MS Skyward moored in the PortMiami, 1980 | |
History | |
---|---|
Name |
|
Operator |
|
Port of registry | |
Builder | AG Weser Shipyards |
Yard number | 942 |
Laid down | December 6, 1968 |
Launched | June 26, 1969 |
Completed | December 19, 1969 |
In service | January 3, 1970 |
Out of service | 2021 |
Identification |
|
Fate | Scrapped in Alang, India, 2021 |
General characteristics | |
Tonnage | 16,254 GRT |
Length | 528 ft (161 m) |
Beam | 74 ft (23 m) |
Speed | 16 knots (30 km/h; 18 mph) |
Capacity |
|
Crew | 250 |
Notes | [1] |
MS Skyward (also known as Leisure World) was a cruise ship built in 1969 for Norwegian Cruise Line. It subsequently served for several years under various companies, both as a cruise ship and later on as a floating casino. She was finally sold for scrap in 2021 and beached for demolition at Alang, India.
Skyward was delivered on December 10, 1969, along with her sister, Starward, as the first purpose-built ships of Norwegian Cruise Line. [2]
During a cruise in 1973 many passengers became ill due to infected water. In 1979 a boiler room fire broke out on board the Skyward, and consequently her engines had to be stopped and her passengers transferred to the Starward.
She was operated by her original owners until 1991, when the Skyward was purchased by Johnson Sembawang Shipmanagement in Nassau to become the Shangri-la World. [3] Shangri-la World operated cruises out of Singapore. After going through several name changes in the 1990s, the now renamed Leisure World was rebuilt and renovated in Jacksonville, Florida and sold to Queenstown Investments in 1995. In 2000 she was sold to New Century Cruise Line, who operated her as a casino/entertainment ship out of Penang. As a casino ship, she was one of at least three casino ships (Long Jie (formerly Omar), Royale Star) operating off Batam. Following the opening of the two legal land casinos in Singapore, ship casinos' business suffered badly. As a result, all the casino ships closed down except for Leisure World. In 2014, a new casino ship (Ocean Grand) emerged to compete with Leisure World. Ocean Grand closed down about six months later despite advertisements in The New Paper (a Singapore tabloid). Since then, business picked up at Leisure World.
In April 2021 New Century Group sold the vessel for US$3.59m for scrap to NKD Maritime, with breaking the ship performed in Alang, India. [4] The Leisure World was beached on July 11, 2021.
Aboard Leisure World there was a karaoke lounge, miniature golf course, [5] sauna, arcade, gift shop, [6] fitness center and hair salon. [7]
Pacific Jewel was a cruise ship. Originally debuting in 1990, Pacific Jewel has operated for numerous cruise lines throughout her history. She debuted as Crown Princess for Princess Cruises in 1990 before being transferred to A'Rosa Cruises as A'Rosa Blu in 2002. In 2004, she was transferred to AIDA Cruises as AIDAblu. In 2007, she was transferred to Ocean Village as Ocean Village Two. In 2009, she was transferred to P&O Cruises Australia as Pacific Jewel. In 2018, she was sold to Jalesh Cruises and renamed Karnika, debuting in 2019. Jalesh Cruises ceased operating in October 2020. She was sold for scrap in Alang.
MS Albatros was a Royal Viking Star-class cruise ship, operated by the Germany-based travel agency Phoenix Reisen until 2020 when she was taken out of service, and scrapped in 2021.
MS Star Pisces was a cruise ship owned by Star Cruises and did short cruises from Hong Kong. She was originally built as the cruiseferry MS Kalypso in 1990 at Masa-Yards Turku New Shipyard, Finland for Rederi AB Slite for use in Viking Line traffic. The ship was designed by Per Dockson. Star Pisces had a sister ship, Pearl Seaways.
MS Regal Empress was a cruise ship that recently operated for Imperial Majesty Cruise Line. She was built in 1953 by Alexander Stephen & Sons at Glasgow, Scotland as the ocean liner SS Olympia for the Greek Line. Greek Line withdrew the Olympia from service in 1974. Following an extended lay-up period and reconstruction into a diesel-engined Caribbean cruise ship, the ship re-emerged in 1983 as MS Caribe I for Commodore Cruise Line. In 1993 she was sold to Regal Cruise Line and received her final name. She operated for Imperial Majesty Cruise Line from 2003 until 2009. The Regal Empress was also the last vintage passenger ship to regularly sail from the United States.
MS Holiday was a Holiday-class cruise ship, which was formerly owned by Carnival Cruise Line as the Holiday and Ibero Cruises as the Grand Holiday. She last sailed for Cruise & Maritime Voyages from Spring 2015 to 2020 as the Magellan until Cruise & Maritime Voyages ceased operations due to the COVID-19 pandemic. She was then sold at auction and was scrapped at Alang, India in early 2021.
RMS Empress of Britain was a transatlantic ocean liner built by Fairfield Shipbuilding at Govan on the Clyde in Scotland in 1955-1956 for Canadian Pacific Steamships (CP). This ship — the third of three CP vessels to be named Empress of Britain — regularly traversed the trans-Atlantic route between Canada and Europe until 1964, completing 123 voyages under the Canadian Pacific flag.
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MS Starward was a cruise ship built in 1968 at the AG Weser shipyard in Bremerhaven, West Germany. Originally commissioned for Norwegian Caribbean Line after the success of its first ship, Sunward, Starward was the first purpose-built ship for the newly-established cruise line. In 1995, Starward was sold to Festival Cruises, which they renamed the vessel Bolero. The vessel was shortly chartered to Spanish Cruise Line, however, it was sold to Abou Merhi Cruises after Festival Cruises was forced to declare bankruptcy in early 2004. In 2006, Louis Cruise Lines bought Orient Queen and kept the name intact. Orient Queen was briefly used the United States Government in 2006 to evacuate U.S. citizens out of Lebanon due to conflict between Lebanon and Israel. Louis Cruise Lines renamed the ship to Louis Aura in 2012. In 2017, Etstur, a Turkish travel agency, chartered the ship and renamed it to Aegean Queen. She was sold to for scrap the following year, and was broken up in Alang, India.
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SS Independence was an American built passenger liner, which entered service in February 1951 for American Export Lines. Originally, she plied a New York-Mediterranean route, specializing in a high-end clientele, sailing one way while her sister ship, SS Constitution, plied the route the opposite. Starting in 1980 she sailed as a cruise ship. She was shortly joined by her similarly graceful counter sterned sibling, the pair sharing the Hawaiian islands together for the better part of two decades until their retirements.
MS Ocean Gala 1 was a Cruise ship originally built as the cruiseferry MS Scandinavia in 1981.
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The Belorussiya-class was a class of cruiseferries that were built by Wärtsilä Turku Shipyard, Finland in 1975–1976 for the Black Sea Shipping Company, Soviet Union. The five ships in the class were originally used in cruiseferry service around the Black Sea. During the 1980s all ships in the class were rebuilt into cruise ships. During the end of the 1990s all ships in the class were sold to other operators. The remaining ships in this class ended service in 2020. All ships as of 2022 have been scrapped except for the Enchanted Capri, which was shipwrecked on the Gulf coast of Mexico and only has partially been dismantled.
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