# The owners of Hebridean Princess are bankrupt



## fred henderson (Jun 13, 2005)

Hebridean International Cruises, the Yorkshire -based company operating the small cruise ship HEBRIDEAN PRINCESS, has gone into administration. Sufficient funding has been obtained to allow the ship to continue its 2009 cruise programme, whilst administrators Ernst & Young pursue a sale of the company as a going concern. It is thought that there may be some interest from Swan Hellenic, which was revived last year by former P&O chairman Lord Jeffrey Sterling

The 49 berth HEBRIDEAN PRINCESS is one of the most photographed ships in the SN Galleries, with 67 photos on:

http://www.shipsnostalgia.com/gallery/search.php?searchid=317751

The company’s other ship, HEBRIDEAN SPIRIT, was sold earlier this month while undergoing a refit in Cape Town. It is reported that she was bought by Middle Eastern interests for only £ 4.8 million

http://www.shipsnostalgia.com/gallery/search.php?searchid=317750

All owners face great financial difficulties trying to operate small cruise ships like these.

Fred (Thumb)


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## James_C (Feb 17, 2005)

I'd heard the first rumours a couple of weeks ago. It seems it was the Spirit making continual losses that brought it all crashing down, as I believe she only turned an operating profit for a couple of years of ownership.
Hebridean Princess on the other hand has been consistently very profitable and it's that ship that's kept the operation afloat since purchase of the Spirit, not to mention the major kudos that ship received when chartered by the Queen. I'm led to believe the Spirit was sold for conversion to a private yacht.
It'd be a shame to see the company disappear and I do think there is a market for them. Certainly when I sailed aboard the Princess a couple of years ago the overwhelming majority of passengers were regular customers who didn't like the larger cruise ships with so many onboard and the up market 'Butlins' style entertainment, they appreciated the personal touches that are commensurate with a small number of passengers.
Fred - you might want to change the topic from Highland to Hebridean.


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## Guest (Apr 17, 2009)

Sad news, she called here many times, fine ship and got the impression all happy bunch on board and many returning customers.
Tough times for all shipping.... don't talk to me ...:sweat:


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## fred henderson (Jun 13, 2005)

James_C said:


> Fred - you might want to change the topic from Highland to Hebridean.


Thank you James. Another of my senior moments! (Smoke) 

Fred (Thumb)


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## dondoncarp (Feb 26, 2006)

Nearly went for a job with them in january through viking recruitement....glad i didn`t now...sad to see


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## RayJordandpo (Feb 23, 2006)

I sailed with Capt. Brian Larcombe, master of the 'Hebridean Princess' when he was mate and master in the offshore industry. A top man and good shipmate. Shame about the company going bust, they seemed to have a very good name. Didn't know they were based in Yorkshire though.


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## sidsal (Nov 13, 2007)

Sad to hear the news.. My good friend Edmund Drew - retired Mersey pilot and his wife Margaret did several trips in Heb Princess and one on the Spirit.
I would have thought that these small ships would now do well as more and more cruisers are getting fed up with the big ships and their Butlins type experience.

PS Hebrides reminds me of the joke about the Parish magazine which announced - " The vicar is disappointed that the large attendance by men at the lecture by Doctor Mc Tavish was occasioned by a misunderstanding. Many of the men thought the lecture was entitled - "Life among the He-Brides
wheras it was, of course Life among the Hebrides" !!
Boom boom !


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## shamrock (May 16, 2009)

Hebridean has been taken over by All Leisure Group - owners of Swan Hellenic & Voyages of Discovery.

In my opinion, however, there is little cause for celebration.

Swan Hellenic's ship Minerva went through last summer and most of her Antarctic season with genset trouble which ended up cancelling cruises and adding drydock time in Naples. There are still problems with her reliability.

