Cruise West Continues Restructuring

Port of Seattle, Washington

Seattle-based Cruise West is continuing it's restructuring of the company as it attempts to survive.  We first broke the news several days ago that the Spirit of Oceanus' world cruise had been terminated in Newfoundland, Canada.   (Cruise West Undergoing Restructuring).

We have learned that the Washington state Employment Security Department has received a legally required layoff notification from Cruise West.. The department says Cruise West laid off 24 employees last Wednesday and another 41 were to be laid off starting last Friday.  This isn't a surprising event since new bookings were suspended when the original news broke.

Meanwhile other sources indicate that the Spirit of Oceanus might be on the chopping block, which would make sense based on the termination of the world cruise.   Cruise West has been very silent throughout this process but the announcement released September 8th did indicate some cruises would continue through October.

UPDATE: Spirit of Oceanus Sold

When Cruise West abruptly terminated the 335 day world cruise on Spirit of Oceanus last week, it was rumored that the ship would be sold.    We now know the rest of the story...

Spirit of Oceanus has indeed been sold by ship management company International Shipping Partners (ISP), on Cruise West's behalf, to a group of  Danish investors. The ship will be renamed Sea Spirit, and will be available for long-term charter according to ISP.   Full story: ISP Insider

So ends the story of the Spirit of Oceanus.  Secrecy continues surrounding the various changes at Cruise West.   No word yet on the fate of the other ships in the fleet or the company itself.

If you are scheduled to sail on Cruise West, keep a close eye on this developing story.