Scandinavian Star
Scandinavian Star after the disaster
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| History | |
|---|---|
| Name: | MS Massalia |
| Owner: | Nouvelle Compagnie de Paquebots (Paquet) |
| Route: | Marseille – Málaga – Casablanca |
| Builder: | Dubigeon-Normandie |
| Yard number: | 124 |
| Launched: | 19 January 1971 |
| Completed: | 1971 |
| Identification: | IMO number: 7048219 |
| Name: | MS Stena Baltica |
| Owner: | Stena Cargo Line Ltd |
| Port of registry: | Nassau,  Bahamas
|
| Acquired: | 1 October 1983 |
| Fate: | Sold |
| Name: | MS Island Fiesta |
| Owner: | Stena Cargo Line Ltd |
| Port of registry: | Nassau, Bahamas
|
| Acquired: | November 1984 |
| Fate: | Chartered |
| Name: | MS Scandinavian Star |
| Operator: | Scandinavian World Cruises |
| Port of registry: | Nassau, Bahamas
|
| Route: | St. Petersburg, Florida / Tampa, Florida – Cozumel,  Mexico |
| Acquired: | December 1984 |
| Out of service: | 1990 |
| Fate: | Sold |
| Name: | MS Scandinavian Star |
| Owner: | Vognmandsruten |
| Operator: | DA-NO Linjen |
| Route: | Oslo,  Norway – Frederikshavn,  Denmark |
| Acquired: | 1990 |
| Name: | MS Candi |
| Owner: | Vognmandsruten |
| Acquired: | 1990 |
| Out of service: | 1990 |
| Fate: | Caught fire; Laid up (1990–1994) |
| Name: | MS Regal Voyager |
| Owner: | International Shipping Partners |
| Acquired: | February 1994 |
| Out of service: | 1997 |
| Fate: | Sold |
| Name: | MS Regal V |
| Acquired: | 2004 |
| Fate: | Scrapped |
| General characteristics | |
| Tonnage: | 10513 GRT |
| Length: | 142.24 m (466.7 ft) |
| Beam: | 22.2 m (73 ft) |
| Draft: | 5.5 m (18 ft) |
| Installed power: | 2 * 16 cylinder Pielstick diesel, 11.770 kW |
| Speed: | 20 knots (37 km/h; 23 mph) |
MS Scandinavian Star, originally named MS Massalia and also known by other names (see infobox), was a car and passenger ferry built in France in 1971. The ship was set on fire by an arsonist in April 1990, killing 159 people.
M/S Massalia was built by Dubigeon-Normandie S.A. in 1971 and delivered to Compagnie de Paquebots who put her on the route Marseille–Málaga–Casablanca and also cruises in the Mediterranean Sea.
In 1984 she was owned by a number of companies and named Stena Baltica, Island Fiesta and finally Scandinavian Star, a name given to her by Scandinavian World Cruises who chartered the ship for cruises between St. Petersburg, Florida and Tampa, Florida to Cozumel, Mexico.
In 1990, the Scandinavian Star was sold to Vognmandsruten and put into service on DA-NO Linjen's route between Oslo, Norway, and Frederikshavn, Denmark. As the ship had been converted from a casino ship to a passenger ferry, a new crew needed to be trained and were given just ten days to learn new responsibilities. Master mariner Captain Emma Tiller, interviewed for the National Geographic Channel's documentary series Seconds from Disaster, stated that six to eight weeks would be a reasonable period to train a crew for a ship of the Star's size.
The documentary went on to explain that many of the crew could not speak English, Norwegian or Danish, thus further reducing the effectiveness of the response to the emergency. The insurance company Skuld's technical leader, Erik Stein, had inspected the ship shortly before, and had declared the fire preparedness deficient, for among other reasons because of defective fire doors.
During the night of 7 April 1990, at about 2 a.m. local time, fire broke out and was discovered by a passenger and was brought to the attention of the receptionist. The fire spread from deck 3 to 4 stopping at deck 5. As the stairwell and ceilings acted as chimneys for the fire to spread .Although the bulkheads were made of steel structure with asbestos wall boards, a melamine resin laminate was used as a decorative covering and proved extremely flammable in subsequent testing, spreading fire throughout Deck 3. The burning laminates produced toxic hydrogen cyanide and carbon monoxide gases. The fire then spread to Deck 4 and Deck 5.
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