Peninsula Petroleum obtained an arrest warrant for Crystal Symphony in Miami but the ship will now end its cruise in the Bahamas instead.
Singapore-based Peninsula claims $2.1m in unpaid fuel bills for Crystal Cruises' Crystal Symphony and Crystal Serenity and $1.3m for Star Cruises' SuperStar Libra, all ships in the Genting Hong Kong fleet. The SuperStar Libra bills go back to 2017.
US District Court Judge Darrin Gayles granted the arrest order on Friday.
Stopping at Bimini
Crystal Symphony was due back at PortMiami on Saturday where it was to temporarily suspend service. But passengers have been informed the Bahamas-flag ship will instead go to Bimini where Genting has a resort and a cruise berth. From there they are to be ferried to Fort Lauderdale on Sunday.
Seatrade Cruise News contacted Crystal for confirmation earlier today but did not hear further.
The two other Crystal ships scheduled to halt operations, as announced by the company on Wednesday, are Crystal Serenity, planned to disembark in Aruba on Jan. 30 and Crystal Endeavor, to end its Antarctica expedition in Ushuaia, Argentina, Feb. 4. The river vessels are already laid up in Europe.
Provisional liquidators for Genting HK were approved in a court hearing Thursday in Bermuda.
Other creditors
'A number of interested parties in Miami are looking at all their options,' another creditor who's pursuing legal action told Seatrade Cruise News.
