Oasis-class cruise ship
The Oasis class is a class of Royal Caribbean International cruise ships. The first two ships in the class, Oasis of the Seas and Allure of the Seas, were delivered in 2009 and 2010 by STX Europe Turku Shipyard, Finland. A third Oasis class vessel, Harmony of the Seas, was delivered in 2016 built by STX France, a fourth vessel, Symphony of the Seas, was completed in June 2017. Two additional unnamed ships are under construction and are expected to be delivered in 2021 and 2023 respectively; the first two ships in the class Oasis of the Seas and Allure of the Seas are exceeded in size by the third ship Harmony of the Seas, while the Symphony of the Seas is the world's largest cruise ship. The fifth ship, due to be completed in Spring 2021, is planned to be larger than the Symphony of the Seas; as of early 2019, all ships of the class rank as the world's largest passenger ships. The Oasis-class ships surpassed the earlier Freedom-class ships as the world's largest and longest passenger ships. Oasis is 8.5 metres wider, with a gross tonnage of 225,282, is much larger.
Oasis-class vessels can carry over 5,400 passengers. Oasis-class ships feature a split structure, with the 5-deck high "Central Park" and "Boardwalk" outdoor areas running down the middle of the ship; these areas feature lush tropical gardens, upscale restaurants, a working carousel. The displacement—the actual mass—is estimated at 100,000 metric tons, equivalent to the displacement of a Nimitz-class aircraft carrier. To keep the ship stable without increasing the draft excessively, the designers created a wide hull. About 30 feet of the ship sits beneath a small percentage of the ship's overall height. Wide, shallow ships such as this tend to be "snappy", meaning that they can snap back upright after a wave has passed, which can be uncomfortable; this effect, however, is mitigated by the vessel's large size. The cruise ship's officers were pleased with the ship class' stability and performance during the transatlantic crossing, when the vessel, in order to allow finishing work to go on, slowed and changed course in the face of winds "almost up to hurricane force" and seas in excess of 40 feet.
The ship's power comes from six medium-speed, marine-diesel generating sets: three 16-cylinder Wärtsilä 16V46D common rail engines producing 18,860 kilowatts each and three similar 12-cylinder Wärtsilä 12V46D engines producing 13,860 kilowatts each. The fuel consumption of the main engines at full power is 1,377 US gallons of fuel oil per engine per hour for the 16-cylinder engines and 1,033 US gallons per engine per hour for the 12-cylinder engines; the total output of these prime movers, some 97,020 kilowatts, is converted to electricity, used in hotel power for operation of the lights, electronics, water treatment plant, all of the other systems used on the operation of the vessel, as well as propulsion. Propulsion is provided by ABB's brand of electric azimuth thrusters; these pods, suspended under the stern, contain electric motors driving 20-foot propellers. Because they are rotatable, no rudders are needed to steer the ship. Docking is assisted by four 5,500-kilowatt transverse bow thrusters.
The ship carries 18 lifeboats. Inflatable life rafts provide for additional passengers and crew. On 25 October 2012 Royal Caribbean confirmed that the company was engaged in negotiations to build a third Oasis-class ship and hoped to enter an agreement before the year's end; the ship, which the company expected to cost less on a per-berth basis than the two previous ships and to be more energy efficient, was named Harmony of the Seas and delivered in May 2016. On 27 December 2012, Royal Caribbean ordered the third Oasis-class ship from STX France, after failing to come to an agreement with the Government of Finland to build the ship at the STX Finland shipyard that built the first two ships; the steel-cutting for the ship began on 23 September 2013. The ship is larger than the preceding Oasis-class ships at an estimated 227,700 GT, 362.15 m in length, 66 m in maximum width, representing an increase of 2,418 GT and 2.15 m length. The ship has 2,744 passenger staterooms with a capacity of 6,360 passengers, an increase of 64 passengers over the previous ships in the class, as well as 1,197 crew cabins capable of berthing 2,100 crew.
