Blount Small Ship Adventures Return To Service Questionable.

 

Post Date: September 2, 2020 - 12:01 AM

   

Industry reports are stating that Blount Small Ship Adventure Cruises may not be returning to service after cruise lines are allowed to resume cruising. At this time, the cruise line's 3 ship are idle in Warren Rhode Island at the company's sister company Blount Boats - who are the famed builders of the Blount fleet as well as a number of other famous ferries and small water craft including the Circle Line ferries for the Statue of Liberty.

The line who has always operated smaller American-flagged ships carrying less than 100 passengers on coastal and inland waters itineraries, The ships are praised for their unique experience and ability to go where few ships can go. Unique itineraries include New England and its historical islands; the Hudson River and Erie Canal sailings to the St. Lawrence River and French Canada; the Great Lakes; the East Coast Intra-coastal Waterway to the Carolinas and Florida; and Belize and Guatemala in the winter months.

Blount's three ships are for sale: the 98-passenger Grande Mariner is listed for $6 million, the 100-passenger sister ship Grande Caribe for $5.6 million, and the 76-passenger Niagara Prince for $2 million. The shups were all built by Blount in the 1990s.

Although the Blount Small Ship Adventures Website continues to state they are pausing operations to 2021, reports indicate that the Blount Family has decided to dedicate their focus to their shipbuilding arm of family businesses. It would be a great surprise if Blount invested in new ships to replace their fleet and introduced new, sleek, innovative replacement ships. Only time will tell the ultimate path forward for this unique small ship operator. Hopefully they will sail again.

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