MS Pearl of Scandinavia
Encyclopedia
MS Pearl Seaways is a cruiseferry
owned by DFDS Seaways
and operated on their Copenhagen
–Oslo
service. She was built in 1989 by Wärtsilä Marine, Turku
, for Rederi AB Slite
as MS Athena for use in Viking Line
traffic. Between 1993 and 2001 she sailed as MS Langkapuri Star Aquarius. From 2001 to 2010 she sailed as MS Pearl of Scandinavia.
competed heavily for dominance on routes connecting Finland
to Sweden
, with 11 new builds delivered between 1985 and 1991. At this time there was also a strong belief in growing of the cruise passenger market.
In response to challenge from the other Viking Line partner SF Line
and Silja's owners, Rederi AB Slite ordered two new builds from Wärtsilä Turku shipyard. The first of these was to be called MS Athena, and she was planned to replace the ageing on the freight-dominant Naantali
–Kapellskär
service. The ship was designed by Per Dockson. The authorities of Kapellskär failed to modernise their harbour to accommodate such a large ship, and when delivered in April 1989 the ship (which at the time of delivery was the largest cruiseferry in the world) was set on cruise traffic between Stockholm
and Mariehamn
, replacing the aged MS Apollo III. Additional public spaces, such as an "amusement park" and a disco were built on her cardeck. Part of the cardeck was also used as a parking space for cruise passengers who came to Stockholm with their own cars.
Apart from a fire in one of the cabins in May 1989, the Athena's service with Viking Line proved to be uneventful. In spring 1993 she made a test cruise from Stockholm to Riga
. Unfortunately at the same time her owners were experiencing notable financial difficulties and were forced to declare bankruptcy in April 1993. Athena continued serving with Viking Line until August of the same year, when she was laid up in Stockholm awaiting sale. DFDS
and P&O Ferries
were both interested in her, and it was believed that the latter would be her new owner. In the end Malaysia-based Star Cruises
made a bid their competitors couldn't match.
and started her journey from the Baltic to Singapore
. Between October and December she was rebuilt in Sembawang
dock, Singapore, as a cruiseship. Her interior decorations were changed and her entire cardeck was altered into a huge casino. Her Viking Line-red hull was replaced with a dark blue one and the base of her funnel repainted blue, with a yellow star where Viking's logo had been. This readaptation of Viking Line's funnel colours remains Star Cruises' funnel colour scheme to this day. During the rebuilding her name was again changed, this time into Langkapuri Star Aquarius. The ship was even now designed by Per Dockson. In 1994 the Langkapuri Star Aquarius begun cruising from Singapore (in practice the ships's name was often displayed as Star Aquarius in promotional material).
In 1998 her port of departure was changed into Hong Kong
, and around the same time she received Star Cruises' new white-hulled livery. The former carferry was never a particularly practical cruiseship however, and when Star Cruises started taking delivery of various newbuilds the Langkapuri Star Aquarius was placed for sale. Eventually she was sold to DFDS
on January 11, 2001.
, and then at Ålborg where most of the alterations to her interior were carried out. She received her new name MS Pearl of Scandinavia while at Hamburg. During the rebuilding rearsponsons
were added to the ship for increased stability. Finally on June 26 she started on her first journey between Copenhagen, Helsingborg
and Oslo. On 27 December 2001 the ship had a blackout in Oslofjord
and was drifting for an hour before power could be re-established.
In January 2002 the ship was again rebuild, this time at Copenhagen, and again in January 2005 at Öresundsvarvet, Landskrona
, Sweden. In October 2006 DFDS decided to drop the stop at Helsingborg in order to save fuel and pilot expenses.
On November 17, 2010, a fire broke out in the car-deck of the ferry while en-route from Oslo to Copenhagen. So far, the fire has been attributed to a electric car with a faulty charging-cable.
After a re-fit following the November 17th fire she was painted in DFDS new livery and re-named MS Pearl Seaways
Cruiseferry
A cruiseferry is a ship that combines the features of a cruise ship with a Ro-Pax ferry. Many passengers travel with the ships for the cruise experience, staying only a few hours at the destination port or not leaving the ship at all, while others use the ships as means of...
owned by DFDS Seaways
DFDS Seaways
DFDS Seaways is a large Danish shipping company operating passenger and freight services across Northern Europe. Following the acquisition of Norfolkline in 2010, DFDS restructured its other shipping divisions into the previously passenger only operation of DFDS Seaways.-History:The company has...
and operated on their Copenhagen
Copenhagen
Copenhagen is the capital and largest city of Denmark, with an urban population of 1,199,224 and a metropolitan population of 1,930,260 . With the completion of the transnational Øresund Bridge in 2000, Copenhagen has become the centre of the increasingly integrating Øresund Region...