The ship features a water slide. It cost about €1 billion and entered service in May 2016. In May 2014, Royal Caribbean exercised their option for a fourth Oasis-class ship to be delivered in 2018. In February 2015, Royal Caribbean announced. In May 2016, Royal Caribbean announced that they had signed an agreement for a fifth Oasis-class ship, to be delivered in the Spring of 2021. In March 2017, Royal Caribbean announced that the fourth Oasis-class ship would be named Symphony of the Seas. In February 2019, Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. announced the order for the sixth ship of Oasis class, planned to become the largest in the world when she enters service. Oasis of the Seas Royal Caribbean
Karnika
Karnika is a cruise ship owned by Zen Cruises and operated by Jalesh Cruises, is home ported out of Mumbai,India. She was built for Sitmar Cruises by Fincantieri in Monfalcone and launched in 1989. Before she entered service, she was transferred to P&O Princess Cruises, she cruised as Crown Princess until 2002, when she was renamed A'Rosa Blu and transferred to A'Rosa Cruises. In 2003, the ship was reassigned to the AIDA Cruises fleet, following the acquisition of P&O by Carnival Corporation & plc. After a refit, she reentered service in 2004 as AIDAblu. Between 2007 and 2009, the ship was operated by Ocean Village as Ocean Village Two, but after owner Carnival decided to shut down the Ocean Village brand, she was transferred to P&O Australia's fleet and renamed Pacific Jewel. In 2018 it was announced the ship would leave the fleet in March 2019, it was announced she had been sold to Zen Cruises subsidiary Jalesh Cruises and she has now been renamed Karnika. Karnika was built by Fincantieri in Monfalcone, Italy as Crown Princess, with the yard number 5839.
She was launched on 25 May 1989. As designed, the vessel had a gross tonnage of 69,845, a deadweight tonnage of 6,995 tons, she is 245.08 m long, with a beam of 32.25 m, a draft of 7.90 m. Her distinctive curved profile—often referred to as'dolphin-like'—was designed by Renzo Piano; the two propeller shafts are driven by two 12,000kW Alsthom motors. The power is produced by 4 MAN-B&W 8L58/64 diesel generators, with a combined output of 38,880 kW and a maximum speed of 19.5 knots. The ship could carry 1,910 passengers The cruise ship was built at a cost of US$276.8 million. A second ship was built to the same design, is operating under the name Pacific Dawn; the two ships were ordered by Sitmar Cruises, but transferred to the ownership of P&O Princess Cruises when P&O acquired Sitmar. Crown Princess was handed over to P&O on 29 June 1990, sailed on 8 July for her maiden voyage. In 2002, the ship was renamed A'Rosa Blu transferred to A'Rosa Cruises, a new P&O brand aimed at the German market. Financial problems and the acquisition of P&O by Carnival Corporation & plc prompted the ship's reassignment to the AIDA Cruises fleet in September 2003.
Following a refit, which saw the ship's passenger capacity increase to 2,014 across 11 decks, her crew expanded to 621, increases in her tonnage to 70,285 GT and 5,758 DWT, the cruise ship was renamed AIDAblu and returned to service in 2004. In April 2007, the vessel was transferred to Ocean Village, after a small refit in Bremerhaven, was christened as Ocean Village Two by sisters Jodie Kidd and Jemma Kidd; the vessel became an informal cruise ship. On 30 October 2008, Carnival announced the closure of their Ocean Village brand, with both ships to be transferred to the fleet of P&O Cruises Australia by the end of 2010. Pacific Jewel left on 14 November 2009 for a two-week refit at the Sembawang Shipyards in Singapore, which included minor upgrades and renovation of her facilities. After this, the ship began operation from Sydney. On 27 August 2010, the soap opera Neighbours filmed scenes on board Pacific Jewel. Actors and crew took five hours to shoot on and around the vessel's running track and circus arena on the top deck.
