MS Renaissance
Blue Monarch in June 2007.
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| History | |
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| Builder: | Chantiers de l’Atlantique |
| Launched: | 1965 |
| In service: | 1966 |
| Out of service: | 2009 |
| Nickname(s): | The White Dolphin |
| Status: | Scrapped, 2010 |
| General characteristics | |
| Tonnage: | 12,000 tons |
| Length: | 492 feet |
| Propulsion: | Stabilizers |
| Speed: | 16 knots |
| Capacity: | 474 |
| Crew: | 230 |
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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