CYPRUS — Swan Hellenic has cancelled its 31-night Antarctica cruise onboard the SH Minerva pending licencing issues of the ship.

Following ongoing negotiations since September 2022, Swan Hellenic is set to take ownership of SH Minerva by acquiring the GTLK subsidiary company that currently owns the vessel. According to Swan Hellenic, a “legal mechanism” was identified with help from its Irish counsels that would allow it to take ownership.

The application for the acquisition was finalized and submitted to the Central Bank of Ireland a few weeks away. Approval is expected to take 2-3 weeks. 

Pending the issue of this licence, Swan Hellenic has announced it will postpone the reactivation of SH Minerva, which will force the cancellation of its 31-night cruise of Antarctica, scheduled to depart on Feb. 7, 2023.

Swan Hellenic was relaunched in July 2020 following the collapse of parent company All Leisure Holidays in the UK. Its current fleet includes the SH Minerva and SHI Vega, two new five-star Polar Code PC 5 expedition ships that launched in December 2021 and July 2022, respectively, as well as the slightly larger SH Diana, a PC 6 ice-class vessel launching in early 2023.