Indian Ocean Cruises’ Ocean Odyssey will start cruises from Mauritius five months earlier than previously reported, said Robert Spycher, the line’s general manager of business coordination, on Tuesday.

The Ocean Odyssey was in Port Luis, Mauritius undergoing “decoration upgrades,” Spycher told Cruise Industry News, and would start a month of itineraries around Rodrigues, La Reunion, Madagascar and the Seychelles on Dec. 5. It was previously thought the Mauritius cruises would start in summer 2009.

In January, the 250-passenger Ocean Odyssey will move to cruises off the Malabar Coast in India until May, he said.

Indian Ocean Cruises, an adventure cruise division of London-based Foresight Shipping, plans to officially launch the Mauritius product Oct. 10, Spycher said.