SH MINERVA

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Swan Hellenic regained ship after legal battle related to sanctions against Russia

The expedition cruise line Swan Hellenic has finally been able to regain the 'SH Minerva', after a three-year legal battle related to the sanctions placed on Russian companies after the invasion of Ukraine. The ship has been laid up in Uruguay since the spring of 2022, while lawyers sought to find a solution to free the ship from an unintentional legal trap. The ship aws the first of ultimately three ships used to restart the famed Swan Hellenic bran, delivered in 2021 by the Helsinki Shipyard, using a common legal structure with the ships being built for a single purpose finance company, which in turn was leasing them long-term to Swan Hellenic. The leasing deal was with an Irish subsidiary of the Russian financial giant GTLK. After the invasion of Ukraine and the imposition of sanctions, Swan Hellenic was barred from making lease payments on the ship, but due to the legal structure and sanctions also could not buy the ship. Swan Hellenic in March 2022 declared its intent to buy the leasing companies, but that too was caught in the legal entanglement of the sanctions. To free Swan Hellenic’s second and third ships from the legal trap, the Helsinki Shipyard declared the construction agreements void and auctioned the incomplete ships, making it possible for the company to buy the ships. However, the process of freeing the 'SH Minerva' proved more complicated and became even more involved in May 2023 when the GTLK subsidiary was declared insolvent and placed in the hands of liquidators. The liquidators who had control of GTLK Europe and its subsidiaries, obtained compliance with all the applicable sanctions for the sale of the assets, including the 'SH Minerva'. After lengthy negotiations, Swan Hellenic has now been able to acquire the ship in accordance with all applicable sanctions. The transaction was completed on July 25, 2025, using shareholders’ funds. The ship remained at Fray Bentos and will undergo routine maintenance and preparations for its return to service in Nov 2025. It has been in Uruguay since April 2022, when it completed its Antarctic cruise season, while the company proceeded with operations of its sister ship 'SH Vega', introduced in July 2022, and the larger 'SH Diana', introduced in April 2023. The 'SH Minerva'' will join the fleet with all three ships operating the 2025-2026 Antarctic cruise season. In March 2026, the 'SH Minerva' will launch the company’s first-ever Asia-Pacific season, sailing to the Solomon Islands, Papua New Guinea, Raja Ampat, Indonesia, the Philippines, and Japan.

Cruise ship extracted Antarctic expedition

The 'SH Minerva' boarded the crew of the Antarctic Quest 21 expedition recently. The eight had been battling against the logistics of getting back to Ushuaia, dealing with fierce storms that hampered their movement while new Covid regulations introduced in Argentina had complicated their extraction plans. The team was transported to Antarctica in mid-December aboard the expedition cruise ship 'Sea Venture' to begin a planned science and exploration program on the Antarctic Peninsula. The team planned to travel over and along the spine of the Antarctic Peninsula, putting in place scientific equipment that will transmit data used in climate research. The second phase of the expedition called for data gathering for scientific research of climate change, meteorology, geology, and glaciology. They were gathering snow samples to evaluate long-range atmospheric transport of microplastic contamination, as well as measuring UVB radiation levels to establish the effect of ozone depletion, measuring snow deposition rates, and taking meteorological observations. They also conducted a special ceremony to mark the hundredth anniversary of Sir Ernest Shackleton’s final voyage to the continent. The expedition team had spent five weeks engaged on the Antarctic Peninsula when it became clear they would have to attempt an early return. The 'SH Minerva' arranged to come to their assistance. The issues leading to our emergency extraction started on Jan 3, 2022, referred to the increasing problems related to COVID-19 travel restrictions. The pick up from the ice was planned for Jan 27, and all planning assumptions were based on that date. As the time passed, they learned that other operators, such as Hurtigruten, were canceling their season of activity in the Antarctic. Ultimately, the firm that had provided transport to Antarctica informed the expedition that it would not be able to make the planned pickup. Swan Hellenic, the operators the 'SH Minerva', decided to assist them back to Ushuaia then with an ETA as of Jan 28. Report with photos: https://maritime-executive.com/article/cruise-ship-extracts-expedition-in-risk-of-being-stranded-in-antarctic

Helsinki Shipyard delivered SH MINERVA to Swan Hellenic

On December 3, 2021 Swan Hellenic took over their first of three new expedition cruise ships from Helsinki Shipyard: the SH MINERVA (IMO 9895240), 113 meters long with a passenger capacity of 152. The ship had been christened in Helsinki already at the end of November. Immediately after the takeover, Swan Hellenic began to transfer their new cruise liner to the Canary Islands. On December 5th, a first call was made in Kiel to take over equipment, the next day she made the passage of the Kiel Canal. A sister ship, the SH VEGA, is already under construction and is scheduled to be completed in 2022. Incidentally, the SH MINERVA is already the second cruise ship to be delivered in Finland this month. The COSTA TOSCANA had been delivered in Turku just one day earlier. Full article + video: https://www.cruisedeck.de/helsinki-shipyard-liefert-sh-minerva-ab/