Posted by Jim DeWitt on November 4, 2011 at 1:58 AM
I regret to report that the M/V Polar Star, which for the last decade has provided exceptional photo opportunities in the Arctic and Antarctic, has come to a sad end.
She ran onto an uncharted rock of the Antarctic Peninsula in February of this year. She's double-hulled, and no one was in real danger, but it ended her season and sent he to Las Palmas, Spain for repairs. There was insurance for the repair costs, but the ship mortgage holder, Toronto Dominion Bank, chose to seize the insurance proceeds. So there was no money to pay for repairs. She was seized by the shipyard, the owner went into receivership and her future is now unknown.
For those of us who had the immense pleasure of sailing in her, it is a very sad ending for a fine ship.
I'll have a detailed blog post up about it next week.
Yikes! If the bank seized the repair funds, that sez they were in deep financial straights and not meeting payments prior to the grounding.
That is reflective of the straights of other small cruise lines due to the decline in markets for small high-end cruises, much as I prefer them to traditional cattle boat cruises between gift shops. I'm acquainted with another small cruise company that lost it's ship (150 passenger, IIRC), though it's my understanding that new owners in Sitka have picked up the hull and are initiating new cruises in SE.
Very sad. When I lived/cruised on our boat in AK for 3 years, we saw the PS many times - a fine-looking vessel and certainly worthy of a longer life.
Sandy
Discussion
2 repliesShe ran onto an uncharted rock of the Antarctic Peninsula in February of this year. She's double-hulled, and no one was in real danger, but it ended her season and sent he to Las Palmas, Spain for repairs. There was insurance for the repair costs, but the ship mortgage holder, Toronto Dominion Bank, chose to seize the insurance proceeds. So there was no money to pay for repairs. She was seized by the shipyard, the owner went into receivership and her future is now unknown.
For those of us who had the immense pleasure of sailing in her, it is a very sad ending for a fine ship.
I'll have a detailed blog post up about it next week.
That is reflective of the straights of other small cruise lines due to the decline in markets for small high-end cruises, much as I prefer them to traditional cattle boat cruises between gift shops. I'm acquainted with another small cruise company that lost it's ship (150 passenger, IIRC), though it's my understanding that new owners in Sitka have picked up the hull and are initiating new cruises in SE.
Sandy