Stena Olympica
_(Kiel_55.178).jpg) The Stena Olympica in June 1973
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The Stena Olympica was a ferry of the Swedish shipping company Stena Line put into service in 1972 . It was used until 1982 on the routes from Gothenburg to Kiel , Korsør to Kiel and from Gothenburg to Frederikshavn . After being taken out of service by Stena Line, the ship was named Scotia Prince from April 1982 and was then in service between Portland and Yarmouth under US management until 2005 . In later years the Scotia Prince was chartered out several times and traveled on changing lines, most recently between Thoothukudi and Colombo until November 2011 . After several months of layover, the 40-year-old ferry arrived in April 2012 for scrapping in Chittagong, Bangladesh .
Planning and construction
The Stena Olympica and its identical sister ship Stena Scandinavica were ordered from the Titovo Brodogradiliste shipyard in Kraljevica . They should have the same equipment as the sister ships Stena Germanica and Stena Britannica , which were commissioned in 1967 , but should be larger and more comfortable.
The Stena Olympica was built as the first of the two ships under hull number 399 and was launched on September 18, 1971. The delivery to the Stena Line took place on June 25, 1972. On July 7, the ship began the ferry service on the routes from Gothenburg to Kiel, Korsør to Kiel and Gothenburg to Frederikshavn. The Stena Scandinavica followed exactly one year later in July 1973.
period of service
Stena Line
Almost a year after its commissioning, the Stena Olympica failed briefly in June 1973 due to a machine failure. Nevertheless, the ship proved to be very successful in its service life for the Stena Line. After a renovation in Sölvesborg in January 1974, the ferry had cabins for a thousand people, and the restaurants and public areas were enlarged.
The Stena Olympica remained in use for Stena Line for ten years. After several larger newbuildings were put into service, the ship was decommissioned in April 1982 and offered for sale.
Prince of Fundy Cruises
Prince of Fundy Cruises Ltd. became the new owner. based in Maine . The ship, now registered under the Panamanian flag , was named Scotia Prince and from May 1982 began the ferry service between Portland in the state of Maine and Yarmouth in Nova Scotia .
On November 8, 1986, the Scotia Prince arrived at the shipyard of the Flensburger Schiffbau-Gesellschaft , where it was lengthened by 18 meters. In addition, parts of the car deck were converted into cabins. The renovation was completed by March 1987. In April 1987, the ship was able to resume service between Maine and Nova Scotia.
The Scotia Prince remained except for minor interruptions for 23 years for Prince of Fundy Cruises in use. From November 1988 to 1989 the ship was unused in Shelburne harbor . In November 1998 it was chartered for use to Mexico with Tampa as its home port. From November 2002 to March 2003 the ferry went to Mexico again.
The Scotia Prince remained in service between Portland and Yarmouth until September 2005. It was then used as a hotel ship for people who had become homeless in Louisiana after Hurricane Katrina . The ship was there until March 2006, but then did not return to service for Prince of Fundy Cruises.
Charter to various shipping companies
In March 2006, in chartered Morocco -based shipping company Comanav the Scotia Prince for use between Tangier and Genoa . However, the ship suffered engine damage in April 2006 and therefore had to be repaired in the T. Mariotti shipyard in Genoa by June. Algerie Ferries then chartered the ferry for the route from Oran via Alicante to Marseille . In December 2006, was Scotia Prince in Toulon launched .
In April 2007, the Bahamas- based Clipper Group took over the ship from Prince of Fundy Cruises and chartered it out again to various shipping companies. Among other things, it chartered Comanav again from June to October 2007 and, after several months of layover, again from June to October 2008 for the service between Almería and Nador .
From June 2009 Acciona operated the Scotia Prince , also with Almeria as the port of departure. From September 2009, the ship was again on. After a stay in the shipyard in Tuzla in March 2010, a mission took place between Ancona and Çeşme under the management of the Turkish Marmara Lines . This lasted until October 2010.
After several months of lay in Drapetsona , the Indian company Flemingo Duty Free Shop chartered the Scotia Prince . After the transfer voyage to India, the ship took up service between Thoothukudi and Colombo on June 13, 2011. However, this only lasted a short time: on November 18 of the same year, the Scotia Prince completed her last crossing and was laid up in Colombo.
scrapping
After a four-month layover, the Scotia Prince went to a demolition company in Chittagong, Bangladesh, in March 2012. In the same month, the name of the ship for the ferry trip in Prince was abbreviated. On March 27, the 40-year-old ferry set out from Colombo for Chittagong, where it arrived at the ship- breaking yards near Chittagong on April 2, 2012 . Eight days later, the Scotia Prince was beached for scrapping.