Some Pacific Jewel staff were given the chance to be extras in the scenes. Travel Blackboard reported that P&O expected Pacific Jewel's appearance on the show to generate more than $1 million worth of brand exposure to the Australian audience. In October 2010, three cruises for October and November were cancelled after a fault had developed in the propulsion system. November 2018 saw the ship alongside two other cruise ships chartered to facilitate the venue for the APEC CEO Summit, at Port Moresby in Papua New Guinea; the ship left the P&O fleet on 12 March 2019. On 22 August 2018 it was announced by P&O Australia that Pacific Jewel would leave the P&O Australia fleet in March 2019, her final voyage departed Melbourne on 24 February 2019. Pacific Jewel will be replaced by Star Princess in late 2021, joining her sister ship, Golden Princess, which transfers to P&O Australia in October 2020, she will be transferred to the newly formed Jalesh Cruises and will be renamed Karnika, serving in the Indian market.
Saunders, Aaron. Giants of the Seas: The Ships that Transformed Modern Cruising. Barnsley, South Yorkshire, UK: Seaforth Publishing. ISBN 9781848321724. Smith, Peter C.. Cruise Ships: The World's Most Luxurious Vessels. Barnsley, South Yorkshire, UK: Pen & Sword Maritime. ISBN 9781848842182. Official website Cruise Critic review Pacific Jewel ship location in Google Maps
Queensland
Queensland is the second-largest and third-most populous state in the Commonwealth of Australia. Situated in the north-east of the country, it is bordered by the Northern Territory, South Australia and New South Wales to the west, south-west and south respectively. To the east, Queensland is bordered by the Coral Pacific Ocean. To its north is the Torres Strait, with Papua New Guinea located less than 200 km across it from the mainland; the state is the world's sixth-largest sub-national entity, with an area of 1,852,642 square kilometres. As of 15 May 2018, Queensland has a population of 5,000,000, concentrated along the coast and in the state's South East; the capital and largest city in the state is Australia's third-largest city. Referred to as the "Sunshine State", Queensland is home to 10 of Australia's 30 largest cities and is the nation's third-largest economy. Tourism in the state, fuelled by its warm tropical climate, is a major industry. Queensland was first inhabited by Torres Strait Islanders.
The first European to land in Queensland was Dutch navigator Willem Janszoon in 1606, who explored the west coast of the Cape York Peninsula near present-day Weipa. In 1770, Lieutenant James Cook claimed the east coast of Australia for the Kingdom of Great Britain; the colony of New South Wales was founded in 1788 by Governor Arthur Phillip at Sydney. Queensland was explored in subsequent decades until the establishment of a penal colony at Brisbane in 1824 by John Oxley. Penal transportation ceased in 1839 and free settlement was allowed from 1842; the state was named in honour of Queen Victoria, who on 6 June 1859 signed Letters Patent separating the colony from New South Wales. Queensland Day is celebrated annually statewide on 6 June. Queensland was one of the six colonies which became the founding states of Australia with federation on 1 January 1901; the history of Queensland spans thousands of years, encompassing both a lengthy indigenous presence, as well as the eventful times of post-European settlement.
The north-eastern Australian region was explored by Dutch and French navigators before being encountered by Lieutenant James Cook in 1770. The state has witnessed frontier warfare between European settlers and Indigenous inhabitants, as well as the exploitation of cheap Kanaka labour sourced from the South Pacific through a form of forced recruitment known at the time as "blackbirding"; the Australian Labor Party has its origin as a formal organisation in Queensland and the town of Barcaldine is the symbolic birthplace of the party. June 2009 marked the 150th anniversary of its creation as a separate colony from New South Wales. A rare record of early settler life in north Queensland can be seen in a set of ten photographic glass plates taken in the 1860s by Richard Daintree, in the collection of the National Museum of Australia; the Aboriginal occupation of Queensland is thought to predate 50,000 BC via boat or land bridge across Torres Strait, became divided into over 90 different language groups.
