London Daily

Focus on the big picture.
Sunday, May 31, 2026

Genting Hong Kong cruise ship to be seized for fuel bills if it docks in Miami, U.S court issues arrest warrant

Genting Hong Kong cruise ship to be seized for fuel bills if it docks in Miami, U.S court issues arrest warrant

The Crystal Symphony, a luxury cruise ship operated by financially strapped Genting Hong Kong Ltd., will be seized to repay US$1.2 million in unpaid fuel bills if it docks in Miami Saturday, amid reports the vessel is being diverted to the Bahamas after a U.S. court issued an arrest warrant.
A U.S. Marshall and a court-appointed custodian are ready to arrest the ship if it comes into port as scheduled Saturday morning in the Florida port city, according to J. Stephen Simms, the lead attorney representing Peninsula Petroleum Far East Pte. Ltd. who said he has been told of the plan.

Peninsula Petroleum Far East filed a lawsuit in the U.S. district court seeking to recoup US$4.6 million in total unpaid fees for bunker fuel it has delivered to three of Genting’s ships since 2017. A U.S. federal district judge in Miami issued the arrest warrant for the Crystal Symphony Thursday, according to Simms and trade publication TradeWinds.

“The U.S. Marshall will be there with the arrest warrant if the ship shows up in Miami,” said Simms. “My good money is that it’s not landing in Miami, from what we’ve been told. Our client is determined to recover.”

Genting Hong Kong became the biggest cruise operator worldwide to seek court assistance to safeguard its assets during the pandemic when it said on Wednesday that it filed with the Supreme Court of Bermuda to appoint provisional liquidators after exhausting “all reasonable efforts” to negotiate with creditors and stakeholders. The company reported a record loss of US$1.7 billion in May as the pandemic ravaged the cruising industry. Its German shipbuilding subsidiary, MV Werften, went into insolvency last week.

A representative for Crystal Cruises couldn’t be immediately reached for comment, while a spokesperson for Genting Cruise Lines, which operates the Crystal Cruises brand, deferred to Crystal Cruises. A Miami port representative couldn’t be immediately reached after business hours.

Peninsula Petroleum said it delivered bunker fuel to another of the company’s vessels, the Crystal Serenity, as recently as Jan. 17 in Miami, according to the lawsuit filed in the Southern District of Florida court. It plans to seize the ship and sell it to recoup costs, Simms said.

Simms said he was told by Miami port authorities Friday that the Crystal Symphony no longer plans to dock in Miami early morning Saturday as scheduled. Port authorities had confirmed the information with the pilots of the liner, he was told. The vessel is now scheduled to dock in Bimini in the Bahamas, where a U.S. arrest warrant can’t be executed, said Simms. Passengers on the ship also confirmed the itinerary change.

Lisa Jimenez, a passenger on the Crystal Symphony posted on Facebook about the sudden change. “Does anyone want to guess why ?our ship, The Crystal Symphony, can now no longer disembark in Miami? We received noticed that we ?are being taken to Bimini, Bahamas, put on a ferry, and taken to the USA that way. Hmmmm.”

London property lawyer John Dresner posted to Twitter to appeal to Mundy Cruising, the U.K. travel site that he said booked his Bahamas trip, for help after the route change to the Bahamas. Passengers were told that the ship would divert to Bimini, where Genting operates a resort and casino, and that they would be ferried back to Fort Lauderdale on Sunday, SeaTrade reported.

Passengers on the Crystal Symphony, which has capacity of 848 berths, were on a 14-day voyage through the Caribbean, which started from Miami on Jan. 8 and was scheduled to return to the port on Jan. 22. Genting Malaysia Bhd, part of the Genting empire of companies held by billionaire Lim Kok Thay, operates Resorts World Bimini Bahamas.

