The Victorian-based family-owned company Australian Pacific Touring has sold the ship to a new owner, which is chartering it to Captain Cook.
Caledonian Sky will continue to sail for APT the remainder of the 2023 season in the Kimberley and from August 25 she will then be operated by Captain Cook Cruises Fiji.
‘We have enjoyed many years of showcasing Australia and the Kimberley coastline to our guests on the Caledonian Sky and have no doubt travellers in the South Pacific region will be delighted to have the opportunity to experience the vessel,’ APT Travel Group CEO David Cox said.
APT became the 100% owner of the 99-passenger vessel when it bought the shareholding of co-owner Noble Caledonia.
‘Dawn of new era’
The new deployment was announced at Fiji Tourism Expo 2023 which runs until Monday at the Sheraton Resort’s Denarau Island Convention Centre.
Fiji’s Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Tourism and Aviation Viliame Gavoka said Caledonian Sky will herald ‘the dawn of a new era of high-end cruise experiences never before seen in Fiji.'
Gavoka said Captain Cook Cruises Fiji will extend its itineraries to some of the remotest and most beautiful parts of Fiji, as well as Tonga and Samoa.
Captain Cook Cruises was founded by the late Capt. Trevor Haworth in Sydney on Australia Day 1970.
Fiji launched in 1996
Haworth launched a Great Barrier Reef cruise programme in 1992 and the Fijian operation in 1996.
He also operated Murray River cruises with the purpose-built paddlewheeler Murray Princess.
In 2007 he received Cruise Lines International Association Australasia’s ‘Outstanding Contribution by an Individual ‘ award.
In 2011 he sold Captain Cook Cruises to the Adelaide-based SeaLink Travel Group, with the exception of the Fiji operation which was run by his daughter, Jackie Haworth-Charlton.
Captain Cook Cruises Fiji’s Executive Chairman Allison Haworth West is Haworth-Charlton’s sister.
The company currently operates three-, four-, seven- and 11-night voyages with Reef Endeavour from Port Denarau, a short drive from Nadi International Airport.
Update clarifies that Captain Cook Cruises is not the buyer of Caledonian Sky but its charterer
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