Photo: Bahnfrend

The Crystal Symphony left from Miami on January 8 on a two-week cruise and was supposed to return to the same port on Saturday. After a United States federal judge ordered the ship seized over a lawsuit regarding unpaid fuel bills, the ship suddenly changed course and diverted to Bimini, in the Bahamas.  

Crystal Cruises is a subsidiary of Genting Hong Kong Ltd., which filed for insolvency last Wednesday, petitioning the Supreme Court of Bermuda to wind up the company and appoint provisional liquidators. It said its cash was expected to run out around the end of January and it had no access to further funding.

Peninsula Petroleum Far East filed a lawsuit on Wednesday in a federal court in South Florida against Crystal Cruises and Star Cruises, also owned by Genting, for owing a combined total of more than $4.6 million in unpaid fuel bills. Rather than face arrest upon returning to US waters, the ship was diverted to the Bahamas.

The New York Times reports that those on the cruise were provided with an extra night of accommodations, and on Sunday, the passengers were taken by ferry to Port Everglades in Fort Lauderdale, Fla., Crystal Cruises said in a statement. The ferry ride, the company added, was “uncomfortable due to inclement weather.”

“This end to the cruise was not the conclusion to our guests’ vacation we originally planned for,” the company said.

Thanks to Karen Lorentz for contributing to this post.