Haimark Travel loses another river cruise partner

Myanmar-based Ayravata Cruises is the second cruise company to
come forward this week to say that it has taken over full control of sales and
operations for ships that were being marketed and sold by Haimark Travel Ltd.

Andrea Massari, executive director of Ayravata Cruises Co., which
operates Paukan Cruises, said in an email to Travel Weekly that
Ayravata Cruises is the builder, owner and operator of the the Irrawaddy
Explorer and the Avalon Myanmar, and that Haimark had formerly been chartering
these vessels from Ayravata.

Haimark no longer charters these vessels from Ayravata, according
to Massari, and guests should now contact Ayravata directly for all existing
and future bookings. Massari added that Ayravata will operate all Irrawaddy
itineraries as scheduled and will honor all existing contracts and agent
bookings.

The news comes one day after Peruvian company Delfin Amazon
Cruises took over all promotional and sales efforts for the 43-passenger Amazon
Discovery, a vessel that was being marketed by Haimark Travel. 

The Federal Maritime Commission earlier this week said that Haimark Line
Ltd., operator of the Saint Laurent coastal ship, had canceled all future
cruises, but the fate of affiliated river cruise line, Haimark Travel Ltd., was
not mentioned in the statement released by the Federal Maritime Commission and
is still unknown.  

Haimark Line and Haimark Travel were acquired by private equity firm
VC2 Capital in January. The
Haimark Travel website
is currently down and Haimark Travel and VC2 Capital have not yet responded to
requests for comments.

In addition to the Amazon Discovery, Irrawaddy Explorer and Avalon
Myanmar, Haimark Travel operates five river cruise vessels — the 68-passenger
Mekong Navigator, the 24-passenger Mekong Princess, the 56-passenger Ganges
Voyager I and II and the Avalon Siem Reap. The Avalon ships were custom-built
for Avalon Waterways, and Avalon said its itineraries on the Avalon Siem Reap,
Avalon Myanmar as well as on the Amazon Discovery are continuing to operate as
planned.