'Cruises to nowhere' operator Genting HK files to wind up

Cruise operator Genting Hong Kong said Wednesday it has filed to be wound up, about a week after its German shipbuilding subsidiaries went bankrupt, after the coronavirus pandemic hammered the industry. 

Genting Hong Kong owns the Star Cruises and Dream Cruises lines which serve the Asia Pacific region, as well as the luxury Crystal Cruises line based in Miami. 

Covid-related travel curbs have battered the global cruise sector hard, but particularly in Asia where many countries' borders remain closed to tourism. 

In a statement to the Hong Kong stock exchange, the company said it had lodged a court filing to appoint provisional liquidators. It said it had "exhausted all reasonable efforts" to negotiate with creditors and stakeholders.  

Asked if cruise customers would be refunded for their trips, a spokesman said certain business activities of Genting Hong Kong, including but not limited to the operations of cruises by Dream Cruises, will continue in order to preserve and protect the core assets and maintain the value of the group.

Trading in Genting HK's shares, which have slumped this month, was halted Tuesday and will remain suspended. 

The news came after Genting's German shipbuilding subsidiaries, MV Werften and Lloyd Werft, filed for bankruptcy earlier this month.  

The larger subsidiary MV Werften took the step after failing to secure funding for the completion of the "Global One" mega-liner, which is already 80 percent of the way through construction, according to the company. 

Genting HK later accused the German state of Mecklenburg-West Pomerania of failing to pay out money promised as part of a rescue plan for MV Werften. 

Like some of its rivals during the pandemic, Genting HK launched "cruises to nowhere" -- starting and ending at the same place -- in an effort to keep its ailing business afloat.  

But those cruises have been called to a stop by the Hong Kong government amid the fifth wave of Covid-19 outbreak. 

(Agencies)