Virgin postpones the entry into the fleet of the Resilient Lady built in Genoa to 2023
Richard Branson’s company was forced to postpone the entry into operation of the new ship built by Fincantieri for which the inaugural cruise was scheduled in two months and which has already carried out sea trials
Virgin Voyages announced, just two months after the first scheduled maiden voyage, the nine-month postponement of the delivery of its third cruise ship practically completed at the Fincantieri shipyard in Sestri Ponente.
Resilient Lady is the third sister unit of the series that has already seen the Scarlet Lady (operational since the summer of 2021 first from the United Kingdom and now from the Caribbean) and the Valiant Lady (used in the Mediterranean since last March) debut on the market.
Speaking of the third new building, Virgin Voyages herself reported a few weeks ago that sea trials had been completed and that the ship had reached 23 knots of speed testing its safety, automation, power generation, and propulsion systems.
After careful and thoughtful consideration, Virgin Voyages has decided to postpone the launch of our third ship, Resilient Lady, to the second quarter of 2023,” announced a spokesperson for the company founded by Richard Branson.
“Even though we have successfully launched two ships in less than a year, the fact remains that there are challenges facing the industry as a whole and we are not immune to them. It was a difficult decision, but we want to make sure that when the Resilient Lady enters the water, she will be ready to perform brilliantly ”.
Virgin Voyages, a new entrant on the market, was certainly very unfortunate as to the timing of this new business venture due to the pandemic.
The company was supposed to start cruising on April 1, 2020, but, due to the outbreak of the pandemic, was forced to decommission its first ship for 17 months before starting a mini-program of UK itineraries in August 2021.
In October last year, the first cruises from Miami were launched while, after taking delivery, the second ship was also temporarily ‘parked’ in Italy until it officially entered into business a few weeks ago.
Virgin Voyages also planned to include Cuba among its destinations before the Trump administration prevented Americans from traveling to the island.
Source: Shipping Italy