–Oslo
Oslo
Oslo is a municipality, as well as the capital and most populous city in Norway. As a municipality , it was established on 1 January 1838. Founded around 1048 by King Harald III of Norway, the city was largely destroyed by fire in 1624. The city was moved under the reign of Denmark–Norway's King...
service. She was built in 1989 by Wärtsilä Marine, Turku
Turku
Turku is a city situated on the southwest coast of Finland at the mouth of the Aura River. It is located in the region of Finland Proper. It is believed that Turku came into existence during the end of the 13th century which makes it the oldest city in Finland...
, for Rederi AB Slite
Rederi AB Slite
Rederi AB Slite was a Swedish shipping company, founded in 1947. The company was one of the three founding companies of Viking Line. Rederi AB Slite went bankrupt in 1993.-Early History:...
as MS Athena for use in Viking Line
Viking Line
Viking Line is a Finnish shipping company that operates a fleet of ferries and cruiseferries between Finland, the Åland Islands, Sweden and Estonia. Viking Line shares are quoted on the Helsinki Stock Exchange...
traffic. Between 1993 and 2001 she sailed as MS Langkapuri Star Aquarius. From 2001 to 2010 she sailed as MS Pearl of Scandinavia.
Viking Line service
In the latter half of the 1980s owners of the rival shipping companies Viking Line and Silja LineSilja Line
Silja Line is a Finnish cruiseferry brand operated by the Estonian ferry company AS Tallink Grupp, for car and passenger traffic between Finland and Sweden. The former company Silja Oy – today Tallink Silja Oy – is a subsidiary of Tallink Grupp, handling marketing and sales for Tallink and Silja...
competed heavily for dominance on routes connecting Finland
Finland
Finland , officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country situated in the Fennoscandian region of Northern Europe. It is bordered by Sweden in the west, Norway in the north and Russia in the east, while Estonia lies to its south across the Gulf of Finland.Around 5.4 million people reside...
to Sweden
Sweden
Sweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund....
, with 11 new builds delivered between 1985 and 1991. At this time there was also a strong belief in growing of the cruise passenger market.
In response to challenge from the other Viking Line partner SF Line
SF Line
SF Line was the name of the Finnish shipping company presently known as Viking Line. The company, originally named Rederi Ab Ålandsfärjan, was one of three shipping companies that formed shipping marketing company Viking Line in 1966, the other two being Rederi Ab Vikinglinjen and Rederi AB Slite...
and Silja's owners, Rederi AB Slite ordered two new builds from Wärtsilä Turku shipyard. The first of these was to be called MS Athena, and she was planned to replace the ageing on the freight-dominant Naantali
Naantali
Naantali is a city in south-western Finland, known as one of the most important tourist centres of the country. The municipality has a population of , and is located in the region of Finland Proper, west of Turku....
–Kapellskär
Kapellskär
Kapellskär is a port about north of Stockholm, in Sweden. It is located by the Baltic Sea, in Norrtälje Municipality, Stockholm County and is served by frequent passenger ferry services to Mariehamn, Åland, Finland, operated by Viking Line, with 3 services per day and direction during peak season...
service. The ship was designed by Per Dockson. The authorities of Kapellskär failed to modernise their harbour to accommodate such a large ship, and when delivered in April 1989 the ship (which at the time of delivery was the largest cruiseferry in the world) was set on cruise traffic between Stockholm
Stockholm
Stockholm is the capital and the largest city of Sweden and constitutes the most populated urban area in Scandinavia. Stockholm is the most populous city in Sweden, with a population of 851,155 in the municipality , 1.37 million in the urban area , and around 2.1 million in the metropolitan area...
and Mariehamn
Mariehamn
Mariehamn is the capital of Åland, an autonomous territory under Finnish sovereignty. Mariehamn is the seat of the Government and Parliament of Åland, and 40% of the population of Åland live in the city...
, replacing the aged MS Apollo III. Additional public spaces, such as an "amusement park" and a disco were built on her cardeck. Part of the cardeck was also used as a parking space for cruise passengers who came to Stockholm with their own cars.
Apart from a fire in one of the cabins in May 1989, the Athena's service with Viking Line proved to be uneventful. In spring 1993 she made a test cruise from Stockholm to Riga
Riga
Riga is the capital and largest city of Latvia. With 702,891 inhabitants Riga is the largest city of the Baltic states, one of the largest cities in Northern Europe and home to more than one third of Latvia's population. The city is an important seaport and a major industrial, commercial,...
. Unfortunately at the same time her owners were experiencing notable financial difficulties and were forced to declare bankruptcy in April 1993. Athena continued serving with Viking Line until August of the same year, when she was laid up in Stockholm awaiting sale. DFDS
DFDS
DFDS is a Danish shipping company. It is one of the world's largest ferry operators. The companies name is an acronym of Det Forenede Dampskibs-Selskab DFDS is a Danish shipping company. It is one of the world's largest ferry operators. The companies name is an acronym of Det Forenede...
and P&O Ferries
P&O Ferries
P&O Ferries is the current name for the amalgamation of a range of ferry services that operated from the United Kingdom to Ireland and Continental Europe...
were both interested in her, and it was believed that the latter would be her new owner. In the end Malaysia-based Star Cruises
Star Cruises
Star Cruises , a member of Genting Hong Kong, is the sixth largest cruise line in the world behind companies such as Carnival Corporation and Royal Caribbean Cruises...
made a bid their competitors couldn't match.
