MIAMI, Florida : A cruise ship with hundreds of passengers and crew has been diverted to the Bahamas from its scheduled stop in Miami after a warrant was issued due to unpaid fuel bills.
After a 14 day Caribbean voyage, the Crystal Symphony was due to return to Miami on January 22, but instead sailed to Bimini, the Bahamas.
If the ship docked in Miami, a warrant would have allowed the ship to be seized to pay $1.2 million of unpaid fuel bill owed by Genting Hong Kong Ltd, according to Bloomberg.
An earlier lawsuit was filed by Peninsula Petroleum Far East against Crystal Cruises and Star Cruises Limited, which led to the warrant, stated USA Today.
In a tweet to Mundy Cruising, a passenger wrote, Can you help me change my flight to Heathrow from Miami, as we are stuck on Crystal Symphony, which has changed route and is now heading for Bahamas instead of Miami. Musician Elio Pace, who was performing aboard the ship, told the Daily Mail: Every one of these people is trying to reschedule their flights, but there is no panic, there are no tantrums going on. He hopes to be compensated for the additional time he has spent onboard, according to an interview with USA Today.
The Daily Mail said passengers had to wait overnight to be transported by ferry to Fort Lauderdale after the diversion.
Genting Hong Kong has filed for provisional liquidation after reporting a $1.7 billion loss in May, reports Bloomberg.
The COVID 19 flu closed cruise companies for nearly two years.
Staff and passengers on Norwegian Getaway and Royal Caribbean ships described their difficult quarantine experiences after contracting the virus aboard ship earlier this month.