Fred. Olsen Cruise Lines

Last updated
Fred. Olsen Cruise Lines Ltd.
Company type Subsidiary
Industry Shipping
Founded1848
Headquarters Ipswich, United Kingdom
Products Cruise ships
Parent Bonheur
Website www.fredolsencruises.com

Fred. Olsen Cruise Lines is a UK-based, Norwegian-owned cruise shipping line with three cruise ships. The company is owned by Bonheur and Ganger Rolf and is headquartered in Ipswich, Suffolk, in the United Kingdom. The company is part of the Fred. Olsen Group.

Contents

History

The company originated in Hvitsten, a small town on Oslofjord in Norway, in 1848 by three Olsen brothers, Fredrik Christian, Petter and Andras, who bought their first ships and began an international shipping company. The company is now into the fifth generation of the family and operates various companies skilled within the cruise and passenger shipping trade, as well as aviation, ships' crewing, ship building and offshore industries. The Fred. Olsen group also has business interests in the luxury hotel sector, estate management, [1] property development and electronics companies. [2]

In May 2006 Fred. Olsen Cruise Lines announced the purchase of a new vessel, Norwegian Crown , from Norwegian Cruise Line. Following delivery of the vessel in November 2007, she was dry-docked for refurbishment. She was renamed Balmoral and entered service early in 2008. This was followed by A new centre section was added, with new cabins and public rooms, increasing the size from 19,000  GT to 24,000  GT (approx).

In 2018 Fred. Olsen announced that a series of 600-passenger-newbuilts is planned and they are in negotiatings with shipyards, but those newbuilts were never ordered. [3]

In July 2020, Fred. Olsen bought the former Holland America Line ships Amsterdam and Rotterdam for $37m [4] and renamed them Bolette and Borealis respectively, they will be delivered in September 2020. They replaced the Boudicca and the Black Watch, which were retired in August 2020. [5] [6]

Fleet

Current fleet

ShipBuiltEntered service
with Fred. Olsen
Gross tonnage FlagNotesImage
Balmoral 1988200743,537  GT Civil Ensign of the Bahamas.svg  Bahamas former Crown Odyssey; Royal Cruise Line
Cruise ship (43569399331).jpg
Borealis 1997202061,849  GT Civil Ensign of the Bahamas.svg  Bahamas former Rotterdam; Holland America Line
Borealis (ship, 1997) at Liverpool Cruise Terminal 2.jpg
Bolette 2000202062,735  GT Civil Ensign of the Bahamas.svg  Bahamas former Amsterdam; Holland America Line Bolette underway in Tallinn Bay Tallinn 7 May 2023.jpg

Former fleet

ShipBuiltYears in serviceTonnageNotesFateImage
Black Prince 19661966–20099,499  GRT
11,209  GT
Built as a combination ferry/cruise ship/reefer ship. Rebuilt into a cruise ship in 1987.Scrapped in October 2013 as Ola Esmeralda. Cruise Ship leaving River Dart - geograph.org.uk - 1045055 (recropped).jpg
Blenheim 1970 Upper Clyde Shipbuilders Ltd1970–198110,427  GRT
12,244  GT
Built as a larger version of Black Prince and Black Watch combination ferry/cruise ships. Sold to Scandinavia World Cruises 1981. Burnt out 1984. Rebuilt and continued as Discovery 1.Scrapped in 1997.
Brabant 20062018- 20201,566 GT First river cruise for Fred Olsen. Chartered from Amadeus River Cruises between 2018-2020.Laid up in Germany.
Black Watch 19721996–202028,613  GT Retired in 2020, after Fred. Olsen bought the former Amsterdam and Rotterdam.Scrapped in Alang, India in 2022.
MV Black Watch (IMO: 7108930) leaving Alesund, Norway, on June 15, 2016.jpg
Boudicca 19732005–202028,388  GT Scrapped in Aliağa, Turkey in 2021.
MV Boudicca - IMO 7218395 (cropped).jpg
Braemar 19932001–2024 [7] 24,344  GT Retired in 2022, [8] sold to Villa Vie in 2024
BRAEMAR 2320.jpg

Destinations and cruise holidays

For most of the year, the ships are based in UK ports.

Destinations include Northern Europe, the Baltic, the Mediterranean, the Adriatic, the Canary Islands, the Caribbean, Africa, Canada, the United States and South America [ citation needed ]

Operations

Fred. Olsen Cruise Lines operates smaller scale cruise ships, ranging in size from 24,000 to 62,000  GT (approx), currently a fleet of three cruise ships, the ambience on board is traditionally British.

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References

  1. "Home". fredolsen.co.uk.
  2. "Fred. Olsen Cruise Lines".
  3. "'Series' of new 600-passenger ships announced by Fred. Olsen Junior at launch of cruise line's 2019/20 brochure". 2018-02-28. Retrieved 2021-06-01.
  4. "Deep distress: Fred Olsen swoops for two Carnival ships funded by seller's finance | TradeWinds". 15 July 2020.
  5. "ACQUISITION OF CRUISE VESSELS AND FLEET OPTIMIZATION". 2020-07-15. Archived from the original on 2020-07-16. Retrieved 2020-07-16.
  6. "Fred. Olsen Cruise Lines confirms new ships Bolette and Borealis will take over from classic vessels Boudicca and Black Watch". 21 August 2020.
  7. "Villa Vie Takes Delivery of Cruise Ship for Residence Start up - Cruise Industry News | Cruise News".
  8. "Fred. Olsen To Sell Braemar".