Ocean Dream (1972 ship)
 Spirit of London after being launched in 1972. | |
| Career (Norway) |  |
|---|---|
| Name: | Seaward |
| Owner: | Norwegian Cruise Line |
| Ordered: | Klosters Rederi A/S |
| Builder: | Cantieri Navali del Tirreno & Riuniti |
| Yard number: | 290 |
| Laid down: | 1970 |
| Identification: | IMO number: 7211517, MMSI: 667003230 |
| Career (United Kingdom) |  |
| Name: | Spirit of London |
| Owner: | P&O Cruises |
| Port of registry: | Canada, Alaska, Mexico |
| Launched: | 11 May 1972 |
| Completed: | autumn 1972 |
| Acquired: | 30 March 1971 |
| Maiden voyage: | 11 October 1972 |
| Fate: | transferred to Princess Cruises 1974 |
| Notes: | The first diesel powered P&O's liner |
| Career | |
| Name: | Sun Princess |
| Owner: | Princess Cruises |
| Port of registry: | Caribbean, Mexican Riviera, Alaska |
| Acquired: | 1974 |
| Fate: | sold to Noel Shipping Ltd./Premier Cruises 1988 |
| Notes: | Part of the Love Boat fleet |
| Career | |
| Name: | Starship Majestic |
| Owner: | Premier Cruises |
| Port of registry: | Cozumel, Mexico, Great Guana Cay, Bahamas |
| Route: | Port Canaveral to Bahamas |
| Acquired: | 22 September 1988 |
| Fate: | Chartered to CTC Lines 1994. 19 December 1996, Premier Cruises sold the ship to Bowyers Maritime Corporation. |
| Notes: | Renamed Majestic, but after a $6 million refit in Lloyd Werft shipyard, she was renamed Starship Majestic. |
| Career | |
| Name: | Southern Cross |
| Owner: | CTC Lines |
| Port of registry: | Birkenhead, Caribbean, Tilbury, Greenock, Liverpool, Bristol, Australia |
| Acquired: | July 1995 |
| Fate: | sold to Festival Cruises 1998 |
| Notes: |
In February 1995, the ship sailed from the Caribbean to Birkenhead in order to be refitted by Coast Line. Her casino was reduced in size to create a new Verandah Lounge, a library and a bar. |
| Career | |
| Owner: | Bowyers Maritime Corporation |
| Acquired: | 1996 |
| Fate: | sold as early as 15 January 1997 to Festival Cruises for $25 million. |
| Career | |
| Name: | Flamenco |
| Owner: | Festival Cruises |
| Acquired: | 1997 |
| Fate: | sold to Cruise Elysia 2004 for $12.25 million |
| Notes: | $9 million 45 day refit to meet the Festival standard. |
| Career | |
| Name: | New Flamenco |
| Owner: | Cruise Elysia |
| Acquired: | 2004 |
| Fate: | sold to Club Cruise 2008 for £26 million |
| Career (Panama) |  |
| Name: | Flamenco-1 |
| Owner: | Club Cruise |
| Acquired: | 2008 |
| Fate: | sold at auction 2010 for $3.4 million |
| Notes: | Callsign : 3EAO9 |
| Career (Sierra Leone) |  |
| Name: | Ocean Dream |
| Owner: | Runfeng Ocean Deluxe Cruises |
| Route: | Haikou, China to Halong Bay, Vietnam |
| Acquired: | 2012 |
| Status: | Sold by EASTIME CRUISE CO. LTD. |
| Notes: | Call Sign: 9LY2427 |
| Career (Togo) |  |
| Name: | MV Ocean Dream |
| Owner: | Ocean Dream Cruise (Thailand) Co. Ltd. |
| Route: | Pattaya, Koh kong, Sihanoukville |
| Acquired: | 2013 |
| Status: | In Active service as of 2014 |
| Notes: | Call Sign: 9LY2427 |
| General characteristics | |
| Class and type: | Cruise ship |
| Type: | Passenger Ship |
| Tonnage: | 17,042 gross register tons (GRT)[1] |
| Length: | 163.30 metres (535.8 ft)[2] |
| Beam: | 22.80 metres (74.8 ft)[2] |
| Draught: | 7.0 m |
| Draft: | 67 |
| Installed power: | 4 x FIAT 133,248 kilowatts (178,689 hp) |
| Speed: | 20.5 knots |
| Capacity: | 760 (normal) 1,027 (maximum) |
| Crew: | 390 |
| Notes: | designed by Knud E. Hansen |
Spirit of London is an Italian built cruise ship put into service in 1972. In January 2012, Runfeng Ocean Deluxe Cruises (Chinese: 香港润峰豪华邮轮公司) took over as operator, renaming the ship Ocean Dream (Chinese: 海洋之梦; pinyin: hăiyángzhīmèng).[3]
Delayed construction
The vessel was originally ordered in 1970 by Norwegian Caribbean Line as Seaward. The shipyard, Cantieri Navali del Tirreno & Riuniti, encountered financial troubles and was consequently taken over by the IRI Group, who canceled the building contract of Seaward. After much protest from NCL the IRI Group agreed to partially complete the vessel. Despite this Norwegian Caribbean sold the hull to P&O, who would complete the Seaward as Spirit of London.[4]
Due to being originally ordered for Norwegian Caribbean Line Spirit of London had a sister ship in the NCL fleet, Southward. Both vessels superstructures are identical, however the funnels differed. Although Southward is smaller in tonnage than Spirit of London, both are 537 feet long.[5]
History
In 1974, P&O bought Princess Cruises and transferred Spirit of London to their fleet, with Princess operating her as Sun Princess, alongside Island Princess and Pacific Princess.
