Henna (ship)

Pacific Sun and the tall ship James Craig in Darling Harbour on December 19, 2010.
History
Name:
  • Henna (since 2012)
  • Pacific Sun (2004–2012)
  • Jubilee (1986–2004)
Owner:
Operator:
Port of registry:
Builder: Kockums Varv, Malmö, Sweden
Cost: US$134 million
Yard number: 596
Launched: 26 October 1985
Acquired: June 1986
Maiden voyage:
  • 6 July 1986 (as Jubilee)
  • 9 November 2004 (as Pacific Sun)
  • 26 January 2013 (as Henna)
In service: 6 July 1986
Identification:
Status: Laid up
Notes: [2][3][4]
General characteristics
Class and type: Holiday-class cruise ship
Tonnage:
Length: 223.4 m (733 ft)
Beam: 28.2 m (92 ft 6 in)
Draft: 7.5 m (24 ft 7 in)
Decks: 9 passenger decks[5]
Installed power:
Propulsion: Two propellers
Speed: 21.7 knots (40.2 km/h; 25.0 mph)
Capacity: 1,486 passengers
Crew: 670

MS Henna is a Holiday-class cruise ship owned by the Chinese company HNA Cruise Company, Limited around the West Pacific region. At 47,000 tons, Henna is a medium-sized ship, and was the first and largest luxury cruise liner in mainland China, with 739 passenger cabins and a maximum passenger capacity of 1,965, including nine suites with balconies, 432 ocean-view staterooms and 298 interior staterooms.[6]

History

The vessel as Jubilee in 2000.

Henna was built in 1986 by Kockums Varv, Malmö, Sweden, for Carnival Cruise Line as Jubilee, along with near-sister ship Celebration. The other near-sister ship of the class, Holiday, was built earlier by Aalborg Værft in Aalborg, Denmark.

The vessel as Pacific Sun in 2007.

In 2004, the vessel was transferred to P&O Cruises Australia and renamed Pacific Sun. Pacific Sun arrived in Australia in November 9, 2004, and began year-round cruises from Sydney to the South Pacific and Tropical North Queensland. From late 2007, she was based at Brisbane, and was then the largest year-round liner to be based in Queensland. After receiving a multimillion-dollar makeover, she sailed in all white colours, like P&O's other ships, along with new amenities.[7] Pacific Sun was the only ship of three sisters (with Grand Celebration and Grand Holiday) whose funnel was changed upon leaving the Carnival Cruise Lines fleet; her sister's funnels were simply painted over and not changed, while Sun had Carnival's iconic wings removed, and patched the hole where they use to be. Carnival's first new build ship, the slightly older Tropicale (Now MS Ocean Dream), also had her Carnival funnel removed, and replaced with Costa Cruises's round stove-pipe funnel.

Pacific Sun in Lifou, New Caledonia on September 15, 2009.

In late July 2008, 42 passengers were injured in a storm.[8] The event became widely known when video footage was reposted on the internet two years later.[9]

Pacific Sun on January 12, 2012.

On 18 December 2011, P&O announced that Pacific Sun would leave its fleet in July 2012.[10] Her farewell cruise was an 8-day roundtrip from Portside Wharf in Brisbane, Australia, and stopping at Nouméa, Lifou in New Caledonia, and Port Vila in Vanuatu with three days at sea. Pacific Sun had completed between 314 and 332 cruises, with 2,707 nights at sea and an estimated 586,000 passengers carried.[5]

On 13 September 2012, new owner HNA Cruises renamed the ship Henna; she made her maiden voyage under Chinese ownership on 26 January 2013 from Sanya to Vietnam. From January to April, the ship will run between Sanya and Ha Long Bay and Da Nang in Vietnam. From May to September, her home port will be shifted to Tianjin, with a new route launching between Tianjin and the South Korean ports of Incheon and Jeju Island.[6][11]

In September 2013 the ship was detained at a port on the South Korean island of Jeju after Chinese shipping service company Jiangsu Shagang International applied for a seizure. After several days stuck on board, the 1,659 passengers were flown home via the airlines company of HNA Group, leaving their cruise uncompleted but safe.[12]

In November 2015, HNA shut down its cruise ship operation after three years of losing money due to newer vessels being deployed to the region. Since the Henna's last cruise with HNA, she is currently laid up and is for sale for $35 million USD.[13][14]

See also

References

  1. "Henna (8314122)". Equasis. French Ministry for Transport. Retrieved 2013-05-01. (registration required (help)).
  2. Ward, Douglas (2008). Complete Guide to Cruising & Cruise Ships. London: Berlitz. pp. 515–516. ISBN 978-981-268-564-3.
  3. Micke Asklander. "M/S Jubilee (1986)". Fakta om Fartyg (in Swedish). Archived from the original on April 19, 2012. Retrieved 14 September 2011.
  4. "Pacific Sun – Vessel's Details and Current Position". MarineTraffic. 2011. Retrieved 14 September 2011.
  5. 1 2 "Pacific Sun". P&O Cruises. Archived from the original on 1 May 2013. Retrieved 1 May 2013.
  6. 1 2 Covey, Claudette (28 January 2013). "China's First Luxury Cruise Ship Henna Makes Maiden Voyage". TravelPulse.
  7. "Pacific Sun". P&O Cruises. 2011. Retrieved 14 September 2011.
  8. Paul Chapman (1 August 2008). "Passengers hurt as storm rocks New Zealand cruise ship". The Telegraph (London). Retrieved 14 September 2011.
  9. Laura Trowbridge (September 9, 2010). "Shocking footage of havoc onboard cruise ship caught in big storm". Digital Journal. Retrieved 14 September 2011.
  10. "P&O Australia sells Pacific Sun". Seatrade Insider. 19 December 2011.
  11. "China's largest cruise ship Henna takes maiden voyage, from Sanya to Vietnam". 2013-01-29.
  12. "Henna dispute: Chinese cruise ship passengers evacuated". BBC News. 15 September 2013.
  13. "HNA Shuts Down Cruise Operation in China". Cruise Industry News. 25 November 2015. Retrieved 5 December 2015.
  14. "Henna - 1960pax Luxury Cruise Ship". NautiSNP. Retrieved 5 December 2015.

External links

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