During the last ice age Queensland's landscape became more arid and desolate, making food and other supplies scarce. This led to the world's first seed-grinding technology. Warming again made the land hospitable, which brought high rainfall along the eastern coast, stimulating the growth of the state's tropical rainforests. In February 1606, Dutch navigator Willem Janszoon landed near the site of what is now Weipa, on the western shore of Cape York; this was the first recorded landing of a European in Australia, it marked the first reported contact between European and Aboriginal Australian people. The region was explored by French and Spanish explorers prior to the arrival of Lieutenant James Cook in 1770. Cook claimed the east coast under instruction from King George III of the United Kingdom on 22 August 1770 at Possession Island, naming Eastern Australia, including Queensland,'New South Wales'; the Aboriginal population declined after a smallpox epidemic during the late 18th century. In 1823, John Oxley, a British explorer, sailed north from what is now Sydney to scout possible penal colony sites in Gladstone and Moreton Bay.
At Moreton Bay, he found the Brisbane River. He established a settlement at what is now Redcliffe; the settlement known as Edenglassie, was transferred to the current location of the Brisbane city centre. Edmund Lockyer discovered outcrops of coal along the banks of the upper Brisbane River in 1825. In 1839 transportation of convicts was ceased, culminating in the closure of the Brisbane penal settlement. In 1842 free settlement was permitted. In 1847, the Port of Maryborough was opened as a wool port; the first free immigrant ship to arrive in Moreton Bay was the Artemisia, in 1848. In 1857, Queensland's first lighthouse was built at Cape Moreton. A war, sometimes called a "war of extermination", erupted between Aborigines and settlers in colonial Queensland; the Frontier War was notable for being the most bloody in Australia due to Queensland's larger pre-contact indigenous population when compared to the other Australian colonies. About 1,500 European settlers and their alli
P&O Cruises
P&O Cruises is a British cruise line based at Carnival House in Southampton, operated by Carnival UK and owned by Carnival Corporation & plc. A constituent of the Peninsular and Oriental Steam Navigation Company, P&O Cruises can claim to be the oldest cruise line in the world, its predecessor company having operated pleasure trips since 1844 and the world's first dedicated cruise ship in 1881, it is the sister company of, retains strong links with, P&O Cruises Australia. P&O Cruises was de-merged from the P&O group in 2000, becoming a subsidiary of P&O Princess Cruises plc, which subsequently merged with Carnival Corporation in 2003, to form Carnival Corporation & plc. P&O Cruises operates seven cruise ships and has a 2.4% market share of all cruise lines worldwide. Its most recent vessel, flagship Britannia, joined the fleet in March 2015; the original company originates from 1822, with the formation of the Peninsular & Oriental Steam Navigation Company, which began life as a partnership between Brodie McGhie Willcox, a London ship broker, Arthur Anderson, a sailor from the Shetland Isles.
The company first operated a shipping line with routes between England and the Iberian Peninsula, adopting the name Peninsular Steam Navigation Company. In 1837, the company won a contract to deliver mail to the Peninsula, with its first mail ship, RMS Don Juan, departing from London on 1 September 1837; the ship collected mail from Falmouth four days however it hit rocks on the homeward bound leg of the trip. The company's reputation survived. In 1840, the company acquired a second contract to deliver mail to Alexandria, via Gibraltar and Malta; the company was incorporated by Royal Charter the same year, becoming the Peninsular and Oriental Steam Navigation Company. At the time, the company had no ships available to use on the route, so agreed to merge with the Liverpool based Transatlantic Steamship Company, acquiring two ships, the 1,300-ton Great Liverpool and the newly built 1,600-ton Oriental. P&O first introduced passenger services in 1844, advertising sea tours to destinations such as Gibraltar and Athens, sailing from Southampton.
