Madeira Court Orders Funchal Cruise Ship Auction
Funchal is offered as-is, where-is with a minimum bid of 802,354 euros, and prospective buyers can inspect the laid-up vessel in Lisbon on September 18.
A Madeira court has ordered the 1961-built Funchal sold by sealed-bid auction as part of insolvency proceedings against owner Teamson Lda. Offers for the laid-up cruise ship are due Sept. 30, 2026, with a minimum bid of €802,354 ($932,034).
The sale follows Teamson’s unsuccessful attempt to convert Funchal into a floating hotel, one of several proposed projects for the vessel since it left cruise service. The 402-passenger ship has spent most of the past 15 years berthed at the Port of Lisbon and returned to layup in 2015 after a short-lived revival under Portuscale Cruises.
How the auction will work
Funchal is being offered on an as-is, where-is basis. Bidders must submit written offers to an address in Lisbon and include a security deposit check equal to 10% of their bid.
The buyer will be responsible for charges associated with the transaction, while the ship will be transferred free of debt. Prospective purchasers can inspect the vessel on Sept. 18.
Teamson, a Madeira-based ship owner and commercial manager, acquired Funchal in April 2021 as part of a project that also involved Astoria, which has since been scrapped. Funchal entered dry dock in Lisbon shortly after the purchase for work connected with its proposed hotel conversion, but Teamson did not complete the project.
The insolvency administrators said the ship is free of asbestos and holds the permits needed for hotel operations.
Multiple projects followed end of cruise service
The approximately 153-meter, 9,845-ton Funchal was originally built for Portuguese passenger routes linking Lisbon with Madeira and the Azores. Its original steam turbine machinery was replaced with diesel engines in 1972-73, and the vessel later moved into cruise operations.
Portuscale Cruises acquired Funchal while the ship was undergoing an update intended to meet then-current SOLAS requirements. The company, which succeeded Classic International Cruises, returned the vessel to service after launching in 2013, but the operation was brief and Funchal was laid up again two years later.
UK-based Signature Living bought the vessel in 2018 and proposed using it as a party ship in Ibiza. The company later considered towing Funchal to Liverpool for conversion into a floating hotel, but that project was abandoned and the vessel remained in Lisbon.
The sealed offers will be opened during a public event aboard Funchal on Oct. 9.
