River navigator accident

[notamermaid]

On 16 February the River Navigator collided head-on with a barge in the harbour canal at Duisburg on the Rhine. The River Navigator was on a "technical sailing" after the winter break with no passengers on board. After hitting the barge she drifted uncontrolled along the river/canal and came to a halt in a grass embankment nearby. Part of the hull was sliced open, thankfully above the waterline. The damage to both the vessel and the barge is in excess of 100,000 euros.

 

The River Navigator belongs to the KD cruise fleet and is chartered by various companies throughout the season including Vantage.

 

notamermaid

[sunsetbeachgal]

That is very interesting, hope none was injured. Just curious, with the comment about being chartered. Do most River cruise lines own their own boats, or is chartering common?

[notamermaid]

Ownership and chartering is mixed and very complicated in parts. Some companies own the ship but do not really own it. The older ships of Viking are KD, for example Viking Neptune, Viking River Cruises is the operator. That is the basic structure here. The new longships are different. A lot of ships are actually owned by a "company behind a company" and that is where it gets really complicated.

 

Scylla is a large charter company in Europe. Tauck charters ships from them as well as some other operators.

 

I have not looked into the ownership/operator relationships of the other North-American companies.

 

Retired ships usually are not scrapped but change ownership and are revamped. They often also go into charter.

 

This appears to be the case with the Viking Helvetia, she is not listed on the Viking website anymore.

 

notamermaid

[TravelerThom]

I think notamermaid knows more about this than I do, but I'll add that in addition to ownership I make a distinction between chartering and leasing.

 

I think of charter as usually for a week or a few weeks, with most of the crew supplied by the operating company (not the company that has sold you the cruise). Chartered boats will not be in the livery (paint job) of the company that sold you the cruise.

 

I think of lease as being long term, generally for a year or more. While the marine staff may well be provided by the boat owner, the hotel staff may be employed by the company selling the cruise. Leased boats often have livery of the company that has leased them.

 

River Navigator has the Vantage "V symbol" applied in a number of locations when run by Vantage, but I guess those are easily stripped if it is chartered to various companies.

 

Some countries (I am thinking of Portugal, Russia, Ukraine) make it difficult to have foreign owned vessels, so most boats there are chartered or leased.

 

Thom

Edited March 14, 2016 by TravelerThom

[Keith1010]

Hopefully no one was injured.

 

Keith

[steamboats]

Actually the River Navigator is owned by Premicon AG (KD is only operating the ship - KD is also "owned" by Premicon). I´m currently not sure to which company the ship is chartered out. She was built for Vantage but last cruise line was German Nicko Cruises.

 

BTW no passengers were onboard. No injuries amongst the crew.

 

steamboats

[notamermaid]

Thank you steamboats,

 

for the (apparent) correction. I overlooked the company structure behind the River Navigator. It is what I meant with "company behind the company". The River Navigator used to belong to Premicon. It was sold to Vantage in 2011 I believe. The ship I cruised with, Transocean Belvedere, incidentally, is owned by Premicon as well as some other "four-star" ships.

 

Good point, TravelerThom, yet it appears the term "charter" is used throughout the river cruise industry as standard. As I said: a bit complicated.

 

Thank you steamboats for providing the all important info that noone was hurt.

 

notamermaid

Edited March 14, 2016 by notamermaid
Additional information

[Hydrokitty]

On 16 February the River Navigator collided head-on with a barge in the harbour canal at Duisburg on the Rhine. The River Navigator was on a "technical sailing" after the winter break with no passengers on board. After hitting the barge she drifted uncontrolled along the river/canal and came to a halt in a grass embankment nearby. Part of the hull was sliced open, thankfully above the waterline. The damage to both the vessel and the barge is in excess of 100,000 euros.

 

The River Navigator belongs to the KD cruise fleet and is chartered by various companies throughout the season including Vantage.

