Cruise company dumps passengers before feds seize luxury vessels in Bahamas: Report – silive.com

STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. A ship called Serenity sent passengers into chaos.

A pair of cruise liners seized by federal authorities unloaded vacationers before sailing for safety in international waters, according to a New York Post report.

The Crystal Serenity and Crystal Symphony had crew members on board when authorities caught up to them with a warrant approved by a U.S. federal district court judge, according to multiple reports and Cruise Law News. It remained uncertain Sunday how federal officials had authority to carry out the warrant in the Bahamas, wrote the Post.

Fuel supplier Peninsula Petroleum Far East filed a complaint in Florida last month seeking an arrest warrant against the cruise ships under U.S. admiralty law, The Daily Mail reported.

The seizures came amid allegations the Miami-based owner, Crystal Cruises, failed to pay $4.6 million in fuel bills, by the countrys maritime authority over some type of unpaid bill, Seatrade Cruise News reported.

The scores of passengers aboard both the Crystal Serenity and Crystal Symphony were left in the Bimini district of the Bahamas, about 50 miles from Miami, said numerous reports, before being ferried to Fort Lauderdale and then left to fend for themselves, wrote the Post.

One passenger, via a Facebook post dated Jan. 31, said Five hours in, we get off the ferry only to find all the luggage dumped everywhere, colors and numbers NOT together, luggage falling down, no porters and NO CRYSTAL REPS. NONE. No one giving instructions. No one helping the older folks. It was a shameful sight.

Following the incident, commenters railed against Crystal Cruises on their own social media accounts: Cool pictures but what good are they if you just drop off passengers wherever you want instead of where you agreed? read one Instagram response.

Stay the [$%^&] outta the Bahamas, another read.

A third boat, the Crystal Endeavor, had to remove passengers after the ship was held in Ushuaia, Argentina, by the countrys maritime authority over some type of unpaid bill, Seatrade Cruise News reported.

Read the original post:

Cruise company dumps passengers before feds seize luxury vessels in Bahamas: Report - silive.com