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Royal Olympic News

29 Jul 2014

American P&I Club Rings in Posidonia

Stuart Todd

While Posidonia is well regarded for its exhibition, it is famous for its parties. The American Club held its traditional party on the evening of Thursday, May 29, to mark the start of Posidonia week, with more than 600 guests from the club’s expanding Greek membership, as well as club directors and representatives from the Greek maritime industry, attended a buffet reception on the rooftop of the Royal Olympic Hotel in central Athens. The occasion proved to be an ideal opportunity for the club’s leading underwriter…

09 Jun 2014

American Club Rings in Posidonia 2014

Stuart Todd

The American Club held its traditional party on the evening of Thursday, May 29 to mark the start of Posidonia week. More than 600 guests from the club’s expanding Greek membership, as well as club directors and representatives from the Greek maritime industry, attended a buffet reception on the rooftop of the Royal Olympic Hotel in central Athens. The event was also attended by Miltiades Varvitsiotis, the Greek Minister of Shipping and the Aegean, together with senior diplomats from the U.S. Embassy to Greece.

07 Nov 2001

Royal Olympic Cruises Announces Delivery of the Olympia Explorer

Royal Olympic Cruise Lines Inc. announced today that the, Olympia Explorer, sister ship to Royal Olympic’s Olympia Voyager is expected to reach the port of Piraeus early 2002, which will enable her to perform exciting new itineraries from Venice to Piraeus, Istanbul and the Greek Islands next summer, with Piraeus as an alternative port of embarkation. Royal Olympic Cruises delegates and representatives from Blohm+Voss Shipyard in Hamburg had a very constructive meeting in Piraeus regarding the delivery of the Olympia Explorer, which was due for delivery in April 2001. With 28 knots cruising speed, the Olympia Explorer is the only ship…

09 Nov 2001

Royal Olympic Announces Third Quarter Results

Royal Olympic Cruise Lines Inc., reported that third quarter net revenues increased by 11.3 percent to $57.1 million compared to the same period last year. For the nine months ended August 31, 2001, revenues increased by 17.6 percent to $102.6 million compared to $87.3 million during the same period in 2000. The growth in revenues in the third quarter is attributable to an improved summer cruise season and the introduction of Seawing, which contributed $8 million. Operating expenses increased by 20.4 percent or $5.5 million to $ 32.6 million for the third quarter of 2001, compared to $ 27.0 million for the same period last year. The increase in operating expenses was mainly due to the introduction of Seawing…

17 Dec 2003

Royal Olympic Cruises Files For Chapter 11 for Two Ship Owning Companies

Royal Olympic Cruise Lines, Inc., announced today that two out of its eight shipowning companies, Olympic World Cruises, Inc., the owner of the vessel Olympia Voyager, and Royal World Cruises, Inc. the owner of the vessel Olympia Explorer, have filed for reorganization under Chapter 11 of the United States bankruptcy code. The company has been in discussion with the lenders to these subsidiaries regarding a potential restructuring of $250.0 million in loans incurred to finance the acquisition of the two vessels. Discussions have not to date produced an agreement and the lenders have delivered a notice of acceleration of the loans. These loans are secured by mortgages on the two vessels and have been guaranteed by Royal Olympic Cruise Lines, the parent company.

18 Dec 2003

Olympia Explorer Continues Voyage

Responding to a published report that their vessel OLYMPIA EXPLORER was ordered by the court in Honolulu to remain in Hawaiian waters, Royal Olympic Cruise Lines Inc. announced that a temporary restraining order that had been issued by the U.S. Bankruptcy Court at 1 p.m. Wednesday, December 17, was rescinded two hours later. The vessel sailed from Honolulu the same day and is presently continuing the performance of its scheduled cruise among the Hawaiian islands and its voyage to San Diego and Los Angeles. The vessel OLYMPIA VOYAGER, which also is subject to the Chapter 11 reorganization proceeding pending in Honolulu, sailed from Fort Lauderdale, Florida on Wednesday night on its next scheduled voyage.

