Swan Hellenic cruise line resurrected three years after closing
Seventy years on from Swan Hellenic’s beginnings, the British discovery cruise brand is set to make a return to the seas with two new expedition ships.
A new consortium, with offices in Cyprus, Monaco and the UK, has purchased the iconic brand from Canadian firm, G Adventures, for an undisclosed sum.
The state-of-the-art expedition ships are being built at the Helsinki Shipyard Oy in Finland and will be able to accommodate 152 passengers and 120 staff. The first ship will be launched at an event in London in November 2021, before setting sail for Antarctica, while the second will launch in April 2022 from St Petersburg. It will sail to the British Isles and Iceland, before repositioning to the Arctic in summer 2022.
Andrea Zito, chief executive of Swan Hellenic, told Telegraph Travel: “I am proud to announce the rebirth of Swan Hellenic, a pioneering iconic travel brand with the mission to be the leader in cultural expedition cruising.
“Swan Hellenic has always been known for its pioneering spirit and [for] taking guests to remote destinations. Those values resonate with the modern expedition cruise guest just as much as they did when the company was started 70 years ago.”
Mr Zito added: “Cruising is a wonderful way of travelling, allowing passengers to explore remote and pristine parts of the world with the maximum respect for the environment and its habitants.”
It may sound strange to re-launch a cruise line in the midst of a global pandemic that has hit the industry harder than most, but Mr Zito said: “Shipping is one of the most highly regulated forms of transportation in terms of safety, security and environmental aspects and the new ships of Swan Hellenic meet and exceed the regulatory international requirements.”
He revealed to The Telegraph that “plans for this project started way back in 2018 way before anyone was aware of the term Covid-19. We have delayed the announcement due to current circumstances but, after canvassing opinion from industry colleagues, it was felt that it would be welcomed as a positive news story and would add to what we all are hoping for: the resurgence of the UK travel industry.
“Also, our ships will not be launching until late 2021, when we trust as does everyone else, things will be on a much more even keel.”
The new management team, led in the UK by John Warner (formerly GAdventures and Trailfinders) and Mario Bounas (Royal Caribbean, The Langham), by Alfredo Spadon in Germany (Silversea, MSC) and Andrea Zito in the Monaco Headquarters (Silversea, Vships), has amassed more than 100 years of cruise industry experience between them.
Swan Hellenic was founded by the Swan family before being bought by P&O Cruises in 1983, although Kenneth Swan stayed on as president, non-executive director and consultant.
American cruise giant Carnival acquired Swan Hellenic in 2006 but its face didn’t fit and Swan Hellenic was set to be cast adrift until Lord Sterling stepped forward and saved the British institution.
Lord Sterling, the former chairman of P&O Cruises, bought Swan Hellenic from Carnival in April 2007 and the brand subsequently joined the All Leisure Group. The travel company ceased trading in early 2017 when Swan Hellenic was picked up by G Adventures.
