®

Swan Hellenic, the venerable "discovery" cruise line that is about to lose its only cruise ship, may not be dead quite yet.

Lord Sterling, former chairman of The Peninsular & Oriental Steam Navigation Company (P&O), announced on March 15th that he is buying the assets of the line -- including trademarks and marketing database -- from the Carnival Corporation.

"Swan is a British institution and I have been thinking about trying to save it for some time," said Lord Sterling. "I have been inundated with people talking to me and urging me to do something."

The assets Lord Sterling is buying do not include Swan Hellenic's only ship, Minerva II, which is scheduled to be transferred to Carnival Corporation's Princess Cruises on April 7th.

So the announcement means that to keep Swan Hellenic alive, Lord Sterling's challenge is to find another cruise ship.

"I cannot make any promises about how quickly we can start operating, because we need to find a suitable ship that is of the highest standard, but we will move as fast as we can," Lord Sterling said.

He said he plans to continue Swan's itineraries around historical sites in the Mediterranean, and to Asia and Antarctica.

Lord Sterling said the company would be based in Southampton, and that he hoped to employ the same crew, operational staff and guest lecturers.