On 1 April Ambassadors International entered into an agreement with its largest shareholder, Whippoorwill Associates, a New York-based privateinvestment fund, to sell most of its assets, including Windstar Cruises, which operates three sailingcruise ships. Windstar will continue normal business operations and will receive an injection of US$10 million of financing during the bankruptcy process. Whippoorwill, with over US$1 billion under management, will also acquire certain assets of Ambassadors’ former Majestic America Line operations, which were discontinued in 2008. In accordance with the terms of the agreement, Ambassadors filed a petition for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection.
Windstar Cruises was established by Norwegian investors, who were persuaded by Wärtsilä of Finland (now Masa Yards) to build four small 5,700gt ships partially powered by wind, but still offering the comforts of traditional cruise ships.
