Monday, November 23, 2009

OLA ESMERALDA cruises halted by the Government of Venezuela




The Government of Venezuela has just blocked the start of the cruise ship OLA ESMERALDA operation due on 20 November from La Guaira.
The decision was backed on environment issues relative to the small islands of Los Roques and La Tortuga, considered too sensitive to withstand a regular cruise operation. All advertising concerning OLA ESMERALDA cruises was also prohibited in Venezuela and the Government has ordered an environmental impact study.
These are sad news to the countless ship enthusiasts’ world wide that have been following the fate of the beloved classic cruise ship BLACK PRINCE, sold recently by Fred Olsen Cruise Line and delivered in Southampton on 6 November.
The new owners are SAVECA, a local company whose Chairman, Mr Juan Aguilera, informed the newspaper El Nacional that his company is open to consider all solutions to solve the situation, including a reduced number of calls at the islands and to promote on board dedicated environment information in order to minimize possible damages.
Photo: the OLA ESMERALDA berthed in Lisbon as BLACK PRINCE on 20 September 2006.
Texto e imagens /Text and images copyright L.M.Correia. For other posts and images, check our archive at the right column of the main page. Click on the photos to see them enlarged. Thanks for your visit and comments. Luís Miguel Correia

2 comments:

Raquel Sabino Pereira said...

Our Dear «Black Prince»...

LUIS MIGUEL CORREIA said...

Yes, let's hope this problem can be solved in a quick and fair way as the cruise program is really interesting...