Royal Caribbean Group and Cruises Investment Holding have announced they have filed for the reorganization of their Pullmantur Cruceros joint venture under the terms of Spanish insolvency laws.
Despite the great progress Pullmantur has made to achieve a turnaround in 2019 and its huge engagement and efforts of its dedicated employees, the headwinds caused by the COVID-19 pandemic have proved too strong for Pullmantur to overcome without a reorganization.
As a result, Pullmantur’s board of directors has determined that the unprecedented impact of the COVID-19 pandemic made filing for reorganization necessary. Pullmantur management notified employees of the decision after filings were made with Spanish authorities.
Pullmantur operates three ships – Horizon, Monarch and Sovereign – and focusses on Spanish and Latin American customers. In January of 2020 the cruise line’s fourth ship – Zenith – left the fleet to join the Japan-based Peace Boat.
The company had previously canceled sailings through November 15, 2020. Royal Caribbean Group said that guests already booked to sail on Pullmantur will be offered the option to sail on other RCL brands including Royal Caribbean International and Celebrity Cruises. Pullmantur noted that details of the offer will be shared with guests in the near future.
Royal Cribbean Group own 49 percent of Pullmantur, while Cruises Investment Holding owns 51 percent of the Spanish cruise line. RCL noted that all of its assets related to the Pullmantur Cruceros joint venture had been included in the non-cash asset impairment charges reported in their first quarter of 2020 results.
While crew are staffed at minimum maintenance levels on Pullmantur’s three ships, rumour has it that crew have started dismantling Monarch and Sovereign in the port of Naples, Italy. Horizon is currently at sea repatriating crew members.