MS Finnhansa (1966)
MS Princessa Marissa 2004-05-27 on Louis Cruise Lines service at Port Said, Egypt.
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| Ordered: | November 1963 |
| Builder: | Wärtsilä Helsinki Shipyard, Helsinki, Finland |
| Yard number: | 377 |
| Launched: | December 1, 1964 |
| In service: | 1966 |
| Out of service: | 2008 |
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| Status: | Scrapped in 2008 |
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| Length: | 134.4 m (441 ft) |
| Beam: | 20.1 m (66 ft) |
| Draft: | 5.7 m (19 ft) |
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| Propulsion: | Two shafts |
| Speed: | 20 knots (37 km/h; 23 mph) (maximum) |
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| General characteristics (1980 refit) | |
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M/S Princesa Marissa was a cruise ship owned and operated by the Cyprus-based Louis Cruise Lines. She was built in 1966 by Wärtsilä Helsinki Shipyard, Helsinki, Finland as the RORO car/passenger ferry M/S Finnhansa for Finnlines, Finland. The ship has also sailed under the colours of Birka Line as M/S Prinsessan.
Finnlines had begun car/passenger ferry operations from Finland to Germany in 1962 with M/S Hansa Express. The Hansa Express soon proved too small however, and already in November 1963 Finnlines ordered a pair of larger ferries to replace her. The first of these sisters, M/S Finnhansa, was launched on December 1, 1964 by Sylvi Kekkonen, the wife of Finnish president Urho Kekkonen. The ship was originally planned to be delivered in June 1965 but two fires onboard during the fitting out phase, first one in March 1965 and the second in December of the same year, meant she wasn't delivered until March 28, 1966. Although she sailed under Finnlines' colours, the ship was actually owned by Merivienti Oy ("Sea exports Ltd."). At the time of her delivery the Finnhansa was the largest ferry in the Baltic Sea. In June 1966 her sister M/S Finnpartner was delivered, but Finnhansa kept her title of "largest in the Baltic" as she was purposefully built 10 centimeters longer than her sister.
Originally the Finnhansa sailed on the route Helsinki (Finland) — Nynäshamn (Sweden) — Karlskrona (Sweden) — Lübeck (Germany) — Slite (Sweden) — Helsinki carrying up to 1424 passengers, but after a few years the route was simplified into Helsinki — Nynäshamn — Travemünde. During summer 1967 the ship made weekend cruises from Lübeck to Rønne (Denmark) and Helsinki to Sandhamn. In 1970 the Finnhansa, along with the entirety of Finnlines, was sold to the Finnish paper industry giant Enso-Gutzeit. In spring 1972 the ship was rebuilt at Howaldtswerke-Deutsche Werft, Kiel, Germany with 288 new cabin places. Additional rebuilding followed in spring 1973, when the ship's restaurant deck was rebuilt and the outside pool from her aft deck was removed.
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