CRUISE AND MARITIME VOYAGES PLACED INTO ADMINISTRATION

South Quay Travel Limited, which traded under the name Cruise & Maritime Voyages (CMV) has gone into administration, falling victim to the Covid-19 crisis.

Founded in 2009, the British line last year celebrated the addition of a sixth ship to its fleet. With all operations stalled since March, cruises were to have restarted in mid-August. However, administrators Duff & Phelps announced on 20 July that the company had “ceased trading with immediate effect”.

Agencies of the line in Essex, Australia, France and the US have all shut down.

After a record trading year in 2019, the Covid-19 crisis hit the company hard, and last month, CMV was said to be in talks with a number of parties in order to raise enough funds to continue operating. However, it appears negotiations were unfruitful.

Based in Essex, CMV is the first British cruise line to go out of business this year.

In an official statement on the company’s website, the administrators wrote:

Customers that have booked a package holiday provided by SQTL through a travel agent should contact the travel agent in the first instance for further advice and assistance as they may have made alternative arrangements for you.

If you booked directly with SQTL you should follow the advice below.

Non-flight packages

If you booked a non-flight package holiday (eg a cruise without flights) through SQTL these are protected by ABTA or by your credit or debit card issuer. You should visit www.abta.com/failures for further advice on how to claim.

Package holidays with flights included (UK Customers Only)

If your booking included flights, you will need to contact the CAA as your booking is protected by the CAA’s ATOL scheme. Further information and advice on how to claim is available on the ATOL website here: www.caa.co.uk/ATOL-protection/Make-an-ATOL-claim/Latest-ATOL-holder-failures/