Cruise & Maritime Voyages (CMV), the UK based cruise line that has acquired P&O Cruises Australia’s Pacific Pearl that it will introduce as Columbus next year, will transfer the ship from the British to the Bahamas registry.

The information is on the company’s website, where CMV also states that the Bahamas are a Commonwealth member country.

The ship is currently registered in London, as is the rest of the P&O Cruises Australia fleet. However, CMV largely employs Eastern European crew members on its vessels and under the UK Equalities Act, seafarers and officers from other EU member states that have the right to settle down to live in Britain would have to be paid the same wages and salaries as British seafarers and officers.

These rules do not apply to Bermuda, Gibraltar, Cayman Islands and Isle of Man, although vessels registered in these territories and Crown dependencies fly the Red Ensign, the British merchant navy flag, as do ships registered in the UK ship register.