Prinsesse Ragnhild (ship, 1981)

Princess Ragnhild

Ship data flag  Norway (1981–2008) Bahamas (2008–2015) St. Kitts and Nevis (2015)     other ship names Bahamas Celebration (2008-2015) Celebration (2015) Ship type RoPax ship home port Sandefjord (1981–1990) Oslo (1990–2008) Nassau (2008–2015) Basseterre (2015) Owner Gunehr Shipping Ltd Shipping company Years Line (1981–1990) Color Line (1990–2008) Celebration Cruise Line (2008–2015) Shipyard Howaldtswerke-Deutsche Werft , Kiel Build number 164 Keel laying February 29, 1980 Launch July 31, 1980 takeover January 31, 1981 Commissioning 1981 Whereabouts Scrapped in Alang in 2015

Ship dimensions and crew length 205.25 m ( Lüa ) 181.60 m ( Lpp ) width 26.6 m Draft Max. 7.4 m measurement 35,855 GT / 19,854 NRZ

Machine system machine 2 × Stork-Werkspoor 20TM410 diesel engine Machine performance 25,400 PS (18,682 kW) Top speed 22 kn (41 km / h)

Transport capacities Load capacity 3,210 dw running track meters 900 m Permitted number of passengers 1,900 Pax cabins 565 Berths for passengers 1,900 Vehicle capacity 700 cars

Others Classifications Det Norske Veritas Registration numbers IMO 7904891

The Prinsesse Ragnhild , later Bahamas Celebration , was a Ro-Ro cargo and passenger ship that was last in service for the US cruise line Celebration Cruise Line . Until 2008 she operated under the name Prinsesse Ragnhild for the Norwegian shipping company Color Line .

history

1981 to 2008: Prinsesse Ragnhild

Kiel – Oslo

Prinsesse Ragnhild before the extension

Prinsesse Ragnhild with open bow doors (2003)

The Prinsesse Ragnhild was built in the Howaldtswerke-Deutsche Werft in Kiel for the years Line and delivered on January 31, 1981. She started sailing under the Norwegian flag with her home port of Sandefjord and began her service as the successor to a ferry of the same name on the Kiel - Oslo route .

In 1990 the Jahre Line and Norway Line merged to form the Color Line. The Prinsesse Ragnhild also went to the Color Line. The ship's new home port became Oslo.

In 1992 the Prinsesse Ragnhild in Spain in the shipyard Astilleros de Cádiz was lengthened by 33.5 meters and widened by 2.6 meters - the latter was clearly recognizable by the shape of the hull.

On July 7, 1999, a fire broke out in the engine room. The ship radioed the call for help " Mayday " at 2.13 am and was evacuated. All 1,167 passengers were safely brought ashore and the Prinsesse Ragnhild was towed to the Blohm + Voss shipyard in Hamburg , where it was repaired for 39 days. One week after the misfortune of Prinsesse Ragnhild , the Kronprins Harald , the other ferry on the route, ran aground. On December 24, 2003, there was a short circuit, as a result of which a fire broke out. During the unloading process, the ship anchored in Drøbaksundet.

On March 6, 2004, another fire broke out, this time in a taxi on the car deck. On December 10, 2004, the Prinsesse Ragnhild was replaced by the Color Fantasy .

Hirtshals – Stavanger – Bergen

From April 27, 2005, the Prinsesse Ragnhild drove between Hirtshals , Stavanger and Bergen . On December 9, 2006, there was a fire in an auxiliary engine between Hirtshals and Stavanger. This could be quickly extinguished by the sprinkler system. However, a propeller failed as a result. Due to the damage done, the ship could not resume operations until December 25, 2006. On January 20, 2007, the ship was hit by a wave that destroyed two panes. On November 8, 2007, due to the storm, the ship could not call at the port of Stavanger, so it called at the port of Kristiansand instead . The Hirtshals – Stavanger – Bergen route was discontinued in January 2008 after a good two and a half years.

Hirtshals – Oslo

From January 8, 2008, the Prinsesse Ragnhild operated the new route Hirtshals - Oslo, replacing the Color Festival , which served the Frederikshavn - Oslo route until January 6, 2008 . After only four months of operation, this route was also discontinued on May 6, 2008 and the ship then laid up in Sandefjord . Since then the ship has been for sale.

