M/V Orient Queen
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The M/V Orient Queen is a 16,000 ton ocean liner built in 1968 and is the world’s only Lebanese-owned cruise ship [1]. It is operated by Abou Mehri Cruises of Beirut, Lebanon and managed by Österreichischer Lloyd. The ship has twelve decks, eight of which are accessible to passengers. As currently configured it can accommodate 876 passengers in 349 cabins, of which 336 are staterooms and 56 are suites [2][3].
From 1968 until 1995, the Orient Queen was operated by Norwegian Cruise Lines as the MS Starward, and was their first purpose build ship[4]. After that, it was operated as the Bolero by Greek line Festival Cruises[5] until the company's collapse in 2004[6], when it was purchased for $9.5 million[7] by Abou Mehri Lines and received a $10-$15 million renovation[8].
The ship cruised out of Beirut in Spring, 2005. In November, 2005, she was repositioned to Dubai to begin what was an unsuccessful Persian Gulf cruise program [9] providing the first luxury cruise line service between Dubai and Gulf Cooperation Council countries[10]. The ship was repositioned to Beirut and scheduled to begin a 2006 cruise season in the Mediterranean Sea. In November, 2006, she is scheduled to begin service from Port Canaveral, Florida, operated by Paradise Caribbean Cruise Line[11].
On July 19, 2006, the Orient Queen was used to help evacuate United States citizens from Lebanon because of the ongoing conflict with Israel[12]. The Orient Queen was escorted by a U.S. Navy guided missile destroyer, the USS Gonzalez and took the evacuees to the port at Larnaca in Cyprus[13].
