Advertisement

Ola Cruises – Black Prince – the end?

Fred. Olsen’s former Black Prince (1966/11,209gt) has come to the end of her useful life. She left the Olsen fleet in October 2009, having been sold to Ola Cruises, a division of Servicios Acuaticos de Venezuela, for a new cruise operation from Venezuela, for which she was renamed Ola Esmerelda. She was initially prevented from sailing on environmental grounds, but Hurricane Isaac, in 2010, caused such destruction in Haiti that a need for additional accommodation for aid workers saw her chartered to a UN relief agency at Port au Prince for several months. She began her originally planned sailings as late as 2011 and finished in October 2012.

Built in 1966 by Lübecker Flender-Werke at Lübeck, she initially served on Fred. Olsen’s services between Harwich or Amsterdam and Kristiansand in the summer and switched to the Canary Islands service in winter, which she shared with her sister Black Watch. In 1970 she became jointly owned by Bergen Line, and continued her dual role until 1986. She later had a massive refit to convert her for full-time cruising. Her days are now numbered, as it is thought very likely that she is no longer SOLAS compliant.

Ships Montly - January 2024

Viking names newest ocean ship in Croatia

On 29 June 2025 Viking named its newest  ocean ship, Viking Vesta, with a traditional ceremony in Split, Croatia. Serving as ceremonial godmother of...
Advertisement

Related articles

Viking names newest ocean ship in Croatia

On 29 June 2025 Viking named its newest  ocean ship, Viking Vesta, with a traditional ceremony in Split,...

Stena Line announces plans to withdraw its Rosslare-Cherbourg service 

Following a strategic route review, Stena Line has announced that from 30 September 2025, the ferry operator intends...

Deltamarin wins contract for six ro-pax vessels for Grimaldi Lines

On 24 June 2025 Deltamarin signed a design and engineering contract with China Merchants Jinling Shipyard (Weihai) for...

New boxboat Maersk Namsos

Japan's Imabari Shipbuilding successfully delivered Maersk Namsos, a 2,086 twenty-foot equivalent unit (TEU) containership, on 4 June 2025. This...