco da Gama has almost 3,000 nautical miles ahead of it to reach Australia with 952 passengers on board and 552 crew members, and is expected to arrive in Fremantle on March 27.
Christian Verhounig, CEO of Cruise & Maritime Voyages, said: “We are incredibly proud of our teams onboard and ashore for their fantastic work carrying out this evacuation and relief operation. On behalf of management, staff, and especially our crew, CMV would like to thank our passengers for their support, patience, and understanding during this repatriation operation.”
