The cruise ship BLACK PRINCE (first photo) was built in 1966 in Germany for Fred Olsen account. On her first two years she was used on the London - Atlantic Islands service and on the North Sea ferry routes. In 1968 Bergenske sold their veteran passenger ship VENUS for scrap and arranged with Fred Olsen to share ownership of the BLACK PRINCE in the same way of their BLACK WATCH / JUPITER. So BLACK PRINCE operated seasonally for Bergenske as VENUS until in 1986 she returned to full ownership by Fred Olsen.
BLACK PRINCE was converted in Turku, Finland for full time cruising and registered in the Philipines (second photo). Later she reverted to Norwegian (NIS) registry and her livery was modified in a less modern way (photo three). Since 1987 BLACK PRINCE cruised extensively for the British market and was so successful that in her wake Fred Olsen operates now a fleet of four cruise ships. After 22 years cruising under the Fred. Olsen house flag, in October 2009 the ship was withdrawn from service and sold to Venezuela under new name OLA ESMERALDA. Intended cruises on the Venazuela coast and islands did not succed, and the ship served under charter to the United nations at Haiti, and she was broken up in October 2013 in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic.
Texto e imagens /Text and images copyright L.M.Correia. For other posts and images, check our archive at the right column of the main page. Click on the photos to see them enlarged. Thanks for your visit and comments. Luís Miguel Correia
BLACK PRINCE was converted in Turku, Finland for full time cruising and registered in the Philipines (second photo). Later she reverted to Norwegian (NIS) registry and her livery was modified in a less modern way (photo three). Since 1987 BLACK PRINCE cruised extensively for the British market and was so successful that in her wake Fred Olsen operates now a fleet of four cruise ships. After 22 years cruising under the Fred. Olsen house flag, in October 2009 the ship was withdrawn from service and sold to Venezuela under new name OLA ESMERALDA. Intended cruises on the Venazuela coast and islands did not succed, and the ship served under charter to the United nations at Haiti, and she was broken up in October 2013 in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic.
Texto e imagens /Text and images copyright L.M.Correia. For other posts and images, check our archive at the right column of the main page. Click on the photos to see them enlarged. Thanks for your visit and comments. Luís Miguel Correia