Diplomacy

SH Minerva is Back in the Swan Hellenic Fleet!

SH Minerva is now back in the Swan Hellenic fleet. Following routine maintenance and preparations to Swan Hellenic’s usual high standards, she will set sail in November to join her sister ships SH Vega and SH Diana in Ushuaia, where she will begin the 2025–2026 Antarctic winter season.

Then, in March 2026, she will launch Swan Hellenic’s first ever Asia-Pacific Season, taking its award-winning cultural expedition cruises to new horizons that expand its adventurous guests’ discovery opportunities worldwide.

The new in-depth explorations of the Asia-Pacific region include the Solomon Islands, Papua New Guinea, Raja Ampat, Indonesia, the Philippines and Japan, offering unforgettable experiences that range from primitive art, ancient rituals and anthropology to historical WWII sites, wildlife, snorkeling and watersports adventures.

“We’re delighted to welcome back our flagship SH Minerva,” says Swan Hellenic CEO Andrea Zito “A symbol of Swan Hellenic’s rebirth, her inaugural Asia-Pacific Season will take us to fly our flag across the globe, reaching every ocean and continent. It’s a moment of immense pride for us.”

The cutting-edge expedition ship SH Minerva was built in Helsinki Shipyard OY at the end of 2021 and chartered to Swan Hellenic by the Irish owner, STLC Europe Nine Leasing Ltd.

The parent company of STLC Europe Nine Leasing Ltd, GTLK Europe DAC, was sanctioned by the EU, US and UK back in April-August 2022 due to the designation of the giant Russian leasing company PAO GTLK, which was a parent company of GTLK Europe DAC. SH Minerva has consequently been idle at Fray Bentos, Uruguay, since April 2022. In May 2023, GTLK Europe DAC went into liquidation. Joint Liquidators were appointed by the High Court of Ireland and PAO GTLK subsequently lost control of GTLK Europe DAC and all its subsidiaries, including STLC Europe Nine Leasing Ltd. The Joint Liquidators who now have control of GTLK Europe DAC and its subsidiaries obtained compliance of the sale of GTLK Europe DAC’s assets (including SH Minerva) with all the applicable sanctions.

After lengthy negotiations with the Joint Liquidators, Swan Hellenic finally reacquired SH Minerva from STLC Europe Nine Leasing Ltd in accordance with all applicable sanctions on 25 July 2025 using shareholders’ funds.

SH Minerva’s return marks an exciting new chapter for Swan Hellenic, with a three-ship fleet that takes its guests to live uniquely immersive discovery experiences in the heart of remote destinations all around the world, cruising in refined elegance to “See what others don’t”.

Celebrity Cruises sent out emails today to guests who are booked on upcoming cruises on Celebrity Beyond about adjustments made to their itineraries.

Celebrity Cruises canceled the July 20, 2025 sailing on Celebrity Beyond due to issue with the ship’s sailing speed. The cruise line sent the ship to a shipyard in Freeport, Bahamas for the week where repairs were made to the vessel.

Celebrity Beyond returned to Miami on July 27, 2025 and resumed cruises to the Caribbean.

However, the ship continues to have issues with the sailing speed and Celebrity Cruises has notified guests who are on future sailings that their itineraries are being modified.

The letter stated the following for the September 7, 2025 cruise:

“Dear Guest,

We’re delighted to welcome you aboard Celebrity Beyond for your upcoming cruise. Before we set sail, we want to share a few important updates to our itinerary.

Due to a reduced sailing speed, we’ve made a few adjustments to ensure our voyage remains smooth, comfortable, and above all, safe.

We’ll swap the days we visit Cozumel, Mexico, and Falmouth, Jamaica. As a result, we’ll now call on Falmouth on Wednesday from 8:00 AM to 4:00 PM, and visit Cozumel on Friday, from 11:00 AM to 7:30 PM. Additionally, we’re adjusted our time in George Town Grand Cayman, with a new arrival at 7:00 AM and departure at 4:00 PM.

We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause and greatly appreciate your understanding and flexibility, We’re confident these updates will enhance your time on board and ashore, allowing you to enjoy each destination to its fullest.”

The letter went on to say that any guests who have shore excursions purchased will automatically have them adjusted for the new port days and times.

Guests sailing in August, September and October on Celebrity Beyond have received the email on itineraries to the Eastern and Western Caribbean with their new adjusted port days.

The next scheduled dry dock for Celebrity Beyond is in November 2026. There are currently no cruises offered on the ship from November 1-17, 2026. It will be the ship’s first full dry dock since the vessel debuted in the spring of 2022.

A magnitude 8.7 earthquake originating off the coast of Russia’s Kamchatka Peninsula triggered a widespread tsunami warning across the Pacific, impacting Hawaii and forcing Norwegian Cruise Line’s Pride of America to depart from Hilo harbor several hours ahead of schedule.

