Princess Daphne

Princess Daphne in Port of Kiel, in 2009
History
Name:	Port Sydney (1954-1972) Akrotiri Express (197?-197?) Daphne (1975-1997) Switzerland (1997-2003) Ocean Monarch (2003-2005) Hellenic Aid (2005) Ocean Monarch (2005-2008) Princess Daphne (2008-2014) Daphne (2014)
Owner:	Golden Laurel Maritime
Operator:	Port Line (1954-1972) Delian Cruises (1975-1978) Lauro Lines (1978-1979) Costa Cruises (1979-1990) Prestige Cruises (1990-199?) Leisure Cruises (1997-2001) Majestic International Cruises (200?-200?) Page & Moy (200?-200?) Majestic International Cruises (200?-2007) Monarch Classic Cruises (2007-2008) Classic International Cruises (2008-2012)
Port of registry:	2006-2008: Piraeus,  Greece 2008-2012: Madeira,  Portugal
Yard number:	1827
Completed:	1955
Homeport:	Lisbon
Identification:	Call sign: CQSD IMO number: 5282627 MMSI number: 255718000
Status:	Scrapped in 2014.
General characteristics
Length:	162.3 meters
Beam:	21.34m
Decks:	10 (7 for passenger use)
Capacity:	530 passengers in 231 cabins

Princess Daphne (formerly Ocean Monarch, Ocean Odyssey, Switzerland, Daphne, Akrotiri Express, Port Sydney) is a medium-sized cruise ship currently in service in the Mediterranean. Her sister ship is Lisboa, built as the Port Melbourne.

She was built in 1955 by Swan, Hunter & Wigham Richardson, in Newcastle, UK as a freighter for the Port Line. Between 1972 and 1974, she was converted into a cruise ship at Chalkis Shipyard, Piraeus, Greece.

Uniquely, she served as a hospital ship in Sri Lanka in 2005.

It was announced on June 14, 2014 that the Princess Daphne had arrived in Alang, Turkey under the name Daphne for scrapping, following a voyage from the Cretan port of Souda, where she was laid up in September 2012. She was givne back to the Patimanios brothers by the bank following the sale of the remained of Classic International Cruises' fleet in 2013. In early 2014, rumors began to circulate saying she was to return to service under the "Classic International Cruises" banner. These rumors were proven false when it was announced that she was sold to Indian scrap merchants. She was beached at Alang, India by July 1st 2014 and scrapping commenced soon after.