Oriental Dragon at night
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History | |
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Name: |
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Owner: | Capital Dragon Global Holding |
Operator: | Island Ship Management, Ltd. |
Port of registry: |
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Builder: | Oy Wärtsilä Ab Helsinki Shipyard, Finland |
Yard number: | 394 |
Completed: | 1972 |
Identification: |
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Status: | In service |
General characteristics | |
Tonnage: | |
Length: | 171.69 m (563.29 ft) |
Beam: | 24 m (78.74 ft) |
Speed: | 21 knots (39 km/h; 24 mph) |
Capacity: | 882 (lower berths) |
Crew: | 350 |
MV Oriental Dragon, originally named Sun Viking, was one of the three original cruise ships ordered by Royal Caribbean Cruise Lines as part of their early fleet. The ship was first put into service in the year 1972.
Along with her sister ships, the Song of Norway and Nordic Prince, the class comprised the first purpose built ships intended for Caribbean based cruise travel. Sun Viking cruised the Mexican Riviera on a 7 day itinerary out of L.A. in the early 1990s. The Sun Viking was retired in the late 1990s by Royal Caribbean, but remains in service with other cruise lines.
In 1998 the Sun Viking was sold to Star Cruises and renamed SuperStar Sagittarius. She was later renamed Hyundai Pongnae in 2003, sailing for the Hyundai Merchant Marine Company, before being renamed Omar III for Asia Cruises.
The ship was renamed Long Jie in 2007. The Long Jie was put up for sale on June 10, 2010. After being dry docked in Singapore, the Long Jie was transformed into the Oriental Dragon, leaving Singapore on 24 March 2011 bound for Guangzhou, China.