Louis charters Ocean Queen for German round world trip

Louis plc announced that it has agreed to charter its recently-acquired cruise ship, the Orient Queen, to two German companies — Hansa Kreuzfarten GmbH and Delphin Kreuzfarten GmbH – for a round the world trip from next Monday, December 18, to May 7, 2007.

The 140-day charter will take the ship from Pireaus to around Africa, then to Latin America, sail through the Pacific and on to Australia before returning to Piraeus by passing along the southern Asian coast. 

On its Round the World trip, the M/V Orient Queen will depart from Piraeus and sail to Egypt, the Seychelles, Mozambique, South Africa, Brazil, Argentina, Uruguay, Chile, French Polynesia, Samoa Islands, New Zealand, Australia, Singapore, Sri Lanka, India, the Arabian Gulf and eventually return to Piraeus.   

The above charter is expected to make a positive contribution to Louis plc’s profitability, the company said.

No financial details were announced.

Upon the completion of the charter to the German companies, the Orient Queen will resume its cruises in the Aegean and the eastern Mediterranean as part of the Louis Hellenic fleet.

The vessel was previously chartered to a U.K. company for a 31 day period to operate as a floating hotel during the ICC cricket world cup between March 30 and April 29, but the said agreement was cancelled “due to the inability of the charterer to fulfil its contractual obligations,” Louis said in its announcement.