18 Dec 2003

Olympia Explorer Continues Voyage

Responding to a published report that their vessel Olympia Explorer was ordered by the court in Honolulu to remain in Hawaiian waters, Royal Olympic Cruise Lines Inc. announced that a temporary restraining order that had been issued by the U.S. Bankruptcy Court at 1 p.m. Wednesday, December 17, was rescinded two hours later. The vessel sailed from Honolulu the same day and is presently continuing the performance of its scheduled cruise among the Hawaiian islands and its voyage to San Diego and Los Angeles. The vessel Olympia Voyager, which also is subject to the Chapter 11 reorganization proceeding pending in Honolulu, sailed from Fort Lauderdale, Fla. on Wednesday night on its next scheduled voyage.

22 Dec 2003

Royal Olympic Fights to Stay Alive

Royal Olympic Cruise Lines, Inc. and Olympia Voyager 11:00 AM EST, Monday, December 22. Honolulu, and subject to further discussions with lenders and further action by the District Court are restricted to calls at US Ports. As a result of this limitation the December 22 sailing of the Olympia Explorer to Ensenada, Mexico and the Hawaiian Islands has been cancelled and the Olympia Voyager has been held at St Thomas V.I., and is expected to return to Port Everglades with passengers on January 2nd. between owners and lenders and further action by the Court. reorganization.

21 Jan 2004

Royal Olympic Cancels Cruises

Royal Olympic Cruises Ltd’s scheduled cruises on the Olympia Voyager and the Olympia Explorer, have all been cancelled during the month of January, 2004. Also, Royal Olympia has advised that it has begun to refund fares on canceled cruises. Checks are being sent to cash paying passengers and credits have begun being issued to those who paid by credit cards. These refunds are being processed in the order that cruises were scheduled to commence. Royal Olympia has indicated to the Commission that no actions on the part of the passengers are necessary during this process.

06 Feb 2004

Greek Court Sets New Deadline for Royal Olympic Cruise Lines

Royal Olympic Cruise Lines announced that the Greek court administering the section 45 proceeding regarding its subsidiaries has allowed the company an extension until Thursday, February 12, 2004, to reach agreement on a plan of restructuring with the holders of at least 51% of outstanding obligations. The company is in negotiations with its major creditor, Fortis Bank, which itself holds more than 51% of the total obligations. In addition the company announced that it has put all administrative staff in Greece on unpaid leave pending the outcome of the court ruling and discussions with financial institutions and various creditors.

12 Feb 2004

Royal Olympic Cruises Awaits Greek Court Decision

Royal Olympic Cruise Lines Inc. announced today that the Greek Court administrating the Section 45 proceeding regarding its subsidiaries is expected to issue a decision in the next few days. The Court had previously given the company until today to present a restructuring plan consented to by 51% of its creditors. Negotiations with Fortis Bank, the holder of more than 51% of the company's debt, are meanwhile continuing, in an attempt to secure the consent to a plan. The company also announced that Athens 2004, the group overseeing the Olympic Games to be held in Athens, has recalled in full the $1 million advance deposits paid to Royal Olympic Cruise Lines.

11 Mar 2004

Olympia Explorer and Olympia Voyager to Be Auctioned

Royal Olympic Cruises announced that the vessels Olympia Explorer and Olympia Voyager will be sold at judicial auction, on March 24 and March 26 respectively, under process initiated by creditor banks and pursuant to a settlement agreement between ROCL, the owners, and the banks. The owning companies of the ships (subsidiaries of ROCL) had filed for Chapter 11 reorganization in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Honolulu, Hawaii, following which the ships were placed under judicial arrest pursuant to the settlement agreement. The judicial auction of the OLYMPIA EXPLORER is scheduled to take place on March 24 in Long Beach California, and the auction of OLYMPIA VOYAGER will be held on March 26 in Miami, Florida.

