Only time will tell whether, overall, Marios Iliopoulos's asset-play with "Covid bargains" will have been worthwhile.
However, his purchase of Carnival's
Costa Magica has hit unforced and self-inflicted problems. After about a year's layup in Greece, latterly as
Mykonos Magic, Seajet reported in April that it was establishing a new cruise operation Neonyx Cruises - as an "adults-only ultimate party experience" in the Aegean, and renamed the ship
Goddess of the Night. Cruises were supposed to have started on 7 July after refurb in a the Turkish shipyard.
But in June, the ship withdrawn from her docking and chartered to provide accommodation at Brindisi for 2,000 security police for the Group of Seven summit in mid-June 2024. Following complaints about sanitary conditions, including flooded cabins, malfunctioning toilets and broken showers, alternative arrangements had to be made for their accommodation, and the ship was impounded for a while by Italian prosecutors. All this has been reported in the shipping press - and legal processes in Italy seem likely to follow.
https://www.reuters.com/world/europe/ship-meant-house-police-g7-summit-seized-over-poor-conditions-2024-06-12/https://maritime-executive.com/article/prosecutors-detain-dirty-cruise-ship-chartered-to-house-italian-policeUnreported, I think, is that the ship also failed a port state control inspection by the Italian maritime authorities on 20 June, and was detained for six days with 16 deficiencies mostly related to ship safety, including (per Equasis):
- crew unable to carry out "abandon ship" drill due to lack of training
- low level lighting in corridors not working
- fire fighting equipment and appliances missing
- fixed fire extinguishing installation, and fire dampers, not working
- means of escape blocked
- life saving appliances not maintained
- bilge pumps not working
In July Neonyx said that, "due to delays in the refurbishment",
Goddess of the Night's inaugural season had been postponed until 2025. Presumably they will have to offer full refunds for all bookings already made. mind you, that may not be that much as judging from the heavy discounting (60% discounts for all customers' first cruise, taken 15/07/2024 – 09/08/2024) booking must have been low.
What were Seajets thinking? That 2000 Italian heavies wouldn't complain?
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