Is Genting Berhad’s Lim Kok Thay preparing to launch a new cruise line? That’s the talk amid reports that he registered the name Resorts World Cruises in Singapore in early March.
According to the Straits Times, the name was incorporated by an entity called Two Trees Family Holdings, which itself was incorporated in March 2021. The entity lists Lim, his son Lim Keong Hui and Gerard Lim Ewe Keng as directors.
Late last year, provisional liquidators were appointed to Lim’s global cruise ship company, Genting Hong Kong, due to US$2.8 billion in debts, after which Genting Hong Kong’s Asian-based cruise line, Dream Cruises, stopped sailing out of Singapore. Inside Asian Gaming reported that at least half of Dream Cruises’ Singapore-based staff was let go earlier this year.
Lim, who personally owns 75 percent of Genting Hong Kong, stepped down as the company’s chairman and CEO in January, but Bloomberg reported in mid-February that Lim was one of several investors to express interest in purchasing a massive cruise ship still under construction at Genting Hong Kong’s MV Werften shipyard in Germany.
According to ABC News, Germany blames the collapse of the shipyard on its Malaysia-based owner, saying Genting refused to contribute to a government bailout plan. Genting bought the facility in 2016 and filed for bankruptcy protection in January “after financial difficulties over the construction of a massive cruise liner.
Measuring 342 meters (1,142 feet) in length, the Global Dream was being hailed as the world’s largest cruise liner by passenger capacity before the insolvency. Trading in Genting Hong Kong shares has been suspended since January 18.
