A Catamaran Tried to Arrest Scarlet Lady. An Insurer’s Letter Set Her Free.

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Last Wednesday night, a 110,000-ton cruise ship snapped her ropes in a gale and leaned on a 38-metre excursion catamaran in Rhodes.

The next day, the catamaran’s owner went to court and asked a judge to stop the cruise ship from ever leaving.

The ship was Virgin Voyages’ Scarlet Lady, built for 2,770 guests. The claim was for at least €400,000. And by 5 p.m. on Thursday, October 1, she sailed out of Rhodes anyway, because an insurance company in Oslo had sent a letter.

It sounds like a farce. It’s actually routine maritime law, written down in a treaty from 1952. Here’s what happened, why a tour boat can try to “arrest” a cruise ship, what that letter does, and what your ticket says if it ever happens on your cruise.

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From “Touching” to €400,000

We covered the night itself last week. On September 30, Scarlet Lady had come into Rhodes ahead of a storm. Just after 8:15 p.m., with gale-force winds hitting the Aegean, several of her mooring lines parted. She swung toward the edge of the harbour and made contact with the catamaran King of Rhodes and two smaller boats, as Skai reported at the time. The Greek reports used a word meaning “touching against,” and early accounts suggested little harm done.

The catamaran’s side tells a different story. According to the Rhodes newspaper Dimokratiki, which reported the legal filing on October 4, the cruise ship struck the catamaran’s stern hard enough to shove it about 50 metres forward, onto a collision course with another vessel, the Symi II. The claim lists damaged mooring fittings, a boarding ladder lost to the sea, and a destroyed starboard platform that protects the propulsion. The owner fears hidden hull damage too, and a haul-out and drydocking are already scheduled.

So on Thursday, October 1, the catamaran’s owner applied for a precautionary seizure (syntiritiki kataschesi), asking the court to hold Scarlet Lady in port. The claim was “at least” €400,000, which Cruise Mummy says covers repairs, lost income and possibly chartering another boat to honour excursion contracts. Cruise Hive reports the same figure and outcome.

That outcome: Scarlet Lady departed on October 1 at 17:00, Dimokratiki says, “after the delivery of a letter of guarantee from the insurance company SKULD.” The case hasn’t gone away. It’s listed for a hearing before the single-member court of first instance in Rhodes on February 23, 2027.

Virgin Voyages didn’t respond to Cruise Hive or Cruise Mummy, and we found no public statement from the line.

Rope to Courtroom: The Timeline

When	What happened
Wed Sep 30, just after 8:15 p.m.	Scarlet Lady’s mooring lines part in Rhodes in gale-force winds. She makes contact with King of Rhodes and two small boats.
Same night	The catamaran is pushed about 50 metres and nearly hits the Symi II, according to Dimokratiki.
Thu Oct 1	The catamaran owner applies to the Rhodes court for a precautionary seizure of Scarlet Lady and a ban on her leaving. Claim: at least €400,000.
Thu Oct 1, 5 p.m.	Skuld delivers a letter of guarantee. Scarlet Lady sails.
Sun Oct 4	Dimokratiki publishes the story of the seizure request.
Oct 5–6	Cruise Hive and Cruise Mummy pick it up. Virgin Voyages doesn’t comment.
Coming up	King of Rhodes is to be hauled out and drydocked to check for hidden damage.
Tue Feb 23, 2027	Hearing scheduled at the Rhodes court.

Why a Tour Boat Can Try to Arrest a Cruise Ship

On land, if a stranger’s car dents yours, you get their insurance details. At sea, by tomorrow the “car” may be in another country, flying a foreign flag. Scarlet Lady is registered in the Bahamas, and Dimokratiki names her owner as VC Ship One Limited. A small Greek business waiting for a cheque could be chasing it across several legal systems for years.

So maritime law lets you grab the ship itself, temporarily, as security. Greece is a party to the 1952 Brussels International Convention Relating to the Arrest of Sea-Going Ships, according to a Greek shipping lawyer writing in Global Law Experts. The convention is short and blunt. Its list of claims that justify an arrest begins with item (a):

“damage caused by any ship either in collision or otherwise”

That’s the catamaran’s claim exactly. And Article 1(2) explains what “arrest” means: “the detention of a ship by judicial process to secure a maritime claim.” Note the word secure. An arrest isn’t a verdict. Nobody has decided who, if anyone, was at fault. The arrest just makes sure that if the claimant wins, there’s something to collect from.