2008 to 2015: Bahamas Celebration

Bahamas Celebration

On September 3, 2008, Color Line announced that the ferry had been sold to the US shipping company Celebration Cruise Holdings Inc. for 23 million euros. The ship was handed over on October 1, 2008 and renamed the Bahamas Celebration , and it left for Freeport on the same day .

At the beginning of November 2008, renovation and renovation work began in the port of Freeport, Bahamas . Two swimming pools were installed on the upper decks with a water slide at the stern. Furthermore, the restaurants were redesigned and an additional casino was built. The existing cabins were also given a makeover. The color environment known from the Prinsesse Ragnhild has been retained. Thus the fuselage remained blue and the cabin area white.

In March 2009, the Bahamas Celebration on the Fort Lauderdale - Nassau Passage replaced the Regal Empress, which was put into service in 1953 . From March 15, 2010, she sailed the Palm Beach - Freeport route every two days. The ship left the port of Palm Beach at 5:30 p.m. and reached Freeport at 8:00 a.m. the next day. The ship therefore needed 14 hours and 30 minutes for the 150-kilometer passage.

On December 12, 2011, a fire broke out on board, which the crew was able to extinguish quickly. Nobody was hurt. The fire broke out due to leaking oil from one of the six generators in the engine room. This led to the failure of the air conditioning. The next scheduled trip was canceled.

On October 31, 2014, the Bahamas Celebration ran aground off Freeport. The ship leaked, but was able to return to the port of Freeport with a list of around ten degrees. In 2015 the ship was replaced by the Grand Celebration and the Bahamas Celebration was sold to Alang, India for scrapping.

2015: Celebration

In April 2015 the ship was renamed Celebration and registered in St. Kitts and Nevis before leaving the port of Freeport on June 8, 2015. On June 18, the celebration arrived at the roadstead in front of Port of Spain and left it on July 4 for Alang . Between August 13 and 17, however, the ship was initially bunkering in Walvis Bay in Namibia . On October 14, 2015, the ship finally reached the roadstead off Alang and was stranded on October 29.

Ship data

Parameter	New building in 1981	Rebuilt in 1992
shipyard	HDW , Kiel	Astilleros de Cádiz
tonnage	16,631 GRT	35,855 GT
length	170.0 m	205.25 m
width	24.0 m	26.6 m
height	? m	46 m
Draft	5.8 m	7.4 m
Machines in addition		4 × Stork Wärtsilä 9FEDH240 diesel engines
		2 × Stork Wärtsilä 9FEDH240G diesel engines
Additional performance		4875 hp
Passenger capacity	892 in cabins	1900 in cabins
Cabins	?	565
beds	892	1900
cars	603	700
Truck loading meters	? m	900 m

Web links

Commons : Prinsesse Ragnhild  - collection of images, videos and audio files

• Photos and facts about the ship
• The home page Bahamas Celebration (English)
• Short video clip of the Prinsesse Ragnhild on an ice trip in the Bay of Kiel

Footnotes

1. ↑ Celebration. Retrieved April 15, 2015 . 
2. ↑ Color-Line press release of November 21, 2007 ( Memento of the original of November 24, 2007 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. 
3. ↑ Color-Line press release of April 22, 2008 ( Memento of the original of June 12, 2008 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. 
4. ↑ Color-Line press release of September 3, 2008  ( page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.  
5. ↑ Fire extinguished quickly on the Bahamas Celebration. (No longer available online.) December 13, 2011, archived from the original on February 10, 2015 ; accessed on February 10, 2015 . Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.  
6. ↑ Former Color Line ferry runs aground off Freeport. November 3, 2014, accessed November 3, 2014 . 
7. ^ Two new ships for Grand Bahama Island. December 18, 2014, accessed December 20, 2014 . 
8. ↑ Demolition. (No longer available online.) January 12, 2015, formerly in the original ; Retrieved January 19, 2015 .  ( Page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice.    
9. ↑ The Last Voyage of the Celebration, Walvis Bay, Namibia. August 20, 2017, accessed June 4, 2020 .