Spirit of London (ship)

Spirit of London was an Italian built cruise ship put into service in 1972. In January 2012, Runfeng Ocean Deluxe Cruises (Chinese: 香港润峰豪华邮轮公司) took over as operator, renaming the ship Ocean Dream (Chinese: 海洋之梦; pinyin: hǎiyángzhīmèng).[4]

This article is about the Norwegian cruise ship "Ocean Dream". For the Australian cruise ship "Ocean Dream", see Ocean Dream (1982 ship).
"MS Southern Cross" redirects here. For other uses, see Southern Cross (disambiguation).
"MS Sun Princess (1974)" redirects here. For other ships by this name, see Sun Princess (ship).

Spirit of London being launched in 1972.
History
Norway
NameSeaward (failed name)
OwnerNorwegian Cruise Line
OrderedKlosters Rederi A/S
BuilderCantiere navale di Riva Trigoso
Yard number290
Laid down1970
AcquiredNever
IdentificationIMO number: 7211517
British Red EnsignUnited Kingdom
NameSpirit of London
OwnerP&O Passenger Division
Port of registryLondon, United Kingdom
Launched11 May 1972
Completed11 October 1972
Acquired30 March 1971
Maiden voyage11 November 1972[1]
FateTransferred to Princess Cruises 1974
NotesFirst diesel powered P&O's liner
NameSun Princess
OwnerPrincess Cruises
Port of registryLondon, United Kingdom
Acquired1974
FateSold to Noel Shipping Ltd./Premier Cruises 1988
NameStarship Majestic
OwnerPremier Cruises
RoutePort Canaveral to Bahamas
Acquired22 September 1988
FateChartered to CTC Lines 1994. 19 December 1996, Premier Cruises sold vessel to Bowyers Maritime Corporation.
NotesRenamed Majestic, followed by $6 million refit in Lloyd Werft shipyard, later renamed Starship Majestic Also operated as a Disney Cruise during this time.
NameSouthern Cross
OwnerCTC Lines
Port of registryNassau,  Bahamas
AcquiredJuly 1995
IdentificationCall sign: C6HK9
FateSold to Festival Cruises 1998
NotesIn February 1995, the ship sailed from the Caribbean to Birkenhead in order to be refitted by Coast Line.
OwnerBowyers Maritime Corporation
Acquired1996
FateReported sold on 15 January 1997 to Festival Cruises for $25 million.
NameFlamenco
OwnerFestival Cruises
Acquired1997
FateSold to Cruise Elysia 2004 for $12.25 million
Notes$9 million 45 day refit to meet the Festival standard.
NameNew Flamenco
OwnerCruise Elysia
Acquired2004
FateSold to Club Cruise 2008 for £26 million
Panama
NameFlamenco I
OwnerClub Cruise
Port of registryPanama City,  Panama
Acquired2008
FateSold at auction 2010 for $3.4 million
NotesCallsign : 3EAO9
Sierra Leone
NameOcean Dream
OwnerRunfeng Ocean Deluxe Cruises
RouteHaikou, China to Halong Bay, Vietnam
Acquired2012 Sold by EASTIME CRUISE CO. LTD.
NotesCall Sign: 9LY2427
Togo
NameMV Ocean Dream
OwnerOcean Dream Cruise (Thailand) Co. Ltd.
RoutePattaya, Koh kong, Sihanoukville
Acquired2013
NotesCall Sign: 5VBW6
Panama
NameMV Ocean Dream
OwnerShanghai Eastime Ship Management
AcquiredMarch 2014
FateSank off the coast of Laem Chebang Port in Thailand on 27 February 2016 and scrapped in situ
NotesCall Sign: 5VBW6
General characteristics
TypeCruise ship
Tonnage17,042 GRT[2]
Length163.30 m (536 ft)[3]
Beam22.80 m (75 ft)[3]
Draught7.0 m (23 ft)
Decks8
Installed power4 × FIAT diesel engines
Speed20.5 knots (38.0 km/h; 23.6 mph)
Capacity
  • 760 (normal)
  • 1,027 (maximum)
Crew390

Delayed construction

The vessel was originally ordered in 1970 by Norwegian Caribbean Line as Seaward. The shipyard, Cantieri Navali del Tirreno & Riuniti, encountered financial troubles and was consequently taken over by the IRI Group, which canceled the building contract of Seaward. After much protest from NCL the IRI Group agreed to partially complete the vessel. Despite this Norwegian Caribbean sold the hull to P&O, which would complete the Seaward as Spirit of London.[5]

Due to being originally ordered for Norwegian Caribbean Line Spirit of London had a sister ship in the NCL fleet, Southward. Both vessels' superstructures are identical, however the funnels differed. Although Southward is smaller in tonnage than Spirit of London, both are 537 feet long.[6]

History

In 1974, P&O bought Princess Cruises and transferred Spirit of London to their fleet, with Princess operating her as Sun Princess, alongside Island Princess and Pacific Princess.

In September 1979 whilst under charter to Mutual of Omaha and cruising from Portland to San Francisco, a fire broke out in the laundry room. Lifeboats were lowered to embarkation level but were not used as the fire was brought under control.