The forerunner of modern cruise holidays, these voyages were the first of their kind, have led to P&O Cruises being recognised as the world's oldest cruise line. The company introduced round trips to destinations such as Alexandria and Constantinople and underwent rapid expansion in the half of the 19th century, with its ships becoming larger and more luxurious. Notable ships of the era include the SS Ravenna built in 1880, which became the first ship to be built with a total steel superstructure, the SS Valetta built in 1889, the first ship to use electric lights. In 1904 the company advertised its first cruise on the 6,000-ton Vectis, a ship specially fitted out for the purpose of carrying 150 first-class passengers. Ten years the company merged with the British India Steam Navigation Company, leaving the fleet with a total of 197 ships. In the same year the company had around two-thirds of its fleet requisitioned for war service. However, the company was fortunate and only lost 17 ships in the First World War, with a further 68 lost by subsidiary companies.
A major event in the company’s history took place in December 1918, when P&O purchased 51% of the Orient Steam Navigation Company, operating jointly with P&O on the Australian mail contract. During the 1920s, P&O and Orient Line took delivery of over 20 passenger liners, allowing them to expand their operations once again. Cruises began operating once again in 1925. During 1929, P&O offered 15 cruises, some aboard Viceroy of India, the company’s first turbo-electric ship; the P&O Group left the Second World War with a loss of 156 ships including popular liners such as Viceroy of India, Cathay and Orcades. By the late 1940s commercial aviation was beginning to take hold of the industry so newer ships became larger and faster, allowing the sailing time to Australia to be cut from five to four weeks. In 1955 P&O and Orient Lines ordered what were to be their last passenger liners — the Canberra and Oriana; these fast ships bought the Australian run down another week to just three, with Oriana recording a top speed of just over 30 knots during trials.
During 1961, P&O bought out the remaining stake in Orient Lines and renamed its passenger operations as P&O-Orient Lines. The decreasing popularity of line voyages during the 1960s and 1970s meant that cruising became an important deployment for these ships in-between line voyages. In 1971 the company reorganised its 100 subsidiaries and 239 ships into several operating divisions, one of, The Passenger Division which began with 13 ships; the 1962 comedy film, Carry On Cruising, based on the original story by Eric Barker, listed P&O-Orient in its credits. The first Carry On film in colour, it used footage of P&O's cruise ship S. S. Oronsay as well as mock-up scenes shot at Pinewood studios; the 1970s was a grim time for the passenger liner as many new ships were sold for scrap. Princess Cruises was acquired in 1974 which allowed the new Spirit of London to be transferred to the Princess fleet; this left Canberra and Oriana to serve the UK market on their own, with Arcadia deployed in Australia and Uganda offering educational cruises.
In 1977, P&O re-branded its passenger division. In February 1979 Kungsholm, a former Swedish American Line vessel, was acquired from Flagship Cruises and after a major refit was renamed Sea Princess. Operating out of Australia, she replaced Arcadia, sold to Taiwanese ship breakers. In spring 1982 Oriana replaced Sea Princess
Pullmantur Cruises
Pullmantur Cruises is a cruise line headquartered in Madrid, Spain. It began operations in the late 1990s as an offshoot of the Madrid-based travel agency Pullmantur. In 2006, Pullmantur Cruises, through its parent company, was purchased by US-based Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. but Royal Caribbean sold a 51% stake in the cruise line to Spain-based investment firm Springwater Capital, retaining a 49% stake. Pullmantur Cruises is the largest Spain-based cruise line; the company markets to Spanish passengers, although cruises on Pullmantur ships are sold by some travel operators outside the Spanish-speaking world. Some of the company's ships operate an "all-inclusive" product, where some extras, such as brand alcoholic beverages, are included in the cruise price. Most Pullmantur ships do not operate cruises for the company during the northern hemisphere winter season. Instead, they are either laid up or under charter to other cruise lines, such as the Brazil-based Viagens CVC. Pullmantur began cruise operations in the 1990s by selling cruises on board SS SeaWind Crown, founded by Anastasios Kyriakides, in the Southern Caribbean from Premier Cruises and also on board Premier Cruises flagship the SS Rembrandt in the Mediterranean.