Greece also makes it quick. Global Law Experts says an arrest goes to the single-member first-instance court at the port where the vessel is, and that in urgent Piraeus cases “the entire cycle from filing to physical detention of a vessel can be completed within 24 hours.” The catamaran owner filed the day after the collision, with the ship still in port, which is exactly when a claimant has leverage.

The Letter That Set Her Free

The same convention builds in the escape hatch. Article 5 says the court “shall permit the release of the ship upon sufficient bail or other security being furnished.” Put up security for the claim, and the ship goes.

Cash works, and so does a bank guarantee. But the shipping world’s favourite is a letter from the ship’s protection and indemnity (P&I) insurer. Skuld, the Oslo-based insurer named in the Greek report, is one of those insurers. Skuld’s own explainer on letters of undertaking describes them as “in effect, a form of guarantee issued by the Club – an undertaking to pay to the claimant the sum adjudged by a court to be due to them.”

Why a letter and not a bank? Speed and cost. Skuld says “it is not at all unusual for it to be issued in a matter of hours,” that there’s “no fee payable by the assured to the Club for issuing security,” and that “once the LOU has been accepted by the claimant, their claim is secured on a without prejudice basis, and the vessel will be released.” The Greek lawyer calls them the “industry standard in shipping disputes.”

“Without prejudice” is the important bit. The letter admits nothing. It just swaps the ship for a promise: if the Rhodes court eventually finds Scarlet Lady liable, Skuld pays, up to the amount the letter covers. The catamaran owner gets a solvent payer, the cruise ship gets her freedom, and the passengers get on with their cruise. Greek reports call it a “letter of guarantee.” We haven’t seen it, so we can’t say what it covers.

When the Letter Doesn’t Come: Crystal Symphony

For passengers, the Rhodes story is the good version. Here’s the bad one.

In January 2022, the same week Crystal Cruises announced it was suspending its ocean voyages, a fuel supplier, Peninsula Petroleum Far East, sued in federal court in South Florida, saying it was owed more than $4.6 million, of which $1.2 million related to Crystal Symphony, as ABC7/CNN reported. A judge issued an arrest warrant for the ship ahead of her Saturday arrival in Miami. No report we read mentions any security being offered to lift it.

So the ship didn’t go to Miami. She went to Bimini in the Bahamas instead, according to the Associated Press via Afar. Crystal said about 300 passengers were ferried from Bimini to Port Everglades in Fort Lauderdale on Sunday, a ride the line itself admitted was “uncomfortable due to inclement weather.” The line said the ending “was not the conclusion to our guests’ vacation we originally planned for.” One passenger told the AP: “We all feel we were abducted by luxurious pirates!”

	Scarlet Lady, Rhodes, 2026	Crystal Symphony, Miami, 2022
Who wanted the ship held	Owner of a damaged excursion catamaran	A fuel supplier owed money
Claim	At least €400,000 (collision damage, lost income)	More than $4.6 million across Crystal; $1.2 million for this ship
Is anyone at fault yet?	No. Hearing set for February 23, 2027	Unpaid bills; the line was in financial trouble
What stopped an arrest	A letter of guarantee from Skuld	No security reported; the ship avoided the port instead
What passengers noticed	A late departure from Rhodes	Diverted to Bimini, then a rough ferry ride to Florida

The difference isn’t really the size of the claim. It’s whether someone solvent stands behind the ship. A collision claim against a ship with a P&I club behind her is a paperwork problem. An unpaid bill against a cruise line running out of money is a passenger problem.

What Your Ticket Says (Including a Line You Didn’t Know You Signed)

Virgin Voyages’ ticket contract (version 6.5, October 7, 2025, the live version when we checked today) names this scenario outright. Section 9.1 releases the line from losses caused by events beyond its control, and the list includes:

“…desertion or revolt of the crew, seizure of Vessel by legal process, and/or any other acts as determined by Carrier to be beyond the Carrier’s reasonable control.”