 

notamermaid

 

I just checked web site and Vantage states they own all of their ships and charter the Portugal and Asian ships . We were on the Navigator in 2008, 2009, 2014 and 2015 we were told 2015 was her last season as a Vantage ship and had already been sold, ...what a shame she was my favorite ship we were in the same cabin 3 of the 4x times ...we requested it on the last one but it was already reserved so we were next door. I know the crews are not Vantage employees but with the exception of the TM and concierge (who are Vantage employees), all of them work for a German or Swiss (I think) agency that acts as an employment agency for cruise lines. That would explain the wonderful service from the crew.

 

I make the same distinction Thom does regarding leasing and chartering.

Edited March 14, 2016 by Hydrokitty

[notamermaid]

Hello Hydrokitty,

 

which would mean that I stand corrected and the River Navigator is back with KD/Premicon. You are right, the crew is usually employed through a different company, there is a large recruitment agency/company in Switzerland.

 

Quite a few ships have changed hands in the last few years. I read somewhere that Viking plans to retire all its old ships and wants to replace them with the new longship designs. If you like the traditional KD design, hurry...

 

notamermaid

 

 

notamermaid

[Hydrokitty]

Hello Hydrokitty,

 

which would mean that I stand corrected and the River Navigator is back with KD/Premicon. You are right, the crew is usually employed through a different company, there is a large recruitment agency/company in Switzerland.

 

Quite a few ships have changed hands in the last few years. I read somewhere that Viking plans to retire all its old ships and wants to replace them with the new longship designs. If you like the traditional KD design, hurry...

 

notamermaid

 

notamermaid

 

Guten morgen to you, notamermaid...regarding your post, you're still correct. Navigator was probably sold by Vantage to KD/Premicon and they were taking it on a "test run" when they had the accident. It sure is interesting trying to trace the ownership of these ships...like the proverbial needle in a haystack.

 

I know the newer Vantage ships are larger than the Navigator but I don't know if they're as big as the Viking longships. I've seen the Viking ships on the river and they look ok, but I think they're a mistake because they draw so much more water and you, of all people, know what that means. :D

[steamboats]

notamermaid and Hydrokitty,

 

despite what Vantage said, the River Navigator was and is owned by Premicon. They´ve never sold it. Premicon is a Munich investment company (building ships and selling shares).

 

The River Navigator was exclusivly built for Vantage. But that charter contract did end. Then Premicon chartered it out to Nicko Cruises - back in 2008. During the winter season she did a few Christmas market tours (some for the Swiss travel agency Mittelthurgau Reisen). Vantage announced a new ship called River Navigator II (in 2013). But obviously this never got built. On their website the "old" River Navigator is still shown. They might have bought it from Premicon in 2013 (that´s also the date it was refurbished). Premicon does list the River Navigator as being built in 2000, Vantage lists her as being built in 2002. Premicon was eager to sell its ships as they still had TransOcean and their river cruise business never really got successful.

 

steamboats

[notamermaid]

Hello steamboats,

 

this is really odd. It was announced that in an earlier article (than 2013) I found that Premicon had sold it to Vantage.

 

Thank you for the detailed info.

 

I hope the River Navigator will be able to do its scheduled tours and there will be no disappointed customers. I could not find any recent activities planned, but have not looked in detail into KD or nicko for this year.

 

nicko has struggled through and will continue to do cruises this year using among other ships the MS Bijou du Rhone (owned by Premicon) which used to be the - wait for it - Viking Pride!

 

Here is a weird one: the River Navigator did a pre-Christmas tour that you could book through a well-known German supermarket chain...

 

notamermaid

[Hydrokitty]

Hello steamboats,

 

this is really odd. It was announced that in an earlier article (than 2013) I found that Premicon had sold it to Vantage.

 

Thank you for the detailed info.

 

I hope the River Navigator will be able to do its scheduled tours and there will be no disappointed customers. I could not find any recent activities planned, but have not looked in detail into KD or nicko for this year.

 

nicko has struggled through and will continue to do cruises this year using among other ships the MS Bijou du Rhone (owned by Premicon) which used to be the - wait for it - Viking Pride!

 

Here is a weird one: the River Navigator did a pre-Christmas tour that you could book through a well-known German supermarket chain...

 

notamermaid

 

As the King said: "It's a puzzlement"....where do you go to find out this information....this is really fascinating and it's raining here so I can't go outside today!! :D