Miami, Jan 24 (AP): A cruise ship docked in Miami left for the Bahamas after a US judge ordered the confiscation of the ship as part of a trial over unpaid fuel.
Cruise trackers show Crystal Symphony currently docked in the Bahamian island of Bimini.
Passengers told news outlets they would be taken by ferry to a South Florida port on Sunday. It was not clear how many passengers were aboard, with one news outlet reporting 300 and another 700. According to the company’s website, the ship can carry 848 passengers.
The ship was to land in Miami on Saturday. But a federal judge in Miami on Thursday issued an arrest warrant for the ship, a maritime exercise where a US marshal visits the ship and takes charge of it once it enters US waters.
The lawsuit was filed in Miami federal court by Peninsula Petroleum Far East as part of a maritime process that allows action against ships for unpaid debts. The complaint said Crystal Symphony was chartered or managed by Crystal Cruises and Star Cruises, both of whom were sued for breach of contract for fuel worth $4.6 million.
Crystal Cruises announced earlier this week that it was suspending operations until the end of April. In addition to Crystal Symphony, it has two other ships currently cruising, which end their voyage in Aruba on 30 January and Argentina on 4 February.
“The suspended operations will provide Crystal’s management team with an opportunity to evaluate the current state of the business and examine various options going forward,” the company said in a statement earlier this week. (AP) India India
(This story has been published as part of an auto-generated Syndicate wire feed. Headline or body have not been edited by ABP Live.)
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