After Premier Cruises changed their business plan in 1997 and decided to cancel their contracts with operators such as Pullmantur and their following collapse in 2000, Pullmantur acquired their SS Big Red Boat 1 and started their own cruise line, Pullmantur Cruises. The Big Red Boat 1 reverted to her original name SS Oceanic, begun cruising around the Mediterranean from Barcelona in May 2005; the Oceanic became hugely successful, in 2002 Pullmantur acquired a second ship, MS Pacific, chartered the former Renaissance Cruises ship MS R Five from Cruiseinvest. The R Five was marketed under the name Blue Dream. Two more ships followed in 2003. Pullmantur acquired MS Superstar Aries from Star Cruises and renamed her MS Holiday Dream, while the R Five's sister ship MS R Six was chartered under the marketing name Blue Star. In 2004 the R Five was chartered by her owners to Oceania Cruises. In 2005 Pullmantur purchased the R Six. A third R-class ship followed in 2006 when Pullmantur bought the Delphin Renaissance and renamed her MS Blue Moon.
The same year the Pullmantur fleet grew to six ships when the Pacific Sky was purchased from P&O Cruises Australia and renamed SS Sky Wonder. A few months after the purchase of the Sky Wonder the entire Pullmantur company was sold to Royal Caribbean Cruises Ltd. Following the acquisition by Royal Caribbean several transfers were carried out between the Pullmantur fleet and those of other Royal Caribbean brands. In 2007 the Blue Dream and Blue Moon were transferred to Azamara Cruises, while MS Oceanic II and Celebrity Cruises's MS Zenith joined the Pullmantur fleet in their place. In 2008, Pullmantur received Empress of the Seas from the fleet of Royal Caribbean International, renamed her MS Empress; the Pacific and Holiday Dream left the Pullmantur fleet in April/May for Quail Cruises and CDF Croisières de France, respectively. The former P&O Cruises Australia ship Pacific Star entered service as MS Ocean Dream in May. RCI's MS Sovereign of the Seas transferred to Pullmantur as the MS Sovereign.
In April 2008 Lloyd's List reported that Pullmantur were in the process of purchasing MS Pride of Aloha from Norwegian Cruise Line's subsidiary NCL America. The deal fell through however, the Pride of Aloha returned to the "normal" Norwegian Cruise Line fleet instead. In March 2009 the Oceanic was sold to Peace Boat and the Sky Wonder was renamed Atlantic Star in April 2009.. In mid April 2009 the Island Star was transferred from Island Cruises to Pullmantur Cruises, it was announced on March 20, 2012 that Royal Caribbean International's Monarch of the Seas will be transferred to the fleet on April 1, 2013. The Ocean Dream was chartered to Peace Boat to replace the Oceanic, the Pacific Dream/Horizon was transferred to CDF Croisières de France. In 2014, the Zenith joined her sister ship L'Horizon sailing under the CDF Croisières de France brand. On October 22, 2015, it was announce that Empress will be transferred back to Royal Caribbean in early 2016. In late 2016, it was announced CDF would cease operations in early 2017.
Both ships will be transferred back to Pullmantur. Between 2001 and 2008 Pullmantur ships ran in a variety of liveries. All ships had Pullmantur's logo depicting arrows across a globe on their funnels and the company name and logo on their hulls, but the colours of the funnels and hulls varied from one ship to another. SS Oceanic, SS Sky Wonder, MS Oceanic II and MS Zenith were painted with a white hull and blue funnel, MS R Five, MS Blue Dream and MS Blue Moon with a black hull and white funnel, MS Pacific with a white hull and white funnel, MS Holiday Dream with a white hull and blue funnel with red stripes. In 2008 the company changed livery to a white circle with a red letter ñ on it. Coinciding with this the ships were painted in the new livery with a red funnel and a white hull, with the word "Pullmantur" written on the hull towards the rear in small letters. In 2012/2013 Pullmantur changed livery into blue strip type; the first ship to receive the new livery was the Empress, which now has a blue hull and blue funnel, Pullmantur's new logo, followed by the Sovereign.
