Transocean Tours
 | |
| Industry | Transportation |
|---|---|
| Founded | 1954 |
| Defunct | 20 July 2020 |
| Products | Cruises |
| Parent | Cruise & Maritime Voyages |
| Website | www.transocean.de |
Transocean Tourswas a Germancruise linethat operated ocean-goingcruise shipsin the German andBritishmarkets andriver cruise shipsin Germany. The company was formed in 1954 and first began operating cruises in 1972, using ships chartered from theSoviet Union-basedBaltic Shipping Company.[1][2]
The company, along with its United Kingdom based parent companyCruise & Maritime Voyages(CMV), went into administration on 20 July 2020.
History
[edit]
Early years
[edit]Transocean Tours Turistik was formed inWest Germanyin 1954. In 1967 the company became the West German agents of theSoviet Union-basedBaltic Shipping Company,marketing cruises on theMSAlexandr PushkinandMS Estonia.In 1972 Transocean Tours chartered theEstoniafor full-time German market cruising. She was subsequently followed by several ships, including river cruise ships, chartered from both the Baltic Shipping Company and the Black Sea Shipping Company. Until the 1990s the chartered ships retained their Soviet funnel colours even when in Transocean service. Following the collapse of the Soviet Union the company begun chartering ships from other companies, starting withMS Calypsoin 1994. At the same ships in Transocean service started to be painted in the company's white/blue livery.[1]
1997-present
[edit]Between 1997 and 2001, the company fleet consisted of just two ships, the ocean-going cruise shipMSAstorand the river cruise ship MSMoldavia.In 2001, the river cruise ship MS Ukraina re-joined the fleet, followed by theAstor's near-sisterMSAstoriain 2002. Another river cruise ship joined the fleet in 2005, whileMSAriellewas chartened in 2006 for British-market cruising. In 2008 theAriellewas replaced byMSMarco Polo.[1]
In 2008, Transocean Tours stated the charter of theAstoriawould be terminated in 2009, and that the company are looking for another ship to replace her. She was sold toSaga Cruisesoperating asSaga Pearl IIwith a short period asQuest for Adventurein 2012/13.[3][4]
On 4 September 2010, Transocean Tours announced that the Germany-based line would be going through a restructuring, which was the equivalent toChapter 11bankruptcy restructuring in the United States.[5]After a period of uncertainty Transocean was sold to South Quay Travel & Leisure Ltd. in early 2014 and since then operated as the German branch ofCruise & Maritime Voyages(CMV) under the nameTransocean Cruises.
In addition to their ownAstor;Transocean Tours offered cruises on CMV's cruise shipsMagellanandColumbusand on several river cruise ships (Bellejour,Belvedere,Sans Souci).
It was announced on 7 March 2018 that CMV purchased thePacific EdenfromP&O Cruises Australia.CMV planned to sail the ship under the Transocean brand, cruising to Northern and Western Europe during the summer and Australia during the winter, replacingAstor.[6][7]CMV receivedPacific Edenin April 2019 and renamed herVasco da Gamaon 9 June 2019.[8]
Transocean was scheduled to receivePacific Ariafrom P&O Cruises Australia in May 2021. The company intended to rename the shipIda Pfeiffer,after the Austrian explorer,Ida Pfeiffer,in May 2021.[9][10]
Sky Newsreported on 15 July 2020 that CMV was facing insolvency and was in talks with VGO Capital Management, which Sky described as "a special situations investor with expertise in the shipping industry," for additional financing. CMV had previously sought a financing agreement with private equity firm Novalpina Capital; this attempt failed afterBarclaysdeclined to offer the company a state-backed loan.[11]
