.jpg) Saga Pearl II asAstor inHamburg, 1983 | |
| History | |
|---|---|
| Name |
|
| Operator |
|
| Port of registry | |
| Builder | Howaldtswerke-Deutsche Werft, Werk Ross, Hamburg |
| Yard number | 165[1] |
| Laid down | 20 May 1980[1] |
| Launched | 16 December 1980[1] |
| Completed | December 1981 |
| In service | 14 December 1981 |
| Out of service | 2019 |
| Identification | |
| Fate | Scrapped inAliağa,Turkey in 2022 |
| General characteristics | |
| Class & type | Cruise ship |
| Tonnage | 18,591 GT[2] → 18,627 GT[1] |
| Length | 164.35 m (539 ft 2 in)[1] |
| Beam | 22.6 m (74 ft 2 in)[1] |
| Draught | 6.2 m (20 ft 4 in)[1] |
| Installed power | 4 × MAN 6L40/45 (4 × 3,300 bhp)[3][4] |
| Propulsion | Two shafts;controllable pitch propellers |
| Speed |
|
| Capacity | |
| Crew | 252[6] |
MSSaga Pearl II was a cruise ship of about 18,700 GT that was built in Germany by Howaldtswerke-Deutsche Werft as theAstor in 1981. After short unsuccessful operations with two owners, she was bought by the East German government in 1985 and renamedArkona. After 1990 the ship was operated by Seetours, which was acquired by P&O Princess Cruises in 1999, and then chartered to Transocean Tours asAstoria in 2002. From 2009 until 2019 she was owned by Saga Cruises asSaga Pearl II (and a short period asQuest for Adventure), then withdrawn from service, laid up asPearl II, and scrapped in 2022.
Astor was built in 1981 as Yard no. 165 in the shipyard ofHowaldtswerke-Deutsche Werft, Werk Ross, Hamburg for the newly-formed German companyHadag Cruise Line, owned by theCity of Hamburg. Originally intended to be namedHammonia, thefemale personification of Hamburg, she was launched asAstor on 16 December 1980. As built, she measured 18,834 gross tonnage (GT) and her hull dimensions were 164.35 m (539 ft 2 in)length overall, 22.6 m (74 ft 2 in)beam and 16.1 m (52 ft 10 in) depth, with a service draught of 6.1 m (20 ft 0 in).[4] She was powered by four6-cylinderMAN 6L40/45 medium-speeddiesel engines rated 3,300brake horsepower (2,500 kW) each.[3] They were geared to twocontrollable-pitch propellers, which gave a speed of 18knots (33 km/h; 21 mph).[4] The ship's initial capacity was for 638 passengers.[5]
During fitting out she was damaged by an onboard fire, leading to a delay in delivery of over three months.[5]
.jpg)
Astor's maiden voyage had been scheduled for 22 August 1981 but could only begin after her delayed delivery on 4 December. Her schedule of winter cruises in the Caribbean region and summers in Europe did not prove to be profitable, so Hadag decided in October 1983 to sell her.[5]
The South African Marine Corporation (Safmarine) bought the ship in February 1984 and, after a refit in Hamburg during which the passenger capacity was reduced to 530, they began a programme combining cruises in Europe and southern Africa withSouthampton–Cape Town voyages, reviving theocean liner route.[5] However, Safmarine discovered thatAstor did not have enough speed to maintain the liner schedule.[7] So a new ship was ordered that could meet those requirements, also to be namedAstor, and the existing ship was sold on 29 August 1985.[5]
It has been alleged that the sale ofAstor toEast Germany, via a West German intermediary, was part of a secret three-way arrangement through which South Africa receivedsubmarine technology transfer, in defiance of theinternational arms embargo, as well as the replacementAstor. At the same time the HDW shipyard, desperate for new work, would build the ship, and East Germany, which lacked the foreign currency to buyAstor, could pay the intermediary in its nationalOstmark.[8][9]
On 29 August 1985,Astor was acquired byDeutfracht/Seereederei Rostock (DSR), the East German state shipping company, and was renamed theArkona. The vessel was used to give favouredparty officials cruises for part of the year, and was chartered to western operators for the remainder. During the process of thereunification of Germany, DSR was privatised in 1990.[10] DSR acquired Seetours of Bremen and cruises on theArkona were marketed under the Seetours franchise.
.jpg)
P&O Princess Cruises acquired Seetours in 1999 and retiredArkona in 2001[11] (Seetours was rebranded asAIDA Cruises in 2004).[12] TheArkona was renamedAstoria in 2002 andbareboat chartered toTransocean Tours of Bremen. Under Transocean,Astoria specialized in cruises in Europe, particularly toNorway. The vessel then operated on coastal itineraries, providing low-cost cruises for German, Norwegian and Swedish passengers.
In November 2008, a world cruise had to be aborted after serious mechanical problems were identified during a refit inBarcelona. The ship remained laid up in Barcelona until June 2009 when she was towed toGibraltar. Following an auction in August,Saga Cruises acquired the ship after an unsuccessful attempt to do so earlier in the year.
Saga Cruises acquired the ship, at auction, in August 2009.Saga Pearl II effectively replaced theSaga Rose which was decommissioned in 2009. In late 2009, the ship sailed toSwansea,Wales where she underwent a £20 million three-month refit, including engine overhaul, in the re-opened Swansea dry dock,[2] after which the ship had a maximum capacity 449 passengers, served by 252 crew members.[6] In spite of the low ratio, the cruise ship offered a luxury service to its passengers. The gross tonnage of the vessel was 18,591gross tons. The maximum speed of the vessel was 21.4 kn (39.6 km/h; 24.6 mph).[2] Stabilization was provided by a Pinfabb Digital Stabilizers Control system.[13]
She sailed on her first cruise asSaga Pearl II on 15 March 2010 to the Norwegian fjords.[14][15]
_IMO_8000214%3b_Split%2c_2013-09-06_1.jpg)
She was renamedQuest for Adventure in May 2012 and became the flagship for Saga's Discovery-style Adventure Cruises. She did not undergo a refit at that time but continued in her new role with the same facilities, captain and crew. In December 2012,Quest for Adventure underwent a refit, where she received her new Saga funnel livery. This was like her fleetmateSaga Sapphire's funnel. However, the port side of the funnel was left blank and did not display the "SAGA" logo.
TheQuest for Adventure had the nameSaga Pearl II restored to it on 21 November 2013 and received the "SAGA" logo on the port side of her funnel. In 2018 Saga reverted to the traditional yellow funnel livery,Saga Pearl II was the second ship to receive the yellow funnel, in late 2018.
In 2019,Saga Pearl II was replaced bySpirit of Discovery, Saga's first new build. For her last voyageSaga Pearl II sailed from Portsmouth (UK) on 16 February 2019 for a 54-day cruise toSouth Africa. This was a coming-home cruise, as it was where the ship spent many of its earlier years, when it sailed the South Atlantic waters for Safmarine.[16]
In 2019Saga Pearl II was sold to the British Virgin Islands company Aqua Explorer Holdings, renamedPearl II, and laid up atSalamis,Greece.[17]
In July 2022 the ship was renamedPearl and was towed from Greece toAliağa,Turkey for scrapping.[17][18]
Media related toIMO 8000214 at Wikimedia Commons
