At Sea with Doug Newman

The past week has looked rather grim for Dutch-based operator Club Cruise. First came the news that Van Gogh Cruise Line, the British subsidiary set up to market its 15,240 GT, 727-berth Van Gogh following the bankruptcy of charterer Travelscope, would cease operations. (It had previously cancelled its summer 2008 cruises in favor of a charter to Russian operator Metropolis Tur, but promised to return in the winter of 2009.) Now the web site of US Shipbrokers reports that the company has sold 32,940 GT ferry Da Vinci, built in 1977 as Finnjet, for scrap. And rumors indicate that the company may soon sell the 18,591 GT, 500-berth Astoria, whose charter to Transocean Tours ends in April 2009.

Club Cruise originally planned to convert Da Vinci, which it acquired in December 2007, to a cruise ship, but these plans were reportedly scrapped after the company found that the conversion would cost far more than expected. Instead, rumors circulated that she would be used as an accommodation ship. However, it now appears that the ship has been sold for demolition, though US Shipbrokers notes that the new owners are willing to resell.

Meanwhile, at least one well-known operator is known to be interested in buying Astoria. Rumors initially indicated that she might head to Phoenix Reisen in 2009 as a replacement for the retiring Maxim Gorkiy, but so far these have come to nothing. The ship was built in 1981 as Astor and later sailed as Arkona before joining the Transocean fleet as Astoria in 2002. She was acquired by Club Cruise from previous owner Sovcomflot in 2007.