Ocean Countess

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Ocean Countess at Helsinki, 5 July 2010.
History
Name
  • 1975–1996: Cunard Countess
  • 1996–1998: Awani Dream II
  • 1998–2002: Olympic Countess
  • 2002–2004: Olympia Countess
  • 2004–2005: Ocean Countess
  • 2005–2006: Lili Marleen
  • 2006–2007: Ocean Countess
  • 2007: Ruby
  • 2007-2014: Ocean Countess[1]
Owner
Operator
Port of registry
Builder
Yard number858 (B&W)[1]
Launched20 September 1974[1]
CompletedJune 1976[1]
In service14 August 1976[1]
Out of service22 October 2012 (retired) [2]
IdentificationIMO number: 7358561
FateCaught fire and scrapped at Aliağa, Turkey in 2014
General characteristics
Tonnage17,593 GRT
Length537 ft (163.68 m)
Beam75 ft (22.86 m)
PropulsionDiesel
Speed17 knots
Capacity800
Crew350

Ocean Countess was a cruise ship owned by Majestic International Cruises of Greece. She was completed in 1976 as Cunard Countess for Cunard Line and was a popular ship in the Caribbean cruise market for 20 years. After leaving Cunard service in 1996, she had a number of owners before being purchased by Majestic in 2004. She was retired in 2012 and scrapped in 2014 after a fire destroyed the ship.

History

Cunard Countess was built in

Caribbean sea base port of San Juan, Puerto Rico, via Barcelona, Spain and Antigua. A part-ship charter group of passengers was carried on this maiden voyage, between Barcelona and Antigua. On the eve of entering full commercial service in August 1976, Cunard Countess was christened at San Juan by Janet Armstrong, then wife of Neil Armstrong, the first man to walk on the Moon.[4]

Cunard Countess docked in Martinique, 1982
Olympic Countess off of Mozambique in December 2002
Ocean Countess anchored off Santorini, July 2008
Ocean Countess arriving at Greenock, August 2012

The '4-star-Premium' style Cunard Countess, with her almost-identical sister ship

Island Princess
, both also having similar dimensions and capacity to Cunard Countess.

In October 1982, after the conclusion of the Falklands War, the ship was chartered for six months by the Ministry of Defence (United Kingdom) to support troop movements between Ascension Island and the Falkland Islands while Port Stanley Airport was being reinstated.[5] Families and friends of British personnel lost in the conflict were also carried on one round voyage, to enable commemorations both at sea and ashore. At the end of the charter, Cunard controversially awarded the contract for the refurbishment of the vessel to Malta Shipyards at a reported cost of £2 million.[6] Cunard Countess returned to Caribbean cruising in July 1983. In 1990 the ship's port of registry was changed to Nassau, The Bahamas.

In 1996 - before

Royal Olympic Cruises
, as Olympic Countess under the Greek flag.

Purchased in 2004 by Maximus Navigation Ltd, a subsidiary of Majestic International Cruises, she was renamed Ocean Countess and registered in

Valencia
.

In April 2010, the refitted Ocean Countess joined Marco Polo in an extensive cruise programme from British ports for the recently formed company Cruise & Maritime Voyages (CMV).[7] In late 2012 Ocean Countess left the CMV fleet, with a final 13-night Canary Islands & Madeira “Farewell Voyage” which ended in Barcelona instead of returning to Liverpool; she was replaced by the MV Discovery.[8]

On 30 November 2013 the central superstructure of the ship caught fire at

Chalkis, Greece while laid up prior to an anticipated return to service in 2014. The five caretaker crew were all accounted for.[9] She sustained heavy damage from waterline to funnel.[10] She has been sold to a scrapyard in Aliaga [11]
and departed Chalkis under tow on 7 March 2014. [12]

Facilities

The fully air-conditioned Ocean Countess had 7 passenger decks (passenger decks 3 to 7, 9 and sun terrace deck 10) plus three further crew-only decks (decks 1, 2 and bridge deck 8). There were deluxe cabins and suites as well as inner and outer standard cabins. All cabins featured private facilities. Passenger capacity was approximately 800 in 400 cabins with a crew of 350. A small number of cabins could be adjusted for guests with special requirements.

The sun terrace (top deck), exterior boat deck and aft lido deck were sheathed in traditional teak. The accommodation, public rooms and decks were refurbished and renamed with British themes in early 2010, in preparation for Ocean Countess' charter to Cruise & Maritime Voyages. New flat screen televisions with satellite channels were also installed in all cabins as part of the refurbishment.[13]

References

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Asklander, Micke. "M/S Cunard Countess (1975)". Fakta om Fartyg (in Swedish). Retrieved 15 March 2014.
  2. ^ Dake, Shawn. "Swapping Ships". MaritimeMatter.com. Retrieved 15 March 2014.
  3. ^ a b c d Boyle, Ian. "Cunard Countess". Simplon Postcards. Retrieved 15 March 2014.
  4. ^ "Cunard Countess". Chris' Cunard Page.
  5. ^ "Kenya & Uganda". MerchantNavyOfficers.com. Retrieved 15 March 2014.
  6. ^ "Cunard Countess". INT Source. Retrieved 15 March 2014.
  7. ^ "New Cruise Line Formed August 13, 2009". CruiseInd.com. 13 August 2009. Retrieved 15 March 2014.
  8. ^ "Discovery to Join Cruise and Maritime After Drydock (7 September 2012)". Cruise Industry News. 7 September 2012. Retrieved 15 March 2014.
  9. ^ Knego, Peter. "Ocean Countess on Fire". Maritime Matters. Retrieved 10 March 2014.
  10. ^ Mortimer, Dennis. "Ocean Countess - IMO 7358561". ShipSpotting.com. Retrieved 10 March 2014.
  11. ^ "Ship demolitions 15/2/2014". Merseyshipping. Retrieved 10 March 2014.
  12. ^ "Piraeus, outskirts, main Greek ports and shipyards roundup/7 March 2014". shipfriends.gr. Retrieved 15 March 2014.
  13. ^ Ward, Douglas. "Ocean Countess (Expert Review)". UK Telegraph. Archived from the original on 29 September 2011. Retrieved 15 March 2014.

External links

Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Ocean_Countess&oldid=1166528966"