1988 saw the sale of Sun Princess by P&O to Premier Cruises, where it was initially named Majestic, becoming Starship Majestic in 1989 which included refurbishment of her interior. The majority of the Columbo episode "Troubled Waters" was filmed in the interior of the ship, creating a video time capsule (1975) of the ships history before her refurbishment. In 1994, she was purchased by CTC and was renamed Southern Cross. She was renamed again in 1998 when Festival Cruises began operating her as Flamenco. When Festival Cruises collapsed in 2004, she was sold for $12.25 million at a bankruptcy auction to Cruise Elysia, who renamed her New Flamenco. In 2007 Club Cruise acquired New Flamenco.[6] Club Cruise had New Flamenco serve as a hotel ship in New Caledonia until they failed in late 2008. The vessel was sold for scrap after over a year of lay up off Singapore.[7] As of January 2012 it was reported that the ship was renamed Ocean Dream with a dragon painted on her bow. Her operators are listed as Runfeng Ocean Deluxe Cruises and she will be operating cruises from Haikou, China to Halong Bay, Vietnam.[8][9]
In popular culture
The ship appeared in the 1975 Columbo episode "Troubled Waters", guest starring Robert Vaughn, as well as in Herbie Goes Bananas (1980). The majority of the "Troubled Waters" was filmed in the interior of the ship, creating a video time capsule of the ships history from the start of her life. She was also featured in the original 1976 TV movie of The Love Boat and at least one episode involving a competition between Captain Stubing of Pacific Princess and the captain of Sun Princess.
External links
- Official website 2014 Ocean Dream Cruise (Thailand) Co. Ltd.
- Official website of Ocean Dream / Runfeng Ocean Deluxe Cruises
- Flamenco History - cybercruises.com
- Professional photographs from shipspotting.com
- "Ocean Dream (7211517)". Equasis. French Ministry for Transport. Retrieved 2012-04-28. (registration required (help)).
References
- ↑ "Ocean Dream (7211517)". Equasis. French Ministry for Transport. Retrieved 2012-Apr-28. (registration required (help)). Check date values in:
|accessdate=(help) - ↑ 2.0 2.1 Asklander, Micke. "M/S SPIRIT OF LONDON.". Fakta om Fartyg. Retrieved 29 April 2012.
- ↑ "Haikou-Vietnam cruise route to be resumed with 'Ocean Dream' cruise liner". What's On Sanya. 2011-01-11. Retrieved 2013-12-23.
- ↑ "FlamencoPCs". Simplonpc.co.uk. Retrieved 2010-12-12.
- ↑ "Rio: Rio Cruises". Ship Parade.com. Retrieved 2010-12-12.
- ↑ "Spirit of London - Sun Princess - StarShip Majestic - Southern Cross - Flamenco - New Flamenco". Simplonpc.co.uk. Retrieved 2010-12-12.
- ↑ "Alang Autumnal". Maritime Matters. 2010-11-20. Retrieved 2010-12-12.
- ↑ "OCEAN DREAM Spirited To Haikou". Maritime Matters. 2012-01-11. Retrieved 2012-01-15.
- ↑ "Haikou-Vietnam cruise route to resume service". whatsonsanya.com. 2012-01-11. Retrieved 2012-01-15.[]
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