CRUISE & Maritime Voyages (CMV) has had administrators appointed in the UK, with trading having ceased worldwide including its international sales offices in Australia, France, the USA and Germany. The CMV Australia website confirms the move, stating that “all bookings that have not taken place are cancelled”. Affected customers are...
CRUISE & Maritime Voyages (CMV) has had administrators appointed in the UK, with trading having ceased worldwide including its international sales offices in Australia, France, the USA and Germany.
The CMV Australia website confirms the move, stating that “all bookings that have not taken place are cancelled”.
Affected customers are being urged to contact their travel agents in the first instance for further advice and assistance “as they may have made or be able to make alternative arrangements for you”.
Clients are also recommended to contact their payment card issuer and advise of the failure and non-supply of the service booked to establish any rights that may exist to obtain a refund.
“Furthermore customers should consider the coverage of any personal travel insurance policies that may be held, as a means of fully or partially recovering the cost of the cruise holiday,” the advice states.
If these steps lead only to a partial or no refund, customers are being told to submit a claim for either the full amount or the shortfall to the insolvency process of CMV’s parent company, South Quay Travel Limited in the UK.
Customers of the company who are based in the UK may be protected by a bond held by the Association of British Travel Agents, while UK clients may also have purchased flight-inclusive packages which are protected by the UK Civil Aviation Authority’s ATOL scheme.
Other creditor claims, including trade and wholesale customers, can be submitted via a proof of debt form which is available online at cmvaustralia.com.
CMV operated six vessels, and had previously planned to add two more vessels, currently sailing with P&O as Pacific Dawn and Pacific Aria, in 2021.
Urgent attempts were made to refinance the business (CW 16 Jul) but unfortunately the funding required to enable CMV to weather the COVID-19 storm has not been forthcoming, according to CEO Christian Verhounig.
“Only last year CMV was celebrating a record trading year and our first decade in cruising, but the CMV journey has been tragically cut short by this unprecedented global pandemic.”
Despite a strong forward booking position “we just could not get the financing deal over the line in time to save this wonderful business,” he added.