Star Cruises service
In September 1993 Athena was renamed Star Aquarius, re-flagged into PanamaPanama
Panama , officially the Republic of Panama , is the southernmost country of Central America. Situated on the isthmus connecting North and South America, it is bordered by Costa Rica to the northwest, Colombia to the southeast, the Caribbean Sea to the north and the Pacific Ocean to the south. The...
and started her journey from the Baltic to Singapore
Singapore
Singapore , officially the Republic of Singapore, is a Southeast Asian city-state off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, north of the equator. An island country made up of 63 islands, it is separated from Malaysia by the Straits of Johor to its north and from Indonesia's Riau Islands by the...
. Between October and December she was rebuilt in Sembawang
Sembawang
Sembawang is an area in the Northern-most portion of Singapore, encompassing the largest land mass within the Sembawang Group Representation Constituency. The incumbent Member of Parliament for the Sembawang Constituency is Khaw Boon Wan. The constituency jurisdiction extends into the Woodlands...
dock, Singapore, as a cruiseship. Her interior decorations were changed and her entire cardeck was altered into a huge casino. Her Viking Line-red hull was replaced with a dark blue one and the base of her funnel repainted blue, with a yellow star where Viking's logo had been. This readaptation of Viking Line's funnel colours remains Star Cruises' funnel colour scheme to this day. During the rebuilding her name was again changed, this time into Langkapuri Star Aquarius. The ship was even now designed by Per Dockson. In 1994 the Langkapuri Star Aquarius begun cruising from Singapore (in practice the ships's name was often displayed as Star Aquarius in promotional material).
In 1998 her port of departure was changed into Hong Kong
Hong Kong
Hong Kong is one of two Special Administrative Regions of the People's Republic of China , the other being Macau. A city-state situated on China's south coast and enclosed by the Pearl River Delta and South China Sea, it is renowned for its expansive skyline and deep natural harbour...
, and around the same time she received Star Cruises' new white-hulled livery. The former carferry was never a particularly practical cruiseship however, and when Star Cruises started taking delivery of various newbuilds the Langkapuri Star Aquarius was placed for sale. Eventually she was sold to DFDS
DFDS
DFDS is a Danish shipping company. It is one of the world's largest ferry operators. The companies name is an acronym of Det Forenede Dampskibs-Selskab DFDS is a Danish shipping company. It is one of the world's largest ferry operators. The companies name is an acronym of Det Forenede...
on January 11, 2001.
DFDS service
The ship arrived back in Europe in March 2001 under the temporary name MS Aquarius. Between April and June of the same year she was rebuilt back into a car-passenger ferry first at Blohm & Voss, HamburgHamburg
-History:The first historic name for the city was, according to Claudius Ptolemy's reports, Treva.But the city takes its modern name, Hamburg, from the first permanent building on the site, a castle whose construction was ordered by the Emperor Charlemagne in AD 808...
, and then at Ålborg where most of the alterations to her interior were carried out. She received her new name MS Pearl of Scandinavia while at Hamburg. During the rebuilding rearsponsons
Sponson
Sponsons are projections from the sides of a watercraft, for protection, stability, or the mounting of equipment such as armaments or lifeboats, etc...
were added to the ship for increased stability. Finally on June 26 she started on her first journey between Copenhagen, Helsingborg
Helsingborg
Helsingborg is a city and the seat of Helsingborg Municipality, Skåne County, Sweden with 97,122 inhabitants in 2010. Helsingborg is the centre of an area in the Øresund region of about 320,000 inhabitants in north-west Scania, and is Sweden's closest point to Denmark, with the Danish city...
and Oslo. On 27 December 2001 the ship had a blackout in Oslofjord
Oslofjord
The Oslofjord is a bay in the south-east of Norway, stretching from an imaginary line between the Torbjørnskjær and Færder lighthouses and down to Langesund in the south to Oslo in the north....
and was drifting for an hour before power could be re-established.
In January 2002 the ship was again rebuild, this time at Copenhagen, and again in January 2005 at Öresundsvarvet, Landskrona
Landskrona
Landskrona is a locality and the seat of Landskrona Municipality, Skåne County, Sweden with 28,670 inhabitants in 2005.-History:The city of Landskrona was founded at the location of Scania's best natural harbour, as a means of King Eric of Pomerania's anti-Hanseatic policy, intended to compete...
, Sweden. In October 2006 DFDS decided to drop the stop at Helsingborg in order to save fuel and pilot expenses.
On November 17, 2010, a fire broke out in the car-deck of the ferry while en-route from Oslo to Copenhagen. So far, the fire has been attributed to a electric car with a faulty charging-cable.
After a re-fit following the November 17th fire she was painted in DFDS new livery and re-named MS Pearl Seaways