In December Horizon returned to Pullmantur Cruises for a 2-month service and received the new livery but without Pullmantur logo on it. All ship in Pullmantur will be changing liveries; as of early
P&O (company)
P&O was a British shipping and logistics company dating from the early 19th century. A public company, it was sold to DP World in March 2006 for £3.9 billion. DP World operate three P&O branded businesses, P&O Ferries, P&O Maritime and P&O Heritage. P&O Cruises was spun off from P&O in 2000, is now owned and operated by Carnival Corporation & plc; the former shipping business, P&O Nedlloyd, is now part of Maersk Line. In 1822, Brodie McGhie Willcox, a London ship broker, Arthur Anderson, a sailor from the Shetland Isles, northern Scotland, went into partnership to operate a shipping line operating routes between England and Spain and Portugal. In 1835, Dublin shipowner Captain Richard Bourne joined the business, the three men started a regular steamer service between London and Spain and Portugal – the Iberian Peninsula – using the name Peninsular Steam Navigation Company, with services to Vigo, Lisbon and Cádiz; the company flag colours are directly connected with the Peninsular flags: the white and blue represent the Portuguese flag in 1837, the yellow and red the Spanish flag.
At the height of the Carlist Wars the British lent their support to the legitimate heirs of Spain and Portugal and all three of P&O founders played their part, from gun running to chartering steamers. As a consequence of this association and involvement P&O officers are the only Merchant Navy officers entitled to wear swords. In 1837, the business won a contract from the British Admiralty to deliver mail to the Iberian Peninsula and in 1840 they acquired a contract to deliver mail to Alexandria in Egypt. In 1847, shortly after the Opium War, P&O entered the opium trade, they faced stiff competition from the incumbent shippers and the Apcar Line. As the Peninsular and Oriental Steam Navigation Company was incorporated in 1840 by a Royal Charter its name therefore included neither "Plc" nor "Limited". Mail contracts were the basis of P&O's prosperity until the Second World War, but the company became a major commercial shipping line and passenger liner operator. In 1914, it took over the British India Steam Navigation Company, the largest British shipping line, owning 131 steamers.
In 1918, it gained a controlling interest in the Orient Line, its partner in the England-Australia mail route. Further acquisitions followed and the fleet reached a peak of 500 ships in the mid-1920s. In 1920, the company established a bank, P&O Bank, that it sold to Chartered Bank of India and China in 1927. At this time it established a commercial relationship with Spinney's of Haifa, that developed into a major regional high-end grocery store chain, which provided shipping services access to much of the Middle East; until 1934 it operated liners from Florida to Havana. Eighty-five of the company's ships were 179 in the Second World War. After 1945, the passenger market declined to India, but boomed to Australia with the advent of paid-passages for literate and healthy European immigrants known as Ten Pound Poms. P&O built 15 large passenger liners, including SS Himalaya, SS Chusan, SS Arcadia, SS Iberia, culminating in SS Canberra, its last and largest in 1961. By 1968, over 1 million immigrants had arrived—many via P&O—and Australia ended the programme.
P&O began to sell and scrap many of these liners. It concentrated on cargo ships, it entered the tanker trade in the roll-on roll-off ferry business in the mid-1960s. P&O and Orient Line were formally merged in 1960 to form P&O-Orient Lines. In 1964, Orcades and Oronsay were transferred to the P&O fleet; the name Orient Line was dropped altogether in 1966 when Orsova and Oriana were transferred to the P&O fleet. In 1969, British and Commonwealth Shipping, Furness Withy, P&O and The Ocean Steamship Company established Overseas Containers Limited to exploit containerisation. By the early 1980s, it had converted all of its dry cargo liner routes to container operations and in 1986 it bought out the remaining OCL partners, renaming the operation P&O Containers Limited. P&OCL was merged with Nedlloyd in 1996 to form P&O Nedlloyd. In 1972 P&O formally absorbed the British-India Steam Navigation Company; the amalgamation of these two companies began in 1914 but BI had retained its own identity until this time.
