After much tossing and turning on the sea for twenty-six hours, Gao Yang and his crew finally boarded their own transfer ship.
Antoncel chartered two cruise ships as transfer vessels: the Sicilian Prince and the Sicilian Princess, both Italian-registered small coastal cruisers.
Both cruise ships had a displacement of 12,000 tons and had 110 guest rooms. Apart from the crew needed to sail, they could each accommodate a maximum of 260 passengers and 45 service personnel.
As cruise ships go, 12,000 tons is rather small, especially compared to some of the ocean liners that are easily over a hundred thousand tons. Additionally, both vessels were launched in 1976 and had undergone modernization in 1994 before they officially ceased operations in 2009.
Although they had retired from active service, both ships were still in good condition and perfectly suited to serve as transfer vessels. The only issue was that their displacement was much greater than Antoncel had anticipated.