28 Nov 2001

Royal Olympic Cruises Expects Cancellations to Affect Year End Results

Royal Olympic Cruise Lines Inc. reported that significant booking cancellations aboard its cruise vessels for the remainder of the year will adversely affect its final results for 2001. The cancellations follow the tragic attacks on New York and Washington DC on September 11, 2001. CEO of Royal Olympic Cruise Lines, Yiannos Pantazis, stated, "A large number of the passengers travelling with us in September and October are from the United States and unfortunately, since September 11, many have chosen not to travel abroad. The cancelled bookings will have a serious negative impact on the fourth quarter and, consequently, the year-end numbers will show a higher loss than previously expected. $0.85 per share.

28 Nov 2001

Royal Olympic Announces Delivery of Olympia Explorer

Royal Olympic Cruise Lines Inc. announced that the Olympia Explorer, sister ship to Royal Olympic's Olympia Voyager, is expected to reach the port of Piraeus early 2002, which will enable it to perform new itineraries from Venice to Piraeus, Istanbul and the Greek Islands next summer, with Piraeus as an alternative port of embarkation. Royal Olympic Cruises delegates and representatives from Blohm+Voss Shipyard in Hamburg had a meeting in Piraeus regarding the delivery of the Olympia Explorer, which was due for delivery in April 2001.

16 Jan 2002

Royal Olympic Reports Bookings Up for 2002

Royal Olympic Cruise Lines Inc. has been advised by Louis Cruise Lines Ltd (LCL) that agreement has been reached for the shares held by LCL in ROC Holdings Inc. (ROCH), the majority shareholder in Royal Olympic Cruise Lines (ROCL), to be exchanged for a number of shares held by Louis Tourist Agency Ltd (LTA) in Cyprus Tourist Development Company (CTD), the owners of the Hilton Hotel in Nicosia. Acquisition of the $20 million subordinated bond by LTA and the Guarantee of Liabilities amounting to $6.0 million. As part of the acquisition of LCL’s investment in ROCL, LTA will guarantee the $6.0 million loan made by LCL to ROCL and will acquire $20.0 million subordinated convertible bond issued by ROCL to LCL in 2001.

01 May 2002

Royal Olympic Cruise Lines Shift Share Ownership of ROC Holdings

Royal Olympic Cruise Lines Inc announced that Silk Navigation had acquired an additional 20 percent of ROC Holdings Inc. from Louis Tourist Agency. As a result, Silk and Louis each now hold 50 percent of ROC Holdings, which in turn holds 51.4% of Royal Olympic's common stock. Silk Navigation is controlled by members of the Potamianos family, with Andreas Potamianos holding the position as Royal Olympic's Co-Deputy Chairman and Louis Tourist Agency is controlled by Costakis Loizou, also Co-Deputy Chairman. In addition, Royal Olympic announced that it had agreed with Louis Tourist Agency to modify the terms of the $20 million convertible subordinated note issued by Royal Olympic on February 28, 2001 and held by Louis Tourist Agency.

26 Apr 2002

Royal Olympic Takes Delivery of Olympia Explorer

Blohm+Voss GMBH delivered of the new fast cruise ship, Olympia Explorer, to Royal Olympic Cruise Lines Inc. The vessel immediately sailed from the Blohm+Voss shipyard to the Port of Piraeus in Greece. The Olympia Explorer, together with her sister ship, Olympia Voyager, are the fastest cruise vessels of their size, performing unique cruises at speeds of up to 30 knots. "The new itineraries Royal Olympic Cruises will offer with this vessel have created considerable interest in the cruise market. The first cruises are already fully booked," added Pantazis. On her maiden voyage on May 3, the Olympia Explorer will start a series of weekly cruises calling at the ports of Piraeus, Corfu, Venice, Dubrovnik, Bari, Katakolon, Istanbul, Mykonos and Santorini.