Strick Line and Hain-Nourse, amongst several other lines were taken over in the early 1970s. B. I. cargo ships were renamed Strath*M* or Strath*C*, the Strick line ships renamed Strath*A* and the Hain-Nourse ships Strath*T*. The newest ships were 6 Strath. P&O built 6 ships in Stocznia Gdansk, Poland and 2 ships in Japan and bought into DOT, a naval shipping company. In 1975 P&O established Pandoro for operation of the company's Irish Sea RORO routes. Pandoro was an acronym for O Ro. In 1998 P&O European Ferries Ltd was formed by the internal merger of Pandoro Ltd. and P&O European Ltd. to run the Irish Sea routes. In 1987 P&O took over the European Ferries Group Plc—to which it had sold its cross channel ferry services in 1985—which traded as Townsend Thoresen, renamed the company P&O European Ferries. Over the last quarter of the Twentieth Century P&O diversified into con
RMS Carinthia (1955)
RMS Carinthia was an ocean liner built in 1956 as one of the four Saxonia class ships. She sailed for Cunard Line from her completion until 1968 when she was sold to Sitmar Line, rebuilt into a full-time cruise ship and renamed SS Fairsea, she sailed with Sitmar until 1988, when Sitmar was sold to P&O. She was renamed SS Fair Princess and sailed for Princess Cruises and P&O Cruises until 2000, she was sold to China Sea Cruises and renamed SS China Sea Discovery. In 2005 or 2006 she was scrapped in India. Near the end of 1951 Cunard Line designed new ships for Canadian service on the Liverpool-Montreal-Halifax route. Cunard decided to build just two ships but on two more were ordered; these ships were the largest ships to be operated to Canada at the time. The ships were built in Clydebank and they were designed for luxury and speed including carrying passengers and cargo up the St Lawrence River in summer and to Pier 21 in Halifax in winter when the St. Lawrence froze. RMS Carinthia started on her maiden voyage to Montreal on 27 June 1956 with 890 passengers and crew on board.
After four more voyages, she proved with her running mate RMS Saxonia that the new Canadian Cunarders were so successful that other ships operating on the route were all scrapped leaving the four ships on the Montreal route. During 1960, the Carinthia suffered a fire in one of her cabins. In June of that year, some deck hands set up a skiffle group on a public deck; the ship's crew went on strike and others came out in support leaving many liners tied up in the Liverpool docks for several weeks. During 1961 she collided with the SS Tadoussac. In 1962 her propellers failed during a voyage. During 1964, the crew went on strike again. Carinthia was still operated from Liverpool to Montreal well into 1965, from Southampton to Montreal and New York until after March 1967. Cunard Line decided to start operating the Carinthia as a cruise ship during the winter months, she was used on 10 day cruises from New York City to Bermuda. During 1968, along with RMS Sylvania, she was sold to Sitmar Line renamed Fairland and laid up at Southampton for two years.
Following year-long major refurbishments of both vessels in Italy, Fairland became Fairsea and in 1972 commenced cruising from the United States West Coast, for the re-styled Sitmar Cruises. Following the sale of Sitmar to P&O in 1988, the vessel was transferred to Princess Cruises and used for Pacific Ocean cruises as the Fair Princess. In 1995, Fair Princess was transferred to the fleet of P&O Cruises Australia but was chartered to Regency Cruises where she was to sail as their Regent Isle. Regent Isle was advertised for Regency's 1996 season, but due to their September of 1995 bankruptcy, she never made a voyage for them. A period of layup followed. In 2000, the ship was sold to renamed China Sea Discovery, she was unsuccessful. During 2001 she operated in Taiwan. After many unsuccessful voyages she was moved to Alang, India, to be scrapped. While under scrapping, a fire broke out in the engine room, killing five workers, injuring another fifteen people. In the end, the ship was scrapped in either 2005 or 2006.
Ship History Design and Construction
Malta
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