KUALA LUMPUR (March 3): The last cruise ship from the former Genting Hong Kong operation, Dream Cruises’ World Dream, has been sold in Singapore.

Industry magazine The Maritime Executive on Thursday (March 2) reported that the vessel was renamed Manara on Friday (March 3) while still in the Singapore anchorage and re-registered with a new homeport of Majuro, Marshall Islands, while Cruise Saudi confirmed that it has acquired the ship.

Singapore’s High Court listed the cruise ship among the assets sold as of Feb 24, with details due to be published as an official notice in the Singapore Government Gazette on March 3.

The World Dream came under the control of the Singapore court in May 2022, as the liquidators worked to resolve the bankruptcy of Genting Hong Kong.

The ship was arrested by KfW IPEX-Bank in March 2022 as the financial institution that had financed the construction of the ship in Germany for Genting HK.

The Maritime Executive said the ship had failed to receive a winning bid at a December auction conducted by the sheriff of Singapore, with most observers believing that the bank was blocking low-priced offers.

Meanwhile, Cruise Saudi’s chief executive officer Lars Clasen said the ship has been renamed to reflect its new ownership and will now undergo a refit.

He said plans for the new ship will be announced in due time. Observers noted that Al Manara is also the name of a luxury hotel in Aqaba, Jordan.

Built in 2017 by Meyer Werft, the 150,700 gross-tonne World Dream was largely based on a design developed for the Norwegian Cruise Line.

Genting Hong Kong had taken control of Norwegian as an investor in 1999, starting a revitalisation of the US-cruise brand building a series of ships at Meyer Werft. Norwegian introduced the Norwegian Breakaway in 2013, and a sister ship the Norwegian Getaway in 2014.

Genting Hong Kong ordered two nearly identical ships named Genting Dream and World Dream, which were used in 2016 and 2017 in Asia, to launch the company’s new brand Dream Cruises.

The cruise line suspended operations early in 2022, after the financial collapse of Genting Hong Kong.