Cruise ship abandons course to avoid arrest warrant
After an arrest warrant was issued for a cruise ship vessel, the ship has diverted its destination path from Miami to the island nation of the Bahamas.
According to Fox News, the arrest warrant was in response to over $1 million in unpaid fuel bills.
“The U.S. marshal will be there with the arrest warrant if the ship shows up in Miami,” J. Stephen Simms, the lead lawyer representing Peninsula Petroleum Far East Pte. Ltd, told Bloomberg.
“My good money is that it’s not landing in Miami, from what we’ve been told. Our client is determined to recover.”
The luxury cruise ship known as Crystal Symphony was due to arrive in Miami on Saturday after a two-week voyage in the Caribbean.
However, they diverted their course at the last minute with about 300 passengers and 400 crew members on board.
The ship is operated by Genting Hong Kong Ltd., which has reportedly been struggling financially since the beginning of the pandemic.
A British musician who was performing on the ship said passengers were scrambling to reschedule their flights after diverting to the Bahamas, but “there’s no panic”.
“Every one of these people are trying to reschedule their flights,” musician Elio Pace told the Daily Mail.
“There's no panic, there's no tantrums going on, they're taking it in their stride.”
Crystal Cruises president Jack Anderson announced in a statement that all Crystal Cruise operations would be suspended until at least April, due to their billion dollar losses felt through the duration of the Covid pandemic.
Elio Pace said the passengers on board the Crystal Symphony were shocked at the announcement, but he has carried on performing for the travellers.
“That was quite extraordinary, to be in a position to have to perform to people, with them knowing the cruise line has gone into liquidation,” he said.
“For me it’s a headache, but for the crew, for the staff, the brilliant staff of this gorgeous luxury liner, I feel more sorry for them,” Mr Pace said.
“I'm put out, but they've lost their jobs for the foreseeable future.”
Image credits: Getty Images