According to Maria Romanenko at Cruise Industry News, Americans and Europeans are among those who already expressed interest in living on the Satoshi, formerly the Pacific Dawn, sailing for P&O Australia, according to Chad Elwartowski, chief operation officer of Ocean Builders, who told Cruise Industry News, “A lot of people [show interest] that are working from home already.” “So, they don’t have to go to work in a physical building, they can work from home, so they’re mainly saying ‘well, I can work from the ship’.” “Especially Americans because it’s a three-hour flight from Panama City, so even if they have to run back to the US for something, they can fly easily”.
As many Aussies will be aware, Pacific Dawn was disposed of prematurely by P&O Australia and original sold to operate for now defunct CMV, but then acquired by Ocean Builders earlier this year, with the plan being to turn her into a floating community with shops and restaurants that accept bitcoins, as well as more conventional currencies.
I asked David Jones a while ago, f P&O if he could cast any light on whether the acquisition by Ocean Builders was complete and whether P&O had been paid or was it subject to a payment arrangement, but he advised that P&O would not comment and it was up to the new owners to disclose any information about the new ownership, which is fair enough, but I have tried unsuccessfully to contact the new owners.
In the meantime Cruise Industry News reports that Satoshi has since been repainted and renovated and is now on her way to Gibraltar, where she will drydock for about a week, then heading to Panama, where she will be permanently based from December onwards.
As I reported CLICK HERE and CLICK HERE that I believe the first 100 cabins of the 777 available are already open for auction, since November 5, but Cruise Industry News does not report on how sales are going, hence also my trying to get hold of someone from Ocean Builders to no avail, but I will keep trying!
The report does say though that Elwartowski said that after November 28, the cabin prices will go up, and short-term rentals will become available, adding, “We’re going to focus on tourism and getting people on the ship and not focus so much on real estate. I will still sell the cabins, but the prices will be higher,” adding, “Most people have been saying that they want to come and stay on the ship and see what it’s like before buying.”
Interesting times ahead I reckon!
A report by John Alwyn-Jones edited from a report by Cruise Industry News.
