Emerald (ship)
 As The Emerald before Venice, 2008
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
The Emerald was a cruise liner that was built in 1958 as the passenger ship Santa Rosa for the Grace Line . The Emerald was in service until 2009 and was the last in service passenger ship to be built in the United States . In addition, the ship was one of the last active cruise lines in the 1950s.
construction
In 1956 the Grace Line ordered two new passenger ships, which were to replace the now obsolete sister ships Santa Rosa and Santa Paula from 1932 and which should also take over their names. The new ships were designed by Gibbs & Cox , based in Arlington County , who were already responsible for the design of the previous ships . The two sister ships were built at Newport News Shipbuilding in Newport News , making them the last passenger ships to be built entirely in the United States. The sister ships had a modern design and were equipped with new types of stabilizers. In addition, each cabin had its own air conditioning system and bathroom. The two ships could also carry cargo and therefore had two cargo hatches at the stern and one cargo hatch on the side. The first of the two ships, the Santa Rosa was launched on August 28, 1957 and delivered to the Grace Line on June 12, 1958. A few months later, the sister ship Santa Paula followed .
period of service
Santa Rosa
The Santa Rosa was put into service on June 26, 1958 and henceforth used with her sister ship on the route from New York to South America and the Caribbean .
In the early morning hours of March 26, 1959, the Santa Rosa was on her way home to New York when thick fog came up. About 20 nautical miles from Atlantic City, the ship collided with the tanker Valchem . There were no casualties on board the Santa Rosa , but a crew member of the tanker died in the collision. Three other crew members were thrown overboard and not found again. The Valchem was badly damaged and could not continue her voyage because her engine room was flooded. The collision also cut off her chimney, which was now on the bow of the Santa Rosa . The Santa Rosa also had severe damage to the bow, but was able to continue her voyage home.
In 1970 the Grace Line was merged with the Prudential Line to form the Prudential-Grace Line. The Santa Rosa remained in service for another year, but in 1971 the ship was launched due to falling passenger numbers in Hampton Roads and offered for sale. after four years of lay-in , the Santa Rosa was bought by the Vintero Corporation based in New York, which wanted to use it again in service to South America. However, these plans went unrealized. It was not until fourteen years later that the now poorly preserved ship was sold to the Coral Cruise Line and towed to Greece in December 1989.
Pacific Sun / Diamond Island
In March 1990, the ship, now renamed Pacific Sun , arrived in Chalkis , where it was modernized and rebuilt for a total of 70 million dollars. During the modernization, the ship was renamed Diamond Island . In 1991 the ship was returned to its owner. The exterior of the Diamond Island had changed completely due to the new additional superstructures and now looked much more modern.
Regent Rainbow
The ship was sold to Regency Cruises as Regent Rainbow in 1992 and was used for cruises until the shipping company had to file for bankruptcy in 1995. The ship was arrested on November 27, 1995 and after the shipping company was dissolved in December 1996, it was sold to Louis Cruise Line , who renamed it Emerald .
Emerald / The Emerald
In 1997 the ship was chartered to the British cruise operator Thomson Cruises and marketed under the name The Emerald . The ship, which is now over 40 years old, quickly became the most popular unit in the fleet. The The Emerald remained until November 2008 in the service, it was decided to replace the ship with a newer unit. The ship therefore returned to Louis Cruises as the Emerald and was used for another season until it was finally decommissioned in autumn 2009.
Further whereabouts
The Emerald was after her retirement in Eleusis launched and again in The Emerald renamed. During this time, the ship was next to the Sapphire , also a former Louis Cruises ship. Although The Emerald complied with the current safety regulations (SOLAS 2010), no new operator was found for the 50-year-old ship. In 2011, scrap dealers from India viewed the two adjacent ships, who bought both ships in 2012. The Sapphire arrived in May 2012 for scrapping in Alang, India , and the former Santa Rosa , now again named Emerald , followed it in July 2012.
literature
- Tony Gibson: The world of ships . Basserman Verlag, 2007, ISBN 978-3-8094-2186-3 , page 204
Web links
Individual evidence
- ^ Passenger Liners Built in US Shipyards. Archived from the original on February 5, 2007 ; Retrieved July 2, 2015 .
- ^ Auke Visser's Famous T - Tankers Pages. Retrieved July 2, 2015 .
- ^ Peter Knego: Scraps Of Shipping News. June 22, 2012, accessed July 1, 2015 .