''Crystal Symphony'' was a

cruise ship Cruise ships are large passenger ships used mainly for vacationing. Unlike ocean liners, which are used for transport, cruise ships typically embark on round-trip voyages to various ports-of-call, where passengers may go on tours known as "s ...

owned and operated by

Crystal Cruises } Crystal Cruises is a cruise line now headquartered in Downers Grove, Illinois, USA. It was founded in 1988 by Japanese shipping company Nippon Yusen Kaisha, and sold to Hong Kong-headquartered conglomerate Genting Hong Kong in 2015. Following in ...

before the line went out of business. She was built in 1995 at Kværner Masa-Yards Turku New Shipyard,

Finland Finland ( fi, Suomi ; sv, Finland ), officially the Republic of Finland (; ), is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It shares land borders with Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of B ...

. She was the oldest vessel in the Crystal Cruises fleet.

Concept and construction

''Crystal Symphony'' was ordered in December 1992 and entered service in May 1995. The ship was docked in Sydney Harbour for the Olympics in 2000. The ship was refitted a second time in 2006. This process, which cost US$23 million, was the largest refit ever for Crystal Cruises. During this refit, Crystal employed over 750 external workers to join the existing 545 crew to ensure a timely completion. The refit was done in

BAE Systems BAE Systems plc (BAE) is a British multinational arms, security, and aerospace company based in London, England. It is the largest defence contractor in Europe, and ranked the seventh-largest in the world based on applicable 2021 revenues. ...

Norfolk Ship Repair in

Norfolk, Virginia Norfolk ( ) is an independent city in the Commonwealth of Virginia in the United States. Incorporated in 1705, it had a population of 238,005 at the 2020 census, making it the third-most populous city in Virginia after neighboring Virginia Be ...

. In 2009 ''Crystal Symphony'' underwent a third refit costing US$25 million. The refit was completed at Boston Ship Repair's South Boston Dry dock. In June 2012, the ship completed a two-week "extreme makeover" done by 1,100 workers (including the crew) at the Blohm + Voss docks in Germany.

Arrest

In January 2022, a warrant was issued for the arrest of the ship should she reenter US waters. The issue was unpaid fuel bills. The ship diverted to

Bimini Bimini is the westernmost district of the Bahamas and comprises a chain of islands located about due east of Miami. Bimini is the closest point in the Bahamas to the mainland United States and approximately west-northwest of Nassau. The populat ...

and made arrangements to shuttle its passengers back to the United States. On 4 February 2022, both ''Crystal Symphony'' and her sister, ''

Crystal Serenity ''Crystal Serenity'' is a cruise ship owned by Crystal Cruises before the line went out business. ''Crystal Serenity'' was built in 2003 by STX Europe in St. Nazaire.

'' were arrested while in Bahamian waters. The total amount owed for fuel was reported to be about 4.6 million dollars. In June 2022 she was sold at auction to CSY Ltd., reported to be a

shell corporation A shell corporation is a company or corporation that exists only on paper and has no office and no employees, but may have a bank account or may hold passive investments or be the registered owner of assets, such as intellectual property, or s ...

for the actual buyer, for $25M USD. Since July 2022, the ship is undergoing refurbishments in

Trieste Trieste ( , ; sl, Trst ; german: Triest ) is a city and seaport in northeastern Italy. It is the capital city, and largest city, of the autonomous region of Friuli Venezia Giulia, one of two autonomous regions which are not subdivided into provi ...

, Italy.

References

External links

Official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Crystal Symphony Cruise ships Ships built in Turku 1995 ships