1988 saw the sale of Sun Princess by P&O to Premier Cruises, where it was initially named Majestic, becoming Starship Majestic in 1989 which included refurbishment of her interior. The majority of the Columbo 1975 episode "Troubled Waters" was filmed in the interior of the ship, creating a video time capsule of the ship's history before her refurbishment. During this time Premier Cruise Line became the licensed partner cruise line with Disney. In 1991, a fire in the auxiliary engine room sent passengers and crew scrambling for the lifeboats and left the ship dead in the water, resulting in the ship being towed back to Florida.[7] In 1994, she was purchased by CTC and was renamed Southern Cross. She was renamed again in 1998 when Festival Cruises began operating her as Flamenco.

Southern Cross in Copenhagen, Denmark 1995.

When Festival Cruises collapsed in 2004, she was sold for $12.25 million at a bankruptcy auction to Cruise Elysia, who renamed her New Flamenco. In 2007 Club Cruise acquired New Flamenco.[8] Club Cruise had New Flamenco serve as a hotel ship in New Caledonia until they failed in late 2008. The vessel was sold for scrap after over a year of lay up off Singapore.[9] In 2012 the ship was saved from the scrapyard and was renamed Ocean Dream with a dragon painted on her bow. Then owned by Runfeng Ocean Deluxe Cruises, she began operating cruises from Haikou, China to Halong Bay, Vietnam.[10][11]

On 13 February 2004, the ship, then known as The New Flamenco, was chartered by her then-owners, Cruise Elysia Inc to Fulton Shipping of Panama for a year. The ship was then purchased by Globalia Business Travel who assumed the rights and liabilities of the previous owners under the charterparty by novation. Globalia and Fulton extended the charter for two years in August 2005, to be returned on 28 October 2007. The charterparty was subsequently extended for another two years on 8 June 2007. Fulton subsequently disputed the last extension, and returned the ship on 28 October 2007. Globalia accepted this as an anticipatory repudiatory breach, and commenced arbitration against Fulton for breach of contract, seeking the net loss of profits they would have earned during the last 2-year extension. Globalia contended that Fulton had not actually suffered any loss because it managed to sell the ship at a substantial profit subsequently.

The case was appealed to the Court of Appeal, and subsequently to the Supreme Court. Lord Clark, delivering the unanimous judgment of the court, held that Fulton was liable for the net loss of profits Globalia suffered during the 2-year extension, and that the subsequent sale of the ship was res inter alios acta, and was not an act of mitigation.[12][13]

Sinking and scrapping

The ship capsized and sank off Laem Chabang, Sri Racha, Thailand in shallow water on 27 February 2016 after having been abandoned without crew or maintenance for about a year.[14] An attempt to upright the ship was made but failed. It was decided the ship would be scrapped on site.[15] Photos later taken show the ship undergoing demolition starting sometime in late 2017.[16] By the end of 2019, much of the wreck that was still above the waterline has now been removed.[17]

The ship appeared briefly in the 1975 Starsky & Hutch episode, "Terror on the Docks", and in the 1975 Columbo episode, "Troubled Waters". The majority of "Troubled Waters", which guest starred Robert Vaughn, was filmed in the interior of the ship, creating a video time capsule of the ship's history from the start of her life.

The ship was also featured in at least one episode of The Love Boat, involving a competition between Captain Stubing of Pacific Princess and the captain of Sun Princess, and in the original 1976 TV movie, The Love Boat. She was also featured in the 1980 film Herbie Goes Bananas.

References
  1. P&O Heritage
  2. "Ocean Dream (7211517)". Equasis. French Ministry for Transport. Retrieved 28 April 2012.
  3. Asklander, Micke. "M/S SPIRIT OF LONDON". Fakta om Fartyg. Retrieved 29 April 2012.
  4. "Haikou-Vietnam cruise route to be resumed with 'Ocean Dream' cruise liner". What's On Sanya. 11 January 2011. Retrieved 23 December 2013.
  5. "FlamencoPCs". Simplonpc.co.uk. Retrieved 12 December 2010.
  6. "Rio: Rio Cruises". Ship Parade.com. Retrieved 12 December 2010.
  7. Glisch, John (15 July 1991). "Cruise Ship Fire Sinks Vacations". Orlando Sentinel. Retrieved 14 July 2021.
  8. "Spirit of London - Sun Princess - StarShip Majestic - Southern Cross - Flamenco - New Flamenco". Simplonpc.co.uk. Retrieved 12 December 2010.
  9. "Alang Autumnal". Maritime Matters. 20 November 2010. Retrieved 12 December 2010.
  10. "OCEAN DREAM Spirited To Haikou". Maritime Matters. 11 January 2012. Retrieved 15 January 2012.
  11. "Haikou-Vietnam cruise route to resume service". whatsonsanya.com. 11 January 2012. Retrieved 15 January 2012.[]
  12. McLauchlan, David; Summers, Andrews (2018). "Mitigation and causation of benefits". Lloyd's Maritime and Commercial Law Quarterly: 171.
  13. "Globalia Business Travel SAU of Spain v Fulton Shipping Inc of Panama [2017] UKSC 43 (28 June 2017)". www.bailii.org. Retrieved 20 April 2021.
  14. Abandoned cruise ship Ocean Dream capsized and sank off Thailand. Maritime News, 27 February 2016. Retrieved 2016-02-27.
  15. "Cruise Ship Ocean Dream declared a total loss". Insurance Marine News. 3 November 2017. Retrieved 19 July 2020.
  16. Vinnes, Geir. "OCEAN DREAM - IMO 7211517". ShipSpotting.com. Retrieved 19 July 2020.
  17. Vinnes, Geir. "OCEAN DREAM - IMO 7211517". ShipSpotting.com. Retrieved 19 July 2020.
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