Crystal Cruises has suspended its ocean and expedition trips through April and has halted its river cruises to the end of May, according to a statement earlier in the week. It is offering refunds. The company’s three vessels in operation will complete their current voyages, with the latest one ending its journey in Ushuaia, Argentina, on Feb. 4
Newsletter

Related Articles

0:00
0:00
Close
Japanese Technology Firm Fujitsu Launches Advanced Artificial Intelligence Tool for Corporate Disclosures
South Africa Officially Launches Nationwide Campaign for Highly Contested Local Government Elections
United Kingdom Commits Additional Funding for Unexploded Ordnance Clearance in Laos
Singapore Announces Stringent New Greenhouse Gas Regulations for Commercial Cooling Systems
Cambodia and Thailand Hold High-Level Border Security Talks at United Nations Headquarters
Myanmar Military Government and China Sign Major Agreement to Upgrade Media and Cultural Cooperation
Knife Attack at Swiss Train Station Leaves Three Injured in Suspected Act of Domestic Terrorism
Transnational Extortion Gang Threatens Canadian Police With Army of One Thousand Armed Operatives
Australia Imposes Forty-Two-Day Quarantine on Cruise Ship Passengers Following Deadly Hantavirus Outbreak
International Monetary Fund Unlocks Seven Hundred Million United States Dollars for Sri Lanka Following Economic Reforms
Australia Launches Record One Point Four Billion Dollar Lawsuit Against Chemical Giant 3M Over Contamination
China and Canada Foreign Ministers Meet in Ottawa in Effort to Stabilize Strained Diplomatic Ties
Indonesia Demands Urgent United Nations Security Council Reform Amid Escalating Global Conflicts
Extreme Weather Patterns Trigger Severe Drought in Madagascar and Destructive Flooding in East Africa
Indian State of Karnataka Faces Political Upheaval as Chief Minister Siddaramaiah Abruptly Resigns
Philippines and Japan Reaffirm Defense Ties as Crucial for Indo-Pacific Regional Stability
Norway Joins French Nuclear Deterrence Initiative in Major Shift for European Security Architecture
Global Critical Mineral Alliances Expand as Western Nations Move to Counter Chinese Supply Dominance
United States Imposes Fifty Percent Tariffs on Mexican Steel and Aluminum Ahead of Trade Pact Review
European Union and China Head Toward Major Trade Conflict Over Clean Technology Exports
United States Economic Growth Severely Downgraded to One Point Six Percent as Stagflation Fears Mount
World Health Organization Warns Central African Ebola Epidemic is Outpacing Containment Efforts
United States Treasury Department Conditions Sanctions Relief on Reopening of the Strait of Hormuz
Iranian Air Defenses Intercept and Destroy United States Military Drone Over Bushehr Province
Iranian Armed Forces Launch Ballistic Missiles Toward Unspecified Targets Prompting Regional Condemnation
United Nations Secretary-General Warns Global Order Facing Highest Level of Conflict Since 1945
Israel Issues Sweeping Evacuation Orders in Southern Lebanon Amid Intensified Hezbollah Conflict
Russia Announces Systemic Military Strikes Targeting Ukrainian Defense and Energy Infrastructure
United States and Iranian Negotiators Reach Draft Agreement to Extend Ceasefire and Resume Nuclear Talks
United Nations Security Council Deeply Divided Over United States Capture of Venezuelan President
US and Iran Exchange Direct Military Strikes Amid Fragile Gulf Ceasefire
World Health Organization Warns of Catastrophic Ebola Outbreak in DR Congo
Russia Threatens New Wave of Strikes on Ukrainian Infrastructure and Embassies
Scientists Warn Atlantic Ocean Currents Could Collapse Faster Than Projected
Anthropic Reaches $900 Billion Valuation in Historic AI Funding Round
Washington Imposes Crippling Sanctions on Iranian Maritime Authority
Japan and the Philippines Initiate Strategic Intelligence-Sharing Pact
Microsoft Deploys Autonomous Computer-Using AI Agents to Global Markets
Anthropic Secures $45 Billion Compute Infrastructure Agreement With SpaceX
U.S. Director of National Intelligence Resigns Amid Administration Shakeup
Micron Technology Crosses Trillion-Dollar Valuation Amid Unprecedented Hardware Demand
Canada and Germany Finalize Historic Long-Term LNG Export Agreement
China Expands International Travel Restrictions on Domestic AI Researchers
Japan Approves Sweeping Overhaul of National Intelligence Apparatus
Global Airlines Scramble Logistics as Middle East Airspace Remains Fractured
Japan's Naphtha Imports Plunge 47 Percent Amid Strait of Hormuz Closure
Global Crude Prices Retreat Below $96 as Gulf Tensions Momentarily Ease
Generative AI Outperforms Human Baselines in Landmark Global Creativity Study
NASA Partners With Private Aerospace to Unveil Permanent Lunar Base Architecture
South Korean Equity Markets Surge on Next-Generation Memory Chip Frenzy
×