VoD' ship Discovery had an engine failure in February 2008, not reported officially to existing passengers until boarding, nor to enquiring passengers until final invoice paid. At the time I was a staffmember on a cruise oriented site and took the story to the BBC and to Jane Archer at the Telegraph. Both covered it at length, the flag authority (Bermuda) sent investigators onto the ship, Lloyds did the same and ParisMou arranged for 9 seperate inspections, many of which she was found to have significant defects warranting substantial repairs. Even when questioned by the media the then MD David Yellow constantly replied 'it'll be fixed next week'...it wasn't. After 8 months the engines were finally fixed but only after considerable pressure from the authorities and losing their ops licence for Antarctica and bad press causing bookings to be cancelled. David Yellow resigned his post and has joined his mentor Herrod in a new venture operating Aegean I which is currently under refit in Perama.


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## Bill Davies (Sep 5, 2007)

The owners of Hebridean Princess are bankrupt..........say's who.


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## MARINEJOCKY (Nov 25, 2007)

As noted in "BUSINESS WEEK


Announced 04/22/09
1.00M for Hebridean International Cruises, Hebridean Princess and Other Related Assets
Merger/Acquisition
All Leisure Group Plc (AIM: ALLG) acquired Hebridean Princess and other related assets from Hebridean International Cruises for £1.4 million in cash on April 22, 2009. For the year ended November 30, 2008, Hebridean Princess had revenue of £7 million and profit before taxation of £1.2 million. The deal has been approved by bankruptcy court. The overall contribution of the acquisition to the profits of All Leisure in the current financial year is expected to be broadly ... neutral. Colin Peter Dempster and Fiona Livingstone Taylor of Ernst & Young LLP acted as administrators for Hebridean International Cruises Ltd. William Vandyk of Blue Oar Securities Plc acted as the financial advisor and Ginny Pulbrook and Hannah Seward of Citigate Dewe Rogerson acted as the PR advisors to All Leisure Group.


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## Keltic Star (Jan 21, 2006)

An I missing something? Seems strange to me that a company that had 7 million pounds in revenue and a before tax profit of 1.2 million was in bankruptcy. That's a 17 % profit margin. There must have been an awful lot of losses in previous years to bring the company down.


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## gaelsail (Aug 24, 2008)

Keltic Star said:


> An I missing something? Seems strange to me that a company that had 7 million pounds in revenue and a before tax profit of 1.2 million was in bankruptcy.


The problem was not the Hebridean Princess; I think it was the other ship that made the losses.


MARINEJOCKY said:


> *Hebridean Princess* had revenue of £7 million


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## Bill Davies (Sep 5, 2007)

I don't think you are missing anything Keltic Star. Give the posts a little bit more mileage and we will arrive there.


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## shamrock (May 16, 2009)

Hebridean Spirit was sold shortly before the announcement was made that the company was entering administration, she is now in the process of being converted to a private yacht - with her sister the ex easyCruiseOne - in Dubai.


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## Keltic Star (Jan 21, 2006)

Actually a sale of the Spirit for 4.8 million pounds was a good deal. Out of the yard this vessel and her sisters were contracted for $55 million USD each but in real money they only cost $7.7 million each thanks to a very generous 86% Italian shipbuilding subsidy.


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## Keltic Star (Jan 21, 2006)

Bill Davies said:


> I don't think you are missing anything Keltic Star. Give the posts a little bit more mileage and we will arrive there.


I think you are right Bill, there's more of this story to follow, but a 17% profit margin on that trade creates thoughts of going back in the small ship cruise business even at my advancing years. We might even be able to pick up a crew of old f--ts from the SN pool. 
Bob


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## sidsal (Nov 13, 2007)

Keltic Star
Wheras they may not be quite yet "old farts" - one or 2 ex Conway chaps who were retired mariners, worked for Heb P and Spirit. I've forgotten their names but met them at the bi monthly lunches which we have at L'pool marina.


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## StewartM (Jun 29, 2005)

sidsal said:


> Keltic Star
> Wheras they may not be quite yet "old farts" - one or 2 ex Conway chaps who were retired mariners, worked for Heb P and Spirit. I've forgotten their names but met them at the bi monthly lunches which we have at L'pool marina.


Possibly David Campbell, Ian Drummond, Brian Walmsley.

Stewart.


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