Originally scheduled for a 6:00 PM Hawaii Standard Time (HST) departure on July 29, the cruise ship’s plans were suddenly changed following the tsunami warning, which projected potential wave impacts along the Hawaiian coastline around 7:15 PM HST.

Many passengers and crew were still in port and not able to get back to the ship before the vessel was forced to pull away from the port and head for deeper waters.

This is a typical procedure for tsunami warnings, as a vessel in deeper water will barely even notice a tsunami traveling beneath it, and it’s much safer for the ship and all on board if the ship is away from the port if and when a tsunami strikes.

Passengers on shore excursions were caught off guard as you can imagine. One cruiser, Jeffrey Booker, spoke with ABC15 with the Pride of America visible in the distance.

He had been visiting Volcano National Park when the alarm sounded.

“We saw the tsunami warning go off on our phones and then one of the tour operators from our cruise ship, the Pride of America, said everyone back to the ship fast as you can. Um ship’s leaving at 3:30 [HST].”

But as Booker was still a ways away from the port, he knew it was going to be a challenge.

“We knew at that point we weren’t going to make it. So, it’s uh it’s pulling away now,” Booker recounted as the video shows the ship beginning to pull away from the pier.

Cut off from the ship, Booker described their situation as “uncharted territory.” They had to figure out their next steps, including managing their rental car and finding last-minute accommodations.

“When you heard about this tsunami, what were your emotion like?” he was asked by the interviewer, to which he replied, “Well, we were at 3,000 plus feet…. And it didn’t immediately dawn on us that that was going to affect the ship. Should have. Should have. Next time if I get a tsunami warning, I’m going straight to the ship.”

ENTIRE west coast is now under a Tsunami warning….the cruise ship “The Pride of America” which is a NCL ship…just left the port in Hawaiii and all the folks who were on an excursion have been told to….find higher ground! Guess they will come back and get them…later!!

— BRIAN!! (@BrianSimpsonKY) July 30, 2025

The ship’s tracking data on CruiseMapper corroborates this early departure. Tracking clearly shows the Pride of America moving away from the Hilo cruise ship dock and into the open waters of the bay.

This was done about two and a half hours before its scheduled departure and aligns with standard maritime safety protocols during tsunami warnings, where deep ocean is considered the safest environment for large vessels.

This move, while very important for the safety of the ship and the majority of its passengers, unfortunately resulted in some cruisers on shore excursions being unable to return to the Pride of America in time.

These passengers face the unexpected challenge of navigating the tsunami warning from land as they listen to local authorities.

Reports have already come in about traffic gridlock in Maui and other parts of Hawaii as residents seek to get to higher ground.  Some forecasts suggest that Hawaii may be hit harder than Japan.

Inbound flights have been cancelled in Hawaii.

Pride of America is currently about 25 miles from the port and traveling at 16 knots in moderate 5-foot waves.

This is a developing story, and updates will be made as new information comes in.

Last week, Cruise Fever published the opening deployment schedule for Celebrity Cruises for sailings in 2027-2028.

Celebrity Cruises will release these new cruises in five batches starting on August 5, 2025. The first batch on August 5 is for cruises to Canada/England, Europe, Japan and spring Transatlantics.

Bookings for the following itineraries on nine Celebrity cruise ships open for sale on August 5, 2025.

Canada, New England & Bermuda

Celebrity Silhouette will sail seven- to 13-night cruises from Boston and Cape Liberty, New Jersey. This includes stops in Iceland and Greenland.

One cruise will visit Bermuda, three to Iceland Greenland, and four to Maine and Canada.

Europe

Celebrity Ascent, Celebrity Apex, Celebrity Constellation, Celebrity Eclipse, Celebrity Equinox, Celebrity Infinity and Celebrity Xcel will all offer cruises in Europe.

Celebrity Ascent will homeport in Civitavecchia (Rome) and offer 10-14 night to Greece, Italy, Turkey and Malta.

Celebrity Apex will sail from Southampton on seven- to 14-night cruises to the Norwegian Fjords and Scandinavia.

Celebrity Constellation will offer cruises from Barcelona and Italy that visit Croatia, France, Italy and Spain.

Celebrity Eclipse will sail from Amsterdam, Athens, and Ravenna, Italy on seven- to 13-night cruises to Europe.

Celebrity Equinox will homeport in Barcelona and offer nine-, 10-, and 11-night cruises around the Mediterranean.

Celebrity Infinity will sail from Athens, Greece and seven-, eight, nine-, 10-, 11-, and 12-night cruises to Greece and Croatia.

Celebrity Xcel will sail from Barcelona and Athens on a variety of sailings to the Italian and French Riviera.

Asia

Celebrity Millennium will sail from both Tokyo and South Korea offering 12- and 13-night cruises around Japan and South Korea. One 15-night sailing will visit Hong Kong and Vietnam before ending in Singapore.

These newly announced itineraries from Celebrity Cruises will open for bookings on August 5, 2025.

You can see all five phases of Celebrity’s opening deployment schedule for 2027-2028 here.