Princesa Marissa
 The Princesa Marissa in May 2004 in Port Said
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The Princesa Marissa was a cruise ship owned by the Cypriot Louis Cruise Lines , originally built in 1966 as the Finnhansa passenger ferry .
period of service
The Finnhansa was built at the Wärtsilä shipyard for the Finnish shipping company Finnlines . On December 1, 1964, the ship was launched. Finnhansa's godmother was Sylvi Kekkonen , the wife of the then Finnish President Urho Kekkonen . The ship was originally due to be delivered in June 1965, but after two fires in March and December 1965, this date was delayed by several months. On March 31, 1966, the Finnhansa was finally put into service and used on the route Helsinki - Nynäshamn - Karlskrona - Lübeck - Slite -Helsinki. At the time of its commissioning, the Finnhansa was the largest passenger ferry in the Baltic Sea . In 1966 her sister ships Finnpartner and Prins Hamlet were put into service, followed in 1968 by the Bohème . Nevertheless, the Finnhansa remained the largest ferry in the Baltic Sea, as it was almost ten centimeters longer than its newer sister ships. After a few years, both ships were moved to the Helsinki-Nynäshamn- Travemünde route. In the summer of 1967, the sister ships were also used for mini cruises from Lübeck. The Finnhansa was rebuilt in 1972 at the Howaldtswerke-Deutsche Werft in Kiel and equipped with 288 additional cabins. Another renovation followed in 1973, when the on-board restaurant was renewed. After the new Finnjet was put into service in May 1977 , Finnlines decided to retire Finnhansa . She stayed in service for a few more months and was then sold to Birka Line in September 1977 .
On January 18, 1978, the ship under the new name Prisessan was put into service on the route from Stockholm to Mariehamn . In 1980 the ship was rebuilt and modernized at the Howaldtswerke-Deutsche Werft in Hamburg . Among other things , the Prisessan got new additional cabins and conference rooms, which meant that its superstructure had to be expanded and its appearance changed significantly. On November 7, 1982, a fire broke out on the ship in Mariehamn harbor, but it was quickly extinguished and did not cause much damage.
After the commissioning of the Birka Princess , the ship was launched and offered for sale. In April 1987 the Prisessan was sold to the newly founded Louis Cruise Line and became the first ship of the Cypriot shipping company.
The ship was renamed Princesa Marissa (named after the daughter of the shipowner) and used for cruises in the Mediterranean. Frequent destinations of the ship were Egypt and Israel . In 1995, the Princesa Marissa was modernized again and got larger cabins and panoramic windows in some public areas. Between June and August 2005, the ship was used permanently on the route Piraeus - Rhodes - Limassol . It was then launched in Limassol. In May 2006 the ship was towed to Drapetsona, where it remained laid up. In June 2006, the Princesa Marissa was briefly used again on its old route. In July 2006 it was used to evacuate mainly Canadian tourists from Lebanon . She then remained in service as a cruise ship until she was finally retired on August 11, 2006.
In May 2008 the ship was sold to India for scrapping. For this, his name was changed to Prince . On June 16, after more than 40 years of service, the ship arrived in Alang, India , where it was dismantled in the following months.
