Cruise ships held

The Mistral, a ship belonging to Festival Cruises which until recently was a frequent caller at Malta, was seized by French authorities in Marseille on Sunday.

Fairplay International Shipping Weekly reported that the cruise ship was detained together with two other Festival Cruises ships - the European Vision in Santo Domingo and the European Stars in Barcelona, where passengers were forced to disembark.

It is understood that a creditor, possibly Italian state owned bank S. Paolo, had not been reimbursed for bonds that expired on December 31.

Festival owns Mistral but charters the other two vessels from Alstom, which built all three vessels within the last four years at its Chantiers de l'Atlantique yard.

Festival's financial debts are well known but the panic in Italy following the recent bankruptcy of Italian food giants Parmalat and Cirio, following their inability to redeem bonds, may have persuaded S. Paolo to call for the detention of the ships, Fairplay reported.