After announcing the suspension of its operations in January, Crystal Cruises has ceased operations permanently, according to a statement made on board the Crystal Symphony. The ships will be managed by V. Ships Leisure, and Alvarez & Marshall Asia Ltd and H&R Services Limited will serve as interim liquidators.
The collapse of its parent company, Genting Hong Kong, deeply affected by the impact of the coronavirus on global tourism, is the cause of the definitive closure of Crystal Cruises, founded in 1988 by the Japanese cargo shipping company Nippon Yusen Kaisha (NYK). Genting Hong Kong had focused all its efforts on the cruise industry, holding shares in Star Cruises, acquiring Crystal Cruises in 2015, and subsequently the Lloyd Werft and MV Werft shipyards, which ensured its capacity to build both Crystal Cruises ships and those of its other major investment, Dream Cruises, a company specializing in the Asian market that had hoped to launch its new cruise ship, Global Dream, in early 2021 in Shanghai.
The Global Dream, weighing 208,000 tons and with a capacity for about 10,000 people including passengers and crew, was scheduled to be inaugurated in early 2021, but the high costs of its construction along with the effects of the Covid-19 pandemic, have led the entire group to bankruptcy.
The ship is 75% complete but requires an additional €600 million to finish. The German government had been providing funding to the shipyards during the pandemic, but stopped doing so once Genting Hong Kong's financial problems worsened. The Global Dream is now seeking a buyer who can not only pay the price but also contribute €600 million to complete its construction and then operate it in the Chinese or Asian market, as the ship's design is highly tailored to the tastes and needs of that region.
