Regal Cruises shut down operations and canceled future voyages Monday in the wake of unpaid bills and the seizure of its only ship by federal marshals.
Regal Cruise officials had been trying to sell the troubled company to an unidentified buyer, but a deal collapsed over the weekend, Port Manatee spokesman Steve Tyndal said. The company offered winter and spring cruises in the Gulf of Mexico, Caribbean and Panama Canal and summer and fall cruises along the New England coast from the Port of New York.
Company officials said in a prepared statement they had no other choice after the 612-foot Regal Empress was “arrested” by marshals. Officials said they had hoped to resolve the ship’s seizure by selling the business.
“In light of the worldwide decline in travel and tourism and the short time frame within which the company could conclude its ongoing sale negotiations necessitated by the arrest, it was unsuccessful,” the statement said.
The company left a recorded message for its passengers on its toll-free number, saying that a bond had been posted with the Federal Maritime Commission and customers who had already paid for cruises can seek a refund. It posted a similar statement on its Web site. No details on refunds were offered.
Would-be passengers were told to keep in touch with their travel agents. The company also said it was filing in state court for a distribution of its assets and promised to release details. Company officials did not answer phone calls made to their offices Monday.
Regal Cruises, a privately held company founded in 1993, had about 500 people working for the company, most of whom were contract workers employed by other firms and who will be reassigned to other ships, port officials said.
Earlier this month, the cruise line was forced to cancel two scheduled cruises when U.S. marshals seized the Regal Empress because of a $750,000 lien placed on the ship by a Fort Lauderdale company that claims it was never paid for repairs to the vessel.
Port Manatee officials also said they are owed $300,000 for dockage and other fees that date back to November. “We have lost a 10-year customer and we are sad this day has come,” Tyndal said.
Regal Cruises was not the port’s largest customer, but its only cruise ship. Tyndal said the port will lose about $500,000 annually with the cruise line’s closure.
The Bahamas-registered ship, which could transport more than 1,000 passengers and nearly 400 crew members, remains at the port while under control of federal marshals. The Regal Empress was built in Scotland in 1953.
Craig Eaton, co-owner of Affordable Cruise.com, an Internet-based cruise booking service headquartered in Riverview, said his agency was advised several months ago by a travel insurance company it would no longer underwrite passengers’ vacations on Regal Cruise trips because of the company’s shaky financial status.
“That’s usually the first tip there’s an issue,” Eaton said. “As a loyalty to our customers, we didn’t recommend Regal. They have a heads up, they know what’s going on with these companies.”
Associated Press