The same section says the line “shall not be liable for any claim whatsoever by Guest, including but not limited to any losses, compensation or refund” when it cancels, postpones or deviates from a sailing or port. Section 9.2 adds that the cruise “may be altered, shortened, lengthened, cancelled in whole or in part, without liability to the Carrier for a refund.”

And then there’s section 16.6, the one nobody reads:

“The Guest waives the right to arrest the Vessel or any other vessel operated or chartered by the Carrier… If the Vessel is arrested or attached… the Guest causing such arrest shall be liable to the Carrier for all lost revenue and other losses or claims that arise from, relate to, or are incident to such arrest.”

So the catamaran owner, who never bought a ticket, can try to arrest Scarlet Lady. You, the passenger, have signed that right away, and if you tried it anyway, you’d be on the hook for Virgin’s lost revenue. Whether every court would enforce that is a question for lawyers, but it tells you whose side the contract is on.

What This Means for Your Next Cruise

1. A ship arrest is rarely your problem. When a ship has a P&I club behind her, a claim like this can be settled with a letter, as it was in Rhodes, and you may never hear about it on board.
2. Don’t expect compensation if it does affect you. Virgin’s section 9.1 names “seizure of Vessel by legal process” as beyond its control, with no liability for “losses, compensation or refund.” Check your own line’s contract for similar wording.
3. The real risk is a line in money trouble. Crystal Symphony’s passengers were caught out by unpaid bills, not a collision. If a smaller line’s news is full of unpaid suppliers, suspended sailings or a sale, think twice before paying in full far ahead.
4. Pay with protection. Paying by credit card and buying travel insurance that covers the supplier’s financial failure gives you something to claim against if a line goes under. Check the wording, because not every policy includes it. Our guide to whether you need cruise insurance walks through what to look for.

The Bottom Line

A tour boat really did ask a Greek court to keep a 110,000-ton cruise ship in Rhodes, and the request was a normal use of a 1952 treaty, not a stunt. The ship was free within a day because her insurer did what P&I clubs exist to do: swap the ship for a promise to pay if a court says so.

The real fight, over who pays for a smashed platform, a lost ladder and a summer’s excursions, happens in Rhodes next February, long after everyone aboard has gone home. We’ll be watching.

Cruise Chaos earns nothing from cruise lines and doesn’t run booking affiliate links. This story is based on Greek press reports of the court filing, Cruise Hive and Cruise Mummy, the text of the 1952 Arrest Convention, Skuld’s own description of its letters, a Greek lawyer’s guide to ship arrest, AP and CNN reports on Crystal Symphony, and Virgin Voyages’ live ticket contract. The damage figures are the catamaran owner’s claim, not a court finding, and no one has been found at fault. Virgin Voyages hadn’t commented when we published. If we’ve got something wrong, tell us and we’ll correct it in the open.

Coming up on Cruise Chaos: more chaos from the high seas, with every fact checked.

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Keep Reading

• Scarlet Lady Ran From a Storm Into Rhodes. Then Its Ropes Snapped.
• The Ship Meant for a Three-Year World Cruise Is Being Auctioned for Scrap
• Cruise Ships Breaking Free From the Dock

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Sources

• Dimokratiki (Rhodes): Scarlet Lady sailed with a letter of guarantee after a request to seize her (in Greek, October 4, 2026)
• Cruise Hive: Catamaran Owner Files to Have Scarlet Lady Seized Following Collision
• Cruise Mummy: Catamaran Owner Seeks €400,000 After Virgin Voyages Ship Breaks Moorings
• Skai: Scarlet Lady’s mooring lines snap in Rhodes (in Greek)
• International Convention Relating to the Arrest of Sea-Going Ships, Brussels, 1952 (Articles 1 and 5)
• Global Law Experts: Ship Arrest in Greece
• Skuld: Letter of undertaking
• Virgin Voyages: Ticket Contract (v.6.5, October 7, 2025; sections 9.1, 9.2 and 16.6)
• ABC7 / CNN: Cruise ship changes course from Miami to Bahamas due to arrest warrant over unpaid fuel bills
• Associated Press via Afar: Crystal Cruises diverts ship to Bahamas after arrest warrant issued