Phoenix Reisen is a Germany-based travel agency that also operates a fleet of cruise ships.[1] The company first entered the cruise business in 1988 by chartering the Soviet Union-owned cruise ship SS Maxim Gorkiy.[2]

Phoenix Reisen
IndustryTourism
Founded1988
HeadquartersBonn, Germany
Productstravel agency
maritime cruises
Websitehttps://www.phoenixreisen.com/

History

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Phoenix Reisen first begun operating cruises under its own brand in 1988 when the company chartered the West German-built cruise ship SS Maxim Gorkiy from the Soviet Union-based Black Sea Shipping Company on a 20-year charter agreement.[2][3] In 1993 a second ship joined the Phoenix Reisen fleet, when SS Albatros was chartered from V-Ships. Unlike the Maxim Gorkiy, which retained the colours of her owners in Phoenix service,[4] the Albatros was painted in Phoenix Reisen's own colours with a turquoise funnel displaying the company logo.[5]

Due to numerous mechanical problems, Phoenix Reisen decided to prematurely terminate the charter of the Albatros in December 2003.[5] As a replacement Phoenix quickly chartered MS Crown in January 2004, which was renamed MS Albatros.[6][7] In 2005 the company fleet expanded to include three ships for the first time when MS Alexander von Humboldt (2005) was chartered from V-Ships.[8] A fourth ship followed in 2006 with the charter of MS Amadea, a higher-class vessel compared with the rest of the Phoenix Reisen fleet.[9] In 2008 the first Alexander von Humboldt was replaced by a larger vessel chartered from Club Cruise, confusingly also named MS Alexander von Humboldt (before entering service the ship was marketed as Alexander von Humboldt II, but she eventually received the same name as the ship she replaced).[10][11] In late 2008 the charter of the Maxim Gorkiy ended, and due to high fuel prices combined with the high fuel consumption of the ship's steam turbines Phoenix Reisen decided not to renew the charter.[12] In May 2009 Phoenix Reisen chartered MS Athena (2005) from Nina SpA.[13] In April 2011, the company took delivery of MV Artania, which formerly sailed as MV Artemis for P&O Cruises. In July 2019 the fleet was increased with a former HAL ship.

Fleet

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Current Fleet (Ocean)

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Ship Built In service Registered Owner Tonnage Flag Notes Image
Amadea 1991 2006 onwards Amadea Shipping Company 29,008 GT   Bahamas  
Amera 1988 2019 onwards Amera Shipping Company 38,848 GT   Bahamas  
Artania 1984 2011 onwards Artania Shipping Ltd / Artania GmbH 44,588 GT   Bahamas[14]  
Deutschland 1998 2016 onwards
(only Summer)
Absolute Nevada LLC 22,400 GT   Bahamas Chartered from Absolute Nevada. Sailing as World Odyssey for Semester at Sea from September until April each year.  

Former Fleet

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Ship Built In Service Chartered from Tonnage Flag Status Image
Maxim Gorkiy 1969 1988–2008 Black Sea Shipping Company
Sovcomflot
24,981 GT   Soviet Union
  Bahamas
Scrapped at Alang, India in 2009  
Albatros 1957 1993–2003 V-Ships 21,985 GRT   Bahamas Scrapped at Alang, India in 2004  
Carina 1977 1997-2000 Danube Shipping Company 7,662 GRT   Cyprus Scrapped at Aliağa, Turkey in 2013  
Albatros 1973 2004-2020 Albatros Shipping Company 28,518 GT   Bahamas Scrapped at Alang, India in 2021  
Alexander von Humboldt 1990 2005–2008 V-Ships 12,331 GT   Bahamas Since 2008 sailing as Minerva for Swan Hellenic  
Alexander von Humboldt 1990 2008 Club Cruise 15,343 GT   Bahamas Currently sailing as the Voyager for Voyages of Discovery  
Athena 1948 2009 Nina SpA 16,144 GT   Portugal Laid up, pending sale or disposal  

References

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  1. ^ "Phoenix Reisen GmbH Bonn". Phoenix Reisen. Retrieved 2009-02-22.
  2. ^ a b Asklander, Micke. "S/S Hamburg (1969)". Fakta om Fartyg (in Swedish). Archived from the original on 2012-08-03. Retrieved 2009-02-22.
  3. ^ Ward, Douglas (2008). Complete Guide to Cruising & Cruise Ships. Singapore: Berlitz. pp. 435–436. ISBN 978-981-268-240-6.
  4. ^ Boyle, Ian. "Hamburg - Maxim Gorkiy". Simplon Postcards. Retrieved 2009-02-22.
  5. ^ a b Plowman, Peter (2004). The Sitmar Liners: Past and Present. Hong Kong: Rosenberg. pp. 218–219, 272. ISBN 1-877058-25-4.
  6. ^ Asklander, Micke. "M/S Royal Viking Sea (1983)". Fakta om Fartyg (in Swedish). Archived from the original on 2012-07-31. Retrieved 2009-02-22.
  7. ^ Boyle, Ian. "Royal Viking Sea". Simplon Postcards. Retrieved 2009-02-22.
  8. ^ Asklander, Micke. "M/S Minerva (1990)". Fakta om Fartyg (in Swedish). Archived from the original on 2012-07-29. Retrieved 2009-02-22.
  9. ^ Ward (2008). p. 188
  10. ^ Newman, Doug (2007-09-04). "The New Alexander Von Humboldt". At Sea with Doug Newman. Archived from the original on 2008-11-22. Retrieved 2009-02-22.
  11. ^ Asklander, Micke. "M/S Crown Monarch (1990)". Fakta om Fartyg (in Swedish). Archived from the original on 2012-08-02. Retrieved 2009-02-22.
  12. ^ Newman, Doug (2007-11-27). "Maxim Gorkiy Departure Confirmed". At Sea with Doug Newman. Archived from the original on 2008-11-22. Retrieved 2009-02-22.
  13. ^ Asklander, Micke. "M/S Stockholm (1948)". Fakta om Fartyg (in Swedish). Archived from the original on 2012-07-31. Retrieved 2009-06-17.
  14. ^ "Hier befindet sich MS Artania heute".
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