Infante Dom Henrique
 The SeaWind Crown in Barcelona
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The Infante Dom Henrique was a Portuguese passenger ship that was later used as a cruise ship .
history
Infante Dom Henrique
The Infante Dom Henrique was ordered by Cia Colonial , Lisbon , in December 1957. The Belgian shipyard that received this order had already built the Vera Cruz in 1952 and the Santa Maria in 1953 .
The ship was christened on April 29, 1960 by the wife of the shipping company president, Maria Theresa Soares da Fonseca .
Test drives in the North Sea began in February 1961. Strong vibrations emerged here - caused by the geometry of the propellers . For this reason, other propellers with a different geometry were installed a little later, with which no more problems occurred.
The delivery after the complete expansion and the acceptance runs took place on September 21, 1961 to Lisbon, Portugal . The maiden voyage started on October 4, 1961 and led from Lisbon via Funchal , Luanda , Lobito , Cape Town , Lourenco Marques to Beira .
Compared to the earlier ships, the shipping company introduced radical changes during the planning phase with this ship. It should already have the futuristic look of the ships "of tomorrow". One swore u. a. the dark wood paneling used in the earlier ships and the garden verandas. The panels used corresponded to a very modernist 1950s style with a lot of metal and glass, pastel tones combined with strong dark tones.
The ship offered 156 passengers in 1st class and 862 passengers in tourist class. This, in turn, was a radical change in the thinking of the shipping company, as typical ships always had a 3rd or 4th class. Nevertheless, there was a tourist class A and B. The only difference here was the location of the cabins, which were in the midship area of class A and in the stern of class B. The ship became very popular with both 1st class and tourist class travelers.
In 1974 the name of the shipping company was changed to Cia Portuguesa de Transportes Maritimos . This resulted from the merger of two shipping companies. At the beginning of January 1976, the ship was decommissioned in Lisbon because it could no longer be used profitably with the existing status
Hotel ship
After the ship was sold to Gabinete da Area de Sines (GAS), it was used as workers' accommodation in the port of Sines . There was a fishing village there, on the grounds of which an industrial complex was built. The ship offered permanent accommodation for this.
In 1977 the ship was completely overhauled for US $ 10 million and opened as a floating hotel in November 1977. However, this did not bring the desired success; the ship deteriorated more and more.
Second life as a cruise ship
The news about the poor condition of the ship also reached the Lisbon-based Greek ship magnate George Potamianos, one of the most respectable ship operators of his time. He wanted to have the ship overtaken from the ground up and use it under the flag of Panama for Trans World Cruises.
Since the propellers had been removed in Sines, the ship was towed to Lisbon. It arrived there in February 1988. We went on to Nafsi near Piraeus , Greece - again with tugs , where the ship was renovated for US $ 50 million. The cabins of the ship were completely renewed and equipped with their own bathrooms. Some of the previously used tourist class areas that were no longer needed provided space for new passenger cabins and on-board boutiques as well as a mandatory casino. The entire machine system was also overhauled. The appearance of the chimney was retained, except for the exterior painting. In contrast, some booms have been removed and replaced with narrower ones. In addition, a new radio mast was placed behind the chimney near the sports deck. It was renamed Vasco da Gama .
New successes
The new Vasco da Gama was chartered by the German tour operator Neckermann Reisen for cruises from Bremerhaven .
When the ship was in Lisbon on December 4, 1988, a fire broke out in the engine room , which caused considerable damage and made it impossible to return independently. For this reason it was towed from Lisbon to Bremerhaven for repairs, where it arrived on December 17, 1988. After the damage had been repaired, the ship was transferred to Genoa , from where it set out on a cruise around the world on January 7, 1989 . The route crossed the Atlantic Ocean to New York , through the Panama Canal and the South Pacific to Auckland , Wellington , Picton and Milford Sound in New Zealand , before crossing the Tasman Sea to Australia . On March 7, 1989, the ship entered Sydney . The journey continued to Hobart in Tasmania , then Melbourne and around the south of Australia to Albany . The ship docked there on March 17th and then continued to Fremantle , where it moored on March 18th. It went back through the Suez Canal to Genoa.
In the period that followed, other cruises were offered, mostly through the Mediterranean . In June 1990 the ship had to go to a shipyard in Bremerhaven for 15 days due to a damage to the steam turbine to repair the defect.