After its parent company's attempts to secure financing failed, Transocean Tours, as well as CMV, entered administration on 20 July 2020, with all trading ceased and all sales offices closed with immediate effect.[12][13]
Fleet
[edit]| Ship | Built | In service | Chartered from | Tonnage | Flag | Notes | Image |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| MSAlexandr Pushkin/MSMarco Polo | 1965 | 1979 – 1985/2008 – 2010 | Baltic Shipping Company/Far Eastern Shipping Company, Global Maritime | 22,080GRT | Leningrad, Soviet Union/ Bahamas |
Sailing forCruise & Maritime Voyagesuntil 2020. Scrapped inAlangin 2021. |
|
| MSCalypso | 1967 | 1994–2000 | ? | 11,162GRT | Bahamas |
She later becameThe Calypsoand was owned byLouis Cruisesscrapped late 2013. | 
|
| MSGripsholm | 1965 | 1996–1997 | Norwegian American Line | 24,528GRT | Bahamas |
Chartered for six months and later sold toSaga Cruisesafter being damaged by fire, she would become theSaga Roseand later was sold for scrap in 2009. | 
|
| MSAstoria | 1981 | 2002–2009 | Club Cruise | 18,853GRT | Bahamas |
Entered service in 2009 as MSSaga Pearl IIwithSaga Cruises.[14] | 
|
| MSArielle | 1970 | 2006–2008 | Louis Cruises | 23,149GRT | Bahamas |
Was returned toLouis Cruisesin 2008, 3 years earlier than scheduled; later sold and as of 2012, scrapped in Alang in 2015. | 
|
| MSAstor | 1987 | 2001–2020 | Astor Shipping/Premicon | 20,606GRT | Bahamas |
Scrapped in Aliağa in 2020. |  |
| Vasco da Gama | 1992 | 2019–2020 | 55,451 GT | Bahamas |
Transferred from P&O Cruises Australia asPacific Edento CMV for Transocean in April 2019. Sailing under Transocean Tours brand since 9 June 2019 in Europe and Australia[8] | 
| |
| Magellan[15] | 1985 | until 2020 | 46,052 GT | Bahamas |
Sold toSeajetsafter CMV ceased operetions. Scpapped inAlang,Indiain 2021 alsMages. |
 | |
| Columbus[15] | 1989 | until 2020 | 63,500 GT | Bahamas |
Sold for scrap at Alang, India as Colus in 2021 |  | |
| Ida Pfeiffer | 1994 | 2021 (planned; never entered service) | 55,451 GT | N/A | Sold to CMV in November 2019; was scheduled to join Transocean in May 2021[9] | 
|
References
[edit]- ^abcBoyle, Ian."Transocean Tours".Simplon Postcards.Retrieved2008-11-01.
- ^Jones, Jana (2008-08-22)."Transocean Cruises Review".Cruise Critic.The Independent Traveler, Inc.Retrieved2008-11-01.
- ^"Astoria is new Pearl (Ships Monthly, October 2009)".Retrieved2009-09-22.
- ^"Our Ships: Saga Pearl II".Retrieved2017-01-07.
- ^"Marco Polo's Line Goes Bankrupt".CruiseInd.4 September 2009.Retrieved4 September2009.
- ^"Cruise News | Ambassador Cruise Line".www.ambassadorcruiseline.com.
- ^Mathisen, Monty (7 March 2018)."Pacific Eden Sold to Cruise and Maritime Voyages".www.cruiseindustrynews.com.
- ^abErdmann, Frederik (2018-10-22)."TransOcean sets Bremerhamen naming for Vasco de Gama".Seatrade Cruise News.
- ^abBond, Mary (2019-11-28)."CMV to add two more ships in 2021".Seatrade Cruise News.
- ^Gibson, Rebecca (2020-01-28)."CMV to name new ships after pioneering female adventurers".CruiseandFerry.net.
- ^Kleinman, Mark (15 July 2020)."Coronavirus: Cruise operator CMV in last-ditch bid to stay afloat".Sky News.Retrieved20 July2020.
- ^Kalosh, Anne (20 July 2020)."Cruise & Maritime Voyages goes into administration".Seatrade Cruise News.Retrieved20 July2020.
- ^"South Quay Travel & Leisure Limited (in Insolvenz) Unter dem Markennamen Transocean Kreuzfahrten (Deutschland)".www.transocean.de.Retrieved21 July2020.
- ^Archer, Jane (26 October 2008)."Saga switches adventure shipQuestto mainstream fleet ".travelweekly.ok-uk.Retrieved12 November2008.
- ^ab"Unsere Schiffe - TransOcean Kreuzfahrten".Archived fromthe originalon 2016-04-04.Retrieved2020-01-25.
External links
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