Laid-up Croatian-built luxury sailship finds new owners

A luxury sailing vessel that has been laid up in Croatia for nearly a year will soon be handed over to a new owner based in the UK.

The 162-metre Flying Clipper was originally ordered by Star Clippers of Sweden and was completed by Croatian shipyard Brodosplit in the summer of 2019. However, Brodosplit cancelled the sale of the vessel in August 2019 due to Star Clippers’ “failure to meet contractual obligations.”

Specifically, the shipyard cited the buyer’s delay in securing some key vessel components and the corresponding technical documentation and its having “unjustifiably activated bank funding which included a €12 million (US$13.6 million) state guarantee.” These actions are said to have resulted in the postponement of delivery by almost two years.

Brodosplit commented that, due to Star Clippers’ contract breaches, the shipyard has been freed of any obligation to deliver Flying Clipper to its original buyer and is thus cleared to sell the vessel to other interested parties.

The vessel will be renamed following its transfer to Tradewind Voyages UK.

No details on the sale have yet been provided.