No Swan order

Executives at All Leisure Group denied a newspaper report that the UK company's Swan Hellenic Cruises is placing an order at a Portuguese shipyard.

Newspaper Publico reported Monday that the small-ship cruise line is finalising talks with Estaleiros Navais de Viana do Castello (ENVC) for two luxury passenger ferries.

Swan Hellenic's chartered-in Minerva

"I am sorry, they are just rumours," All Leisure Group chairman Roger Allard told TradeWinds. "We have had no discussions with them at all."

Efforts to reach representatives of the shipyard were not immediately successful on Monday.

The Publico's description of Swan Hellenic, however, appears to have mixed the company up with another ship operator, Greece's Hellenic Seaways.

UK-based Swan Hellenic charters a single ship, the 320-berth Minerva (built 1996).

But Publico erroneously describes the outfit as one of Greece's largest shipping companies with a fleet of 34 vessels, which is how ferry operator Hellenic Seaways describes itself on its website.

Hellenic Seaways representatives could not be immediately reached for this story.

Printable version Newsletter sign up