History |
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RETURN TO THE HOMEPAGE
M/S KUNGSHOLM 1965 |
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The
M/S Kungsholm was the last passenger ship built for the Swedish
American Line. She served on the
transatlantic service and on cruises. She soon became known as one of
the most luxurious and beautiful liners on the oceans.
Design and Construction (1964 – 1965): She was built by John Brown & Co.
(Clydebank) Ltd on the River Clyde in Scotland. This was the same yard
that had built famous ships such as the Queen Mary, Queen Elizabeth,
the Royal Yacht Britannia and many others over the years. Her keel was
laid in 1964 and she was launched on the 14th April 1965. In April 1966
she entered
service with Swedish American Line. She was the fourth SAL ship to carry this name and she was named after the Kungsholmen (Kings Isle) part of Stockholm where the City Hall is located. She was a most beautiful ship while yet being modern. She was fully air conditioned and fitted with stablisers. She also was the first Swedish American Line ship with a bulbous forefoot and had the latest navigation and safety equipment. Her radio mast was telescopic so that it could be lowered to enable her to pass under low bridges. She had four tenders which had two-way telephone communication directly with her bridge and her lifeboats had motor powered two-way radio equipment. Swedish American Line era (1965 – 1975): The Kungsholm sailed on her maiden voyage
from Gothenburg to New York in April 1966. At the time of her
construction she was the largest and most powerful motor liner in the
world. She was a dual role vessel, operating the Gothenburg to New York
transatlantic service for part of the year and making luxury cruises
for the remainder of the year. She was an impressive and stylish ship
and was the closest that Swedish American Line ever got to recapturing
the scale and quality of ship that they had intended in the Stockholm
of 1938 that sadly was lost during the Second World War. Sadly by the
late 1960s and early 1970s due to the impact of air travel on the
transatlantic services and the inability to make a profit in the new
climate and unwilling to compromise their quality and luxurious
standards, Swedish American Line decided to withdraw from passenger
shipping in August 1975 after 60 glorious years. As a result the
Kungsholm was retired from service. Flagship Cruises era
(1975): Thankfully when Swedish American Line
withdrew from passenger shipping and retired the Kungsholm this was not
the end for this magnificent and beautiful ship. She was sold to the
Norwegian owned Flagship Cruises and continued in cruise service.
Unfortunately this situation did not last long as in 1979 she was sold
again. P&O Princess Cruises era (1979 – 1991): Flagship Cruises sold the Kungsholm to
P&O in 1979. She was acquired as a replacement for the Arcadia in
their Princess Cruises operation. However she was first send to the
Vulkan shipyard in Bremen for a major rebuild. Her distinctive two
funnels were replaced with a single funnel and 86 additional cabins
were added and other structural changes made. Sadly these alterations
somewhat compromised her once beautiful looks, but she remained an
elegant ship nonetheless. She re-emerged in January 1979 as the Sea
Princess. She served Princess Cruises for many years based in Australia
but later switched to the UK market before moving to the USA from 1986
to 1991. P&O Cruises era (1991 - 2002): In 1991 she transferred from Princess
Cruises to P&O Cruises and once again served the UK market based in
Southampton. In 1995 she was renamed Victoria to release the Sea
Princess name for use on a newbuild for Princess Cruises. She became a
much loved ship in the P&O Cruises fleet and still retaining
something of her Scandinavian background. In 2002 she was retired from
service by P&O Cruises and sold to Leonardo Shipping. Her final
voyage with P&O Cruises was a cruise from Southampton to Rome
departing from Southampton on the 22nd October 2002. She arrived in
Civitavecchia (the port for Rome) on the 2nd November 2002 and her
P&O Cruises era came to a close. Topaz
International / Leonardo Shipping era (2002 - 2010): Charter
to Holiday Kreuzfahrten (2002 - 2006): On the 2nd November 2002 after arrival in
Rome at the end of her final cruise for P&O Cruises, she set sail
for Genoa where she would be refurbished for her new owners Topaz
International and charter to the German based Holiday Kreuzfahrten as
the Mona Lisa. She soon started operating cruises for the German based
company. She continued in this role until November 2006 when Holiday
Kreuzfahrten unfortunately went out of business. She was then briefly
used as an accommodation ship at the Asian Games 2006 in Doha in Qatar.
Charter to the Asian Games 2006 in Doha, Qatar (2006): With the collapse of Holiday Kreuzfahrten
she sailed to Doha in the Middle East and was then briefly used as an
accommodation ship at the Asian Games 2006 in Doha in Qatar in December
2006. After this she returned to Piraeus and was laid up. Charter to Scholar Ship / Pullmantur Cruises (2007 - 2008): On
the 7th February 2007 it was announced
that the Mona Lisa was to be chartered by Scholar Ship (an education
programme / seagoing university organised by Royal Caribbean
International). Her educational
cruises would commence in September 2007. Then on the 1st March 2007 it
was announced that the Mona Lisa was also to be chartered by Pullmantur
Cruises for part of the year. Both operations are linked with Royal
Caribbean International (they had just taken over Pullmantur Cruises).
These two charters means that she was kept in service with her duties
shared between Pullmantur Cruises (summer) and Scholar Ship (winter).
When she sailed with
Pullmantur Cruises she was known as Oceanic II and when she was with
Scholar Ship she was known as Scholar Ship. However due to insufficient
funding Scholar Ship discontinued their
charter of the ship and closed down their operations from early
September 2008. Pullmantur also no longer charter the ship. So
unfortunately from September 2008 it looks as though the Kungsholm will
be left with no charters and this increases the risk of her being sold
for scrap due to her premature end of the charters and this may mean
her early retirement from service in 2008 rather than 2010 as planned.
That leaves a gap in the transition from her ocean going career to her planned new preservation role in Sweden from 2010. I just hope that the Swedish interests can act quickly and acquire her as soon as possible. If not then her owner may feel more and more inclined to sell her for scrap if no charters are forthcoming. Remember she is owned by Leonardo Shipping (Mr Katsoufis) and he is also behind Topaz International (Mr Katsoufis) who owned the former Empress of Britain (Topaz). The career of that ship ended in similar circumstances when the charter was discontinued prematurely and no further charters were forthcoming. As a result the owner acted very quickly and sold the ship for scrap to Alang, India. With the slowing economic climate (due to the credit crunch), sky high oil prices, and massive demand for scrap steel from China and India this makes the scrapping option look very attractive for older oceanliners like the Empress of Britain and Kungsholm. I just hope that Kungsholm can be saved and Sweden's plans for her can be brought forward by two years and implemented now instead. If not then scrapping looks a strong possibility. Preservation
era (2010 - ):
However her longer term future also looks
more secure as well. On the 14th April 2007 it was announced that a
Swedish businessman, Lars Hallgren (owner of Top Industri AB) had
signed a letter of intent with Topaz International / Leonardo Shipping
(owners of the former Kungsholm) to purchase her in 2010 when she is
retired from service due to the new SOLAS 2010 regulations. The ship
will be restored to her Swedish American Line appearance as the
Kungsholm and restored to her original external appearance with two
funnels. She is to be docked in Gothenburg as a hotel, restaurant and
maritime museum. It is likely that she will be berthed at Banana Quay
in Gothenburg opposite the Gothenburg Opera House. So the future of the former Kungsholm
seems to look promising with a permanent home being lined up in
Gothenburg from 2010.
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(c) The AJN Transport Britain Collection 2007 A Edward Elliott