The new name of the company, sources indicate, has been selected to honor the ancient Greek mariners who charted their courses from the stars. Expected to be completed as early as September of this year, the rebranding will reportedly coincide with expansion efforts, including the acquisition of an additional vessel.
Adding to its fleet of five cruise ships, the new vessel will be of some 25, GT, similar in size to the Louis Cristal ship. This development is expected to be announced in time for the cruise season. Founded in by the late Louis Loizou, Louis Group is, today, considered one of the leading European companies in the field of cruising, hotel construction and management, and travel-related services.
Once a small travel agency, Louis has grown into a multifaceted entity, catering to individuals and groups in their quest to discover the Mediterranean. Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment.
Contact us: info maritimecyprus. By it's 20th anniversary the Louis fleet would number With the new charters to Thomson with Calypso and Aquamarine renamed Arielle to German Based Transocean Tours, the company now had five ships chartered to major tour operators and eight included in its own fleet. The company also set up a franchise agreement that allowed them to operate ships in the Eastern Mediterranean on behalf of easyCruise.
Entering into , the future for the Louis company had never looked more certain. Suddenly when everything was running so smoothly, tragedy struck. When on April 5th, 2oo7 the newest and largest of the Lois fleet, Sea Diamond hit a reef just off Santorini on its very first cruise of the season.
All passengers and crew, except two missing French passengers were safely evacuated from the ship, several hours before the ship finally sank in the early hours of April 6th.
News of this tragic accident was reported and watched on televisions throughout the world. In Britain one of the company's key markets the Louis Group had already made headlines for the wrong reasons, when in two British children had died from carbon monoxide poisoning due to a faulty boiler at a Louis resort in Corfu. The tragic accident that befell Sea Diamond was yet another terrible blow to the Louis reputation.
In an inquest a year later, a spokesman for the Louis Group claimed a faulty map was the cause for the grounding and subsequent sinking of Sea Diamond, and new evidence has recently emerged which actually support that claim. Even with these tragic accidents, the company though a little tarnished still remains one of the largest and most reputable names in tourism across the Eastern Mediterranean. After the Sea Diamond accident, any expansion planned by Louis had to be put on hold while the company tried to find a suitable ship to replace their other sunken vessel.
Most of the Sea Diamonds charters had to taken over by other members of the fleet, such as Thompson Spirit and The Emerald, whose own charters for that summer hadn't yet begun. Even Pullmantur Cruises' Oceanic II which was also on lease from a Greek owner was also chartered to cover a few of the cruises, while Monarch Classic Cruises' Ocean Countess, now renamed Ruby by Louis was chartered for the remaining summer cruises.
Finally a more permanent replacement was chartered with the Louis Cristal, the former NCL Leeward which was about the same size as Sea Diamond, but was several years newer and contained much better facilities.
The Louis Cruise Lines fleet consist mainly of older second- or third-hand ships. Louis Cruise Lines is the fifth largest cruise operator in the world. Louis Cruise Lines is a subsidiary of the Cyprus-based travel and tourism group Louis plc, that was founded in as the first travel agency in Cyprus.
Royal Olympic was already in difficulties by the time Louis became involved with the company, and the September 11, attacks dealt a further blow, finally leading to the collapse of Royal Olympic in Also in , following the collapse of Royal Olympic Cruises, Louis Cruise Lines purchased two of their former ships at bargain prices and established their own Louis Hellenic Cruises brand for the Greek cruise market.
July 31, In what is being seen as a landmark decision, Hill Dickinson is the first law firm to have successfully defended a UK class action case involving a Norovirus outbreak onboard a cruise liner.
May 6, Louis Group has purchased the brand Cuba Cruise and other related assets, according to Italian trade reports. January 6,
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