Miami-Bound Cruise On The Lam Detours To Bahamas After Judge Orders Its Seizure: Report

MIAMI, FL — When an arrest warrant was issued for a Miami-bound cruise ship over unpaid fuel bills, it diverted to the Bahamas Saturday, forcing passengers to stay on board a day longer than planned.

To avoid being seized by authorities when it docked in South Florida following a two-week Caribbean voyage, Crystal Cruises’ ship the Crystal Symphony instead made a beeline for Bimini, the port in the Bahamas that’s closed to the United States, according to The New York Times.

About 300 passengers were ferried to Port Everglades in Fort Lauderdale on Sunday.

“This end to the cruise was not the conclusion to our guests’ vacation we originally planned for,” the company told the Times.

"We were told that the reason we weren’t going to Miami was because there was a warrant out for the arrest," Elio Pace, an entertainer on the ship, told NBC 6 South Florida. “I honestly thought it was a joke. I mean, it is like a movie, you can’t make that up."

The warrant was issued after Crystal Cruises' parent company, Genting Hong Kong, filed for bankruptcy and suspended all sailings, Local 10 News reported.

On Jan. 19, Crystal Cruises announced that it would suspend all operations for its ocean and expedition ships through April 29 and its river cruises through the end of May.

“Suspending operations will provide Crystal’s management team with an opportunity to evaluate the current state of business and examine various options moving forward,” the company said in a news release.

When the announcement was made, three ships were mid-cruise — the Crystal Symphony, the Crystal Endeavor in Antarctica and the Crystal Serenity, which was also in the Caribbean.

Following Genting’s bankruptcy, a fuel company sued Crystal Cruises and its sister cruise line, Star Cruises, for $4.6 million in unpaid fuel bills, and a Miami judge ordered the seizure of the Crystal Symphony, according to reports.