Cruise & Maritime Voyages


Cruise & Maritime Voyages was a British passenger shipping company headquartered in Essex, United Kingdom.

History

Cruise & Maritime Voyages was formed in 2009, by parent organisation Cruise & Maritime Services International, after their German based Transocean Tours filed for bankruptcy.
Cruise & Maritime Voyages positioned itself as "Providing ex-UK 'no fly' cruising holidays aboard smaller and medium sized classic and more traditional style ships". The company served an adult market, with an onboard style of traditional entertainment, dining and rooms using a fleet of older vessels.
In March 2020, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Cruise & Maritime Voyages temporarily halted operations, with the majority of ships laid up in Tilbury. On the 23 June 2020, five ships within the CMV fleet were detained by the Maritime and Coastguard Agency, including the MV Columbus, MV Vasco da Gama, MV Astoria, MS Astor, and MS Marco Polo over crew welfare concerns after inspections revealed "expired and invalid seafarers employment agreements, late payment of wages and crews who had been on board for over 12 months." The MS Magellan was also inspected by the Agency but was not detained.
Sky News reported on 15 July 2020 that the company was facing insolvency and was in talks with VGO Capital Management, which Sky described as "a special situations investor with expertise in the shipping industry," for additional financing. The company had previously sought a financing agreement with private equity firm Novalpina Capital; this attempt failed after Barclays declined to offer the company a state-backed loan.
Attempts to secure financing failed, and the company, including its Germany subsidiary, entered administration with Duff & Phelps Ltd. on 20 July 2020, with all trading ceased and all sales offices closed with immediate effect.

Fleet

The following ships were operated or were scheduled to be operated by Cruise & Maritime Voyages.
ShipClassBuiltIn service for CMVTonnageFlagNotesImage
Marco PoloIvan Franko class19652010–202022,080 GT and 19,860 GRTIn 2009, the ship was chartered for cruising as the line's first ship and was operated as an adults-only vessel, marketed at cash short consumers, with multiple departure points in the UK along with exotic itineraries.
Ocean Countess19752010-201217,593 GTIn 2010, the ship was chartered as the second ship of the fleet. Replaced in 2012 by the Discovery and subsequently sold for scrap later that year after a fire destroyed the ship.
Discovery19712013-201420,216 GTShip entered the fleet in February 2013, replacing the Ocean Countess. She was sold for scrap in October 2014.
Astor19872013–202020,704 GTThe ship was due to leave the Transocean Tours fleet in May 2021 and was to have been refurbished and renamed as Jules Verne, after which she would have sailed out of Le Havre and Marseille for Cruise & Maritime Voyages's new French brand.
Astoria19482015–201915,614 GRTChartered from Portuscale Cruises to replace the slightly bigger MV Discovery. She was scheduled to leave the CMV fleet in October 2020.
MagellanHoliday class19852015–202046,052 GTShip was transferred from Ibero Cruises in 2015 and served as the flagship of the fleet until 2017.
Columbus19892017–202063,500 GTFormerly sailed as the Pacific Pearl for P&O Australia. Became cruise line's flagship upon entering the fleet on 11 June 2017.
Vasco Da GamaStatendam Class19932019–202055,451 GTSold to Cruise & Maritime Voyages in 2018; formerly Pacific Eden and Statendam. Sailed for part of the year under the Transocean Tours brand in Europe, and under the Cruise & Maritime Voyages brand in Australia in the summer replacing Astor.
Amy Johnson19912021 70,285 GTN/ASold to CMV in 2019 by P&O Cruises Australia, where she was sailing as Pacific Dawn.
Ida PfeifferStatendam-class19942021 55,819 GTN/ASold to CMV in 2019 by P&O Cruises Australia, where she was sailing as Pacific Aria.