Ocean Dream (1972 ship)
 Ocean Dream before sinking. | |
| History | |
|---|---|
| Norway | |
| Name: | Seaward (failed name) |
| Owner: | Norwegian Cruise Line |
| Ordered: | Klosters Rederi A/S |
| Builder: | Cantiere navale di Riva Trigoso |
| Yard number: | 290 |
| Laid down: | 1970 |
| Acquired: | Never |
| Identification: | IMO number: 7211517 |
 United Kingdom
| |
| Name: | Spirit of London |
| Owner: | P&O Cruises |
| Port of registry: |
London, United Kingdom |
| Launched: | 11 May 1972 |
| Completed: | 11 October 1972 |
| Acquired: | 30 March 1971 |
| Maiden voyage: | 11 November 1972[1] |
| Fate: | Transferred to Princess Cruises 1974 |
| Notes: | First diesel powered P&O's liner |
| Name: | Sun Princess |
| Owner: | Princess Cruises |
| Port of registry: |
London,  United Kingdom |
| Acquired: | 1974 |
| Fate: | Sold to Noel Shipping Ltd./Premier Cruises 1988 |
| Name: | Starship Majestic |
| Owner: | Premier Cruises |
| Route: | Port Canaveral to Bahamas |
| Acquired: | 22 September 1988 |
| Fate: | Chartered to CTC Lines 1994. 19 December 1996, Premier Cruises sold vessel to Bowyers Maritime Corporation. |
| Notes: | Renamed Majestic, followed by $6 million refit in Lloyd Werft shipyard, later renamed Starship Majestic. |
| Name: | Southern Cross |
| Owner: | CTC Lines |
| Port of registry: |
Nassau,  Bahamas |
| Acquired: | July 1995 |
| Identification: | Call sign: C6HK9 |
| 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. |
| Owner: | Bowyers Maritime Corporation |
| Acquired: | 1996 |
| Fate: | Reported sold on 15 January 1997 to Festival Cruises for $25 million. |
| 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. |
| Name: | New Flamenco |
| Owner: | Cruise Elysia |
| Acquired: | 2004 |
| Fate: | Sold to Club Cruise 2008 for £26 million |
| Panama | |
| Name: | Flamenco I |
| Owner: | Club Cruise |
| Port of registry: |
Panama City,  Panama |
| Acquired: | 2008 |
| Fate: | Sold at auction 2010 for $3.4 million |
| Notes: | Callsign : 3EAO9 |
 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 |
 Togo
| |
| Name: | MV Ocean Dream |
| Owner: | Ocean Dream Cruise (Thailand) Co. Ltd. |
| Route: | Pattaya, Koh kong, Sihanoukville |
| Acquired: | 2013 |
| Status: | Abandoned by owners and sank off Laem Chebang Port in Thailand 27th Feb 2016 |
| Notes: | Call Sign: 5VBW6 |
| General characteristics | |
| Type: | Cruise ship |
| Tonnage: | 17,042 GRT[2] |
| Length: | 163.30 m (536 ft)[3] |
| Beam: | 22.80 m (75 ft)[3] |
| Draught: | 7.0 m (23 ft) |
| Installed power: | 4 × FIAT diesel engines |
| Speed: | 20.5 knots (38.0 km/h; 23.6 mph) |
| Capacity: |
|
| Crew: | 390 |
Spirit of London was 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).[4]
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.[5]
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.[6]
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.[7] 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.[8] In 2012 the ship was saved from the scrapyard and was renamed Ocean Dream with a dragon painted on her bow. Now owned by Runfeng Ocean Deluxe Cruises, she began operating cruises from Haikou, China to Halong Bay, Vietnam.[9][10]
The ship capsized and sank off Laem Chabang, Sri Racha,Thailand in shallow water on 27 February 2016 after having been abandoned without crew or maintenance for about a year.[11]
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. In addition, the ship appeared briefly in the 1975 episode of Starsky & Hutch entitled "Terror on the Docks".
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
References
- ↑ P&O Heritage
- ↑ "Ocean Dream (7211517)". Equasis. French Ministry for Transport. Retrieved 28 April 2012. (registration required (help)).
- 1 2 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.[]
- ↑ Abandoned cruise ship Ocean Dream capsized and sank off Thailand. Maritime News, 27 February 2016. Retrieved 2016-02-27.
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