The launch of Scenic Luxury Cruises & Tours discovery yacht, Scenic Eclipse, has been delayed for a third time with the launch date amended to 15 August 2019.

Originally slotted to launch in late August 2018, the game-changing new build will feature helicopters and a submarine for prime viewing in the Arctic and Antarctica, setting a new benchmark in design, innovation and luxury.

The company has once more cited ongoing financial challenges faced by the Uljanik Shipyard as the cause for the delay, with workers going without pay since August 2018 leading to strikes and manpower shortages.

“We are deeply sorry for the inconvenience these delays to the launch of Scenic Eclipse have caused our guests. As a company, we have done everything possible to complete the ship within the time limits that were set previously, but a series of events that are outside our control have put us in a position where we must delay,” said a company spokesperson.

To combat these challenges, Scenic has employed specialists from Finland, Italy, the UK and Norway to take the lead in completing the ship.

But the shipyard’s woes could soon be coming to an end, as a consortium comprised of the Croatian DIV group and Italian Shipyard Fincantieri was confirmed on 7 February as the new owner of Uljanik, building Scenic’s confidence that the new owners will bring stability and focus to current and future builds.

Scenic has signed a letter of intent with the new consortium that promises to lead the shipyard to set up a new Discovery Yacht division to the restructured group.

The Scenic Group, which has been in the luxury space for over 30 years, operates a fleet of river cruise ships throughout Europe and Aisa and provides land tours across the world.

“The introduction of the Scenic Eclipse is a further expansion of our operations, whilst the construction delays are disappointing to us and our guests; the delay shows our ongoing operations or future expansion,” the spokesperson continued.

“We will continue to grow our river, land and Ocean cruise products and with Scenic Eclipse will provide a new standard of luxury ocean journeys.”

The company has committed to providing guests with a full refund for the cost of their Scenic Eclipse cruise and consideration of any other reasonable associated costs incurred with their travel plans.

In addition, Scenic will provide all guests who rebook a Scenic Eclipse voyage a future cruise credit to the value of 25 per cent of the cost of their rebooked cruise.

Scenic has established a dedicated phone number for guests and has begun reaching out to all guests and travel agents to provide details on the process of refunding and offering an opportunity to apply the 25 per cent discount to other voyages.