08 May 2002

Targeting Greek Shipping's $16B Budget

Around the world, people involved with shipping are booking flights to Greece and preparing to do business at the Posidonia 2002 International Shipping Exhibition, held on the Piraeus waterfront from June 4-7, 2002. With the Greek market worth a conservative $16 billion per annum, there is plenty of incentive. The business week begins with The Posidonia Congress and a program of high level international presentations and debate, at the Megaron, Athens Concert Hall on Monday, June 3. Posidonia's attraction for exhibitors and visitors is not hard to see. Greek shipowners control the biggest fleet in the world. Their drive towards fleet renewal and regeneration is creating multi billion dollar opportunities throughout the international maritime industry.

06 Oct 2000

Royal Olympic Announces Six-Month Results

Royal Olympic Cruise Lines Inc. reported a net loss for the first six months of the fiscal year 2000 of $10.2 million, an improvement of $2.3 million or 18.4 percent compared with the same period last year. The first half of the year is traditionally a very slow period for the area of the European cruise market in which Royal Olympic operates. The company expects to further improve its position in the rest of fiscal year 2000 and to report positive net income for the full year. The company plans to deploy its most recent delivery, the Olympic Voyager, in the Caribbean cruise market following the end of the summer and fall high seasons in the Aegean.

08 Nov 2000

New Marine Technology: The Hallmark of SMM 2000

The SMM exhibition in Hamburg has once again proven that it is the cradle of marine technology and the grand-daddy of all marine exhibitions. On display in 12 separate halls were more than 1,300 exhibitors from more than 50 countries, launching new products and discussing business with an estimated 37,000 visitors. More telling that sheer numbers, in this case, is the feeling of the exhibition and the ubiquitous marine technology theme. The quality of attendee and exhibitor is always high, but this edition of the bi-annual exhibition seemed especially charged due to the many positives currently running throughout the full spectrum of the maritime market.

07 Dec 2000

Royal Olympic Cruises Appoints New Executives

Royal Olympic Cruise Lines (ROCL) has elected George Stathopoulos to the position of acting CEO. At the same time, Stathopoulos maintains responsibility for the Company's worldwide marketing and sales efforts. The Company also appointed George Kassapis to the position of CFO. The appointment of George Stathopoulos to the top management post of the Company enables Dr. Stelios Kiliaris, who has served as CEO since December 1999, to fully resume his position as managing director of the major shareholder, Louis Cruise Lines Ltd. (LCL). He remains on the Board of ROCL and continues as a member of its Executive Committee. Involved in various aspects of the cruise industry for 24 years…

06 Dec 2000

Two Cruise Ships For Blohm + Voss?

German shipbuilder Blohm + Voss said on Wednesday it was in negotiations to build two ships but declined to confirm a report that the potential order was to build two cruise ships worth 960 million marks ($435.2 million). It was reported earlier that the German group was in talks with a potential U.S. client to build two giant cruise ships capable of a top speed of 29 knots using a new propulsion system and hull design. "I can confirm that we are in talks for two ships," a Blohm + Voss spokeswoman said. "We would be very glad if this came true, but for now we are in negotiations," he said but declined further comment. Blohm + Voss returned…

07 Jun 2002

Blohm + Voss – 125 Years In The Making

More than 125 years ago, on April 5, 1877, two young and ambitious engineers, Hermann Blohm and Ernst Voss joined together to what has since evolved into one of Germany’s most advanced and largest shipyards – Blohm + Voss Schiffswerft und Maschinenfabrik (shipyard and machine factor) on Steinwarder Island, situated on the River Elbe. Originally formed to build steam ships, the company began to develop into one of the largest closed shipyard site and dock capacity by the beginning of the 20th Century. Throughout its developmental stages, Blohm + Voss profited richly from a favorable economic environment, as well. At the time, the industrialization of the united German Reich was occurring, thus causing the need for a large amount of cargo and passenger ships were suddenly needed.

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