Four ocean ships of Fred Olsen Cruise Lines have started their journey to Babcock’s facilities in Rosyth, Scotland.

It is expected to help improve the running of the vessels.

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Since the shipping company suspended its operations on 13 March, four ships, Balmoral, Braemar, Boudicca and Black Watch, left for Firth of Forth, Scotland.

Black Watch will relocate to Babcock’s facilities in Rosyth first, while Boudicca will reach the facility on 29 May.

Balmoral and Braemar are expected to arrive next week.

Fred Olsen Cruise Lines managing director Peter Deer said: “When we paused our operations back in March, we had an initial date of 23 May to resume cruising again. Unfortunately, this has not been possible, and so we have had to reconsider the running of our four ships until such a time that we can set sail once again.

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“Moving our ships to Babcock’s Rosyth facilities and having them alongside in port allows us to run a more efficient operation, including the general maintenance of the ships, crew changes and refuse collection.

“I would like to thank Forth Ports for all of their support over the past two months, while our ships have been at anchor in their waters. We are looking forward to returning to Forth Ports, Port of Rosyth when our normal cruising operations can resume.”

All guests who were affected due to the cancelled sailings will receive refunds from Fred Olsen Cruise Lines.

Last month, eight crew members of Black Watch ship tested positive for Covid-19.

In March, Braemar was affected by the Covid-19 in the Caribbean and its passengers were repatriated to the UK.

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