|
HISTORY
In brief
MS Renaissance was a 1966 built cruise
liner. She was built by Chantiers de l’Atlantique for
Compagnie Francaise de Navigation, a subsidiary of Paquet
Cruises. She operated for various owners until she was sold
to be beached and scrapped at Alang, India in 2010.
Paquet Line
She entered service as a dual purpose vessel, ferrying
passengers from Marseilles, France to Haifa, Israel, and
also operating Eastern Mediterranean cruises. She sailed on
these itineraries successfully for 4 years. In 1970, due to
fierce competition from the commercial jet industry, Paquet
unestablished Compagnie Francaise de Navigation, and founded
the new subsidiary Nouvelle Compagnie de Paquebots. For the
new company she began operating a transatlantic route from
Marseilles to New York City. After 11 years of service with
her original owners she was sold to Epirotiki Line
Cruise service
Epirotiki Line
During a 1977-78 refit several new cabins were added. She
was renamed Homeric Renaissance and upon entering service
became Epirotiki's flagship. However very soon after this
she was chartered to Costa Cruises, and operated for them as
World Renaissance until the early 80s. After the charter she
was given back to Epirotiki. She continued service with them
until 1983, when World Renaissance was chartered yet again,
this time to TFC Tours, with her completing a single voyage
for them. In 1985 Epirotiki began to World Renaissance for
Caribbean and Amazon river cruises. She continued this
service for 10 uneventful years until 1995, when she was
purchased by Awani Cruises
Awani Cruises
A 1995-96 refit saw her renamed Awani Dream. However she
barely saw a year and a half of service due to the collapse
of Awani Cruises. She was sold to the reformed and renamed
Epirotiki company Royal Olympic Cruise Line.
Royal Olympic
Cruise Line
In 1998 she entered service with Royal Olympic, a renamed,
merged version of her former owners Epirokiti. She was again
renamed World
Renaissance, operating 3 and 4 night Aegean cruises
out of Piraeus, Greece. All went well until 2001, when the
September 11th terrorist attacks caused a slump in the
tourist and cruise industries. Royal Olympic managed to
survive until the fall of 2004, when they filled for
bankruptcy due to the high operational costs of operating
the old ships in their fleet and fierce competition from
other cruise lines. After being laid up for several months
World Renaissance was sold for over $3 million to Pelorus
Maritime Inc.
Later years
She was renamed Grand Victoria after Pelorus placed her
under the management of Elysian Cruise Lines. She was
chartered by them to Metropolis Tur until the end of 2006.
In 2007 she was chartered to Blue Monarch Shipping Inc and
renamed Blue Monarch. Under their ownership she carried out
3, 4 and 7 night cruises to Greek islands. Blue Monarch
Shipping attempted to purchase her in 2008, but could not
come up with the $8 million required. Her charter continued
until she ended service in early 2009, when it was realized
that she did not meet SOLAS 2010 standards.
Sale for scrap and attempts to be sold
Blue Monarch was promptly laid up. One company attempted to
buy her for use as a hotel ship for the 2010 Winter
Olympics, but this plan fell through. In February 2010 Blue
Monarch was sold for $1.8 million to Indian scrap merchants.
She was renamed Maestro for her voyage to Alang. When scrap
merchants attempted to sell her for further use she was
anchored off of Port Said. No one was interested, so Maestro
continued on to reach her final destination
Although the attempt to sell her in Port Said had failed,
Maestro was next laid up in Bombay, for scrappers were once
again attempting to sell her, as this would be more
profitable due to the current price of steel. She was
purchased by Dubai based company ARGO Systems for further
possible service though this was very unlikely considering
that she did not comply with SOLAS 2010 mechanically. ARGO
Systems has been known to buy and transport ships to
recycling yards in India, China, and Bangladesh. They have
transported many liners to scrapyards including the Eugenio
C.ARGO expressed interest in using her as an accommodation
ship.
Demise
Finally it was confirmed that Maestro would be towed from
her anchorage off of Bombay to Alang, India to be scrapped
on August 10, 2010. She was beached in Plot 141, the same
place where Italian ocean liner Winner 5 was scrapped. A
photo dated August 30, 2010 shows Maestro beached behind the
remains of Winner 5 and beside those of Mont, the largest
ship ever constructed. She was cleared for breaking and
wedged closer ashore within a few weeks. Maestro was half
demolished by November 13, 2010.
Ex names
RENAISSANCE ( 1966-1977 ) Cie.Francaise de Navigation
HOMERIC RENAISSANCE ( 1977-1978 ) Epirotiki Lines
WORLD RENAISSANCE ( 1978-1995 ) Epirotiki Lines
AWANI DREAM ( 1995-1998 ) Awani Modern Group
WORLD RENAISSANCE ( 1998-2006 ) Royal Olympic Cruises
GRAND VICTORIA ( 2006 - 2007 ) Elysian Cruise Line
BLUE MONARCH ( 2007- 2010 ) Monarch Classic Cruises |
