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 Cunard Ambassador in Key West after an on-board fire, September 1974 | |
| History | |
|---|---|
| Name | Cunard Ambassador |
| Owner | Cunard Line |
| Route | |
| Builder | Rotterdamsche Droogdok Maatschappij |
| Yard number | 666 |
| Launched | 16 March 1972 |
| Completed | October 1972 |
| Identification | IMO number: 7208144 |
| Fate | Sold to C. Clausen after an onboard fire 12 September 1974 and converted to a livestock carrier. |
| Name | Linda Clausen |
| Owner | C. Clausen D/S A/S, København |
| Acquired | 1975 |
| Refit | Converted to a livestock carrier in 1975 |
| Fate | Sold to Lembu Shipping Corporation of Panama |
| Name | Procyon |
| Owner | Lembu Shipping Corporation of Panama |
| Acquired | 1980 |
| Fate | Sold to Qatar Transport & Marine Services ofDoha |
| Name | Raslan |
| Owner | Qatar Transport & Marine Services of Doha |
| Acquired | 1983 |
| Fate | Sold for scrap after a fire on 3 July 1983. Arrived in Kaohsiung, Taiwan for scapping on 7 September 1984. |
| General characteristics | |
| Type | Cruise ship |
| Tonnage | 14,155 GT |
| Length | 484 ft (148 m) long |
| Beam | 71 ft (22 m) |
| Decks | 7 |
| Installed power | Diesel engines |
| Propulsion | Two propellers |
| Speed | 20.5 knots (38.0 km/h; 23.6 mph) |
| Capacity | 806 all-one-class passengers |
MVCunard Ambassador was acruise ship planned as one of a class of eight ships for the charter airlineOverseas National Airways. At the same time, theCunard Line was moving into the cruise market because the increasing popularity of international flights meant that its transatlantic passenger services were no longer viable.
Because of the cost of the eight-ship project,Overseas National Airways soon ran into financial troubles and was forced to abandon it. Cunard saw the opportunity and quickly took the project on, soon reducing the order to two ships, which it christenedCunard Adventurer (1971) andCunard Ambassador (1972). Both ships were intended for seven-day cruises, includingNew York City toBermuda,San Juan to otherCaribbean ports, andVancouver toAlaska during the summer seasons.
The two ships were less successful than intended.Cunard Adventurer was soon sold and becameSunward II and laterTriton;Cunard Ambassador was withdrawn fromCunard service on September 12, 1974, after a fire on a positioning trip. There were no passengers on board and no fatalities but, after being towed toKey West, the ship was declared a total loss.
The hulk was sold as a gutted hull and refitted to become theDanish sheep carrier,Linda Clausen later the same year. In 1980, she was sold again and becameProcyon. In April 1981 she again caught fire, whilst bunkering in Singapore; the salvors Smit, SISEA and SELCO successfully fought the fire. The ship was again repaired and, in 1983, renamedRaslan. In 1983, only a year after being rechristenedRaslan, she suffered another devastating fire in theIndian Ocean. The ship was deemed was beyond economic repair so after thirteen years of service the hulk was sold toTaiwanese ship breakers and scrapped.
Shortly after the sale ofCunard Adventurer and the first fire onCunard Ambassador,Cunard planned two new ships,Cunard Countess andCunard Conquest, later changed toCunard Princess. The design incorporated many features of the failedAdventurer andAmbassador including a similar sleek profile and angular funnel and the white-painted hull.