POLAR STAR

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Latest news

Sale of Polar Star expected soon

The adventure cruise ship M/V Polar Star will soon be back in service, trustee David Boyd of PricewaterhouseCoopers Inc. said Wednesday. Several serious inquiries about purchasing the ship have been received since its Halifax owner, Karlsen Shipping Co. Ltd., was forced into receivership in May. "Purchasing a ship of this size is a complicated process, but we are exercising due diligence and proceeding with negotiations with some interested and qualified parties," said Boyd. He suggested something will likely happen soon with Polar Star as there are financial pressures related to holding costs where the ship remains in lock-up in Spain. There might also be some pressure from creditors owed about $8 million. A large part of that debt, about $4.6 million, is owed to the Toronto-Dominion Bank. The ship was seized after Karlsen Shipping was unable to pay a $1.4-million repair bill linked to a grounding of the converted icebreaker in the Antarctic in January. Read more http://thechronicleherald.ca/Business/1249809.html

Desperate plea from captain of Polar Star

The captain of the cruise ship M/V Polar Star issued a desperate plea Wednesday on behalf of 27 crew members stranded in Spain on board the financially foundering expedition ship. "The lenders and/or the receiver have chosen to secure their money without looking after the wellness and freedom of people they are abandoning in a foreign country, away from home, on the ship with no cash, little food supplies and no agent to co-operate with," said Capt. Jacek Lisiecki. Lisiecki commented on the plight of the crew in an open letter.... http://thechronicleherald.ca/Business/1244139.html

Karlsen Shipping Co. insolvent

The season for the "Polar Star" seems to be over after its owner, the Karlsen Shipping Co. Ltd., beccame insolvent. The ship should start a charter to the Hurtigruten daughter Spitsbergen Travel on June 9, 2011, with 11 cruises from Longyearbyen around Svalbard. About a third of the passengers booked were experts from Germany. The owners have debts of about 4.6 million Canadian dollars at the Canadian Toronto-Dominion Bank and haverunning costs of 6700 dollars a day. The "Polar Star" is currently in a shipyard in Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, where it was repaired in recent weeks after its grounding late January. The accounts of the Spanish shipyard of 1.4 million dollars have apparently not yet paid, even if this sum should be wholly or largely covered by insurance.