SeaWind Crown
In 1991 the ship started under the name SeaWind Crown for a series of Brazilian cruises for the US sea charter company SeaWind Cruises Lines. The trips lasted a week and led towards Aruba via Curaçao , Caracas , Grenada , Barbados and St. Lucia . These cruises became a huge success. Most of the passengers came from South America , but also from the USA and Europe . For many of the travelers, the size of the ship was a beneficial alternative to the giant ships that were cruising the Caribbean at the time .
Despite the renaming at the bow, the ship continued to carry the previous name Vasco da Gama - SeaWind Cruises Lines only bought the ship in 1995 and had the name removed. Now the name SeaWind Crown could also be read there. The cruise routes were changed slightly and now ran via Antigua , Barbados , Guadeloupe and Dominica with two days at sea.
In 1997 the shipping companies SeaWind Cruises Lines and Dolphin Cruise Lines merged to become Cruise Holdings, Ltd. Both shipping companies should nevertheless retain their independence from the outside. A little later, another operator, Premier Cruise Line, was incorporated into Cruise Holdings, Ltd. Now all three appeared under the new name Premier Cruises, Inc.
The SeaWind Crown was certified for the new SOLAS safety regulations in the same year . This required the conversion of the front restaurant as well as the conference rooms and cabins, which are being converted into on-board shops. New cabins were built in the crew areas on the Atlantic Deck and changes were made to the Lido restaurant. The passenger capacity was increased from 624 to 728. The outer shell was painted blue with a gold-colored band. The chimney was also painted blue and marked with the Premier Cruises logo.
Problems
At the end of 1999 the base port was moved from Aruba to Puerto Vallarta . From there weekly cruises were offered along the Mexican Riviera . The result was catastrophic: the bookings were a disaster and met with little response. As a result, the ship was withdrawn.
It was then chartered by the Spanish Pullmantur Cruises for weekly Mediterranean cruises from Barcelona . These missions were very successful. The voyages were supposed to continue, but when the ship moored in Barcelona on September 17, 2000, it was chained after Premier Cruises Inc. was no longer able to handle outstanding invoices from its ships, including those in charter from Pullmantur Cruises sailing SeaWind Crown , to be settled. The crew stayed on board for six months, during which time they were provided with food by charities. No buyer was found for the ship, so after some time it was towed from its berth at the World Trade Center Terminal in the port of Barcelona to an outside basin. There it was decommissioned.
The end
In March 2002 the ship was officially decommissioned and became, what it was already, a "dead ship". The chimney inlets were covered and the other remaining systems were put into safety mode. The port authority of Barcelona regularly checked the ship and put it up for auction . The biggest problem was that the oil tanker berth was urgently needed. In early December 2003, the ship was registered in Batumi , Georgia , and renamed Barcelona .
On December 28, 2003, the Barcelona left the port of Barcelona after more than three years and passed the Suez Canal on January 12, 2004. In February 2004 it arrived at the Pan-Yu shipyard near Guangzhou , China , for scrapping.
Deck overview
- Boat deck
This deck extended in the forward areas of the ship - on starboard as well as on port. Here were two great luxury cabins as well as 36 superior double cabins and single cabins with private areas. In the front part of the main staircase there was a ship's chapel. A 1st class swimming pool with a bar was found on the sun deck. Above this deck, 1st class passengers found a place for sporting activities.
- A deck / promenade deck
Passengers could stroll on this level. In the forward area the deck was clad with window panes. Most of the public on-board facilities were to be found on this deck. In the front part was the 1st class main lounge, in the further course was the lobby with a statue of the navigator Infante Dom Henrique . On the starboard side was the library and the reading room - on the port side there was a writing room. Another lounge was the smoking room and the bar. In the aft starboard area was the children's playroom, followed by the tourist class smoking room and the bar with swimming pool and the outdoor terrace with bar.
- B deck
The front part accommodated 58 1st class double or single cabins with private outdoor areas to the sea. The upper area with a few shops and the two-story first-class lobby was also to be found here. Tourist class cabins, also with private areas, were to be found afterwards. In the stern area there was a large ballroom with an adjoining bar on the starboard side and the kitchen on the port side. Furthermore, there were open deck areas that are accessible to both 1st and tourist class. A number of tourist class shops were also available.
- C deck
In the front area was the main lobby, the paymaster's office and the shore leave. Here was also the access to the 1st class on-board restaurant. In the stern was the tourist-class restaurant, which was more than twice the size of the first-class restaurant. The on-board hospital was also located there.
- D-deck / E-deck
Most of the tourist class cabins were located here. There were both outside and inside cabins.
Individual evidence
- ↑ An eventful but successful history , Pullmantur Cruises.