Ambiente Kreutzfahrten, the Berlin based company that has operated Classic International Cruises' Princess Daphne on charter, has decided to terminate the contract after the vessel was arrested for debt at the Greek port of Souda, the company said in a statement.

Ambiente is making arrangements to repatriate the 169 passengers from the ship. Claus Wilm, head of Ambiente, said in a statement that the company had attempted to have the ship released, but it has emerged that Classic International is not in a condition whereby it could ensure smooth operations of the vessel in the future.

Given the fact that the Lisbon based owner of the vessel cannot guarantee that it can operate normally, Ambiente had to draw the conclusion the only option was to terminate cooperation with Classic.