MS Costa Marina

The Costa Marina as Club Harmony
History
Name
  • Axel Johnson (1969–1986)
  • Regent Sun (1986–1987)
  • Italia (1987–1988)
  • Costa Marina (1988–2011)
  • Harmony Princess (2011–2012)
  • Club Harmony (2012–2014)
  • Harmony 1 (2014–2014)
NamesakeAxel Johnson
Owner
Operator
Port of registry
Builder
Yard number1169
Launched16 January 1969
CompletedJune 1969
Acquired1969
Maiden voyage1969
Identification
FateScrapped at Alang, India in 2014.
Notes[1]
General characteristics
Tonnage
Length571.8 ft (174.3 m)
Beam84.6 ft (25.8 m)
Draught7.9 m (26 ft)
Decks8 (passenger-accessible)
Speed20.5 knots (38.0 km/h; 23.6 mph)
Capacity760 passengers 400 crew

MS Costa Marina was a cruise ship, last owned by Polaris Shipping and operated by Harmony Cruises.

History

The MS Costa Marina was originally built in 1969 as the container ship Axel Johnson by the Wärtsilä Turku Shipyard in Turku, Finland for the Sweden-based Rederi AB Nordstjernan and operated on their Johnson Line services. In 1986 she was sold to Regency Cruises with the intention of being converted into a cruise ship operating under the name Regent Sun, but she was laid up instead. In 1987 she was sold to Navyclub Italia and renamed Italia, but continued to be laid up.[2] In 1988 the ship was acquired by Costa Cruises, renamed Costa Marina, and rebuilt into a cruise ship at the T. Mariotti shipyard in Genoa, Italy. She entered service as Costa Marina in 1990.[3][4] From 2002 she was marketed more towards German passengers.[3]

Costa Marina
Club Harmony leaving the Port of Kobe in 2012

On August 3, 2011 it was announced by parent company Carnival that new ships would be built for Costa to replace their older ships, starting with Costa Marina.[5] Costa Marina left the fleet in November 2011, and was initially replaced by Iberocruceros' Grand Voyager for her Red Sea cruises.[6] Costa Marina was chartered to the South Korean Harmony Cruise and renamed Harmony Princess with a Marshall Islands registry, for cruises between Korea and Japan.[7] In 2012, her owners renamed her Club Harmony,[8] but she was laid up in January 2013. In September 2014, she was sold for scrap in India and arrived at Alang the following month as Harmony 1.[9]

References

  1. ^ "Advanced Masterdata for the Vessel Costa Marina". VesselTracker. 2011. Retrieved 31 August 2011.
  2. ^ "Costa Marina". castlesoftheseas.nl. Archived from the original on 7 May 2024.
  3. ^ a b Asklander, Micke. "M/S Axel Johnson (1969)". Fakta om Fartyg (in Swedish). Retrieved 31 August 2011.
  4. ^ Sinke, Piet (1 November 2002). "Passengerships Cruising in the Mediterranean" (PDF). PSi-Daily Shipping News. Archived from the original (PDF) on 13 June 2006. Retrieved 31 August 2011.
  5. ^ "Carnival Corporation & plc Orders New Ships for Its Costa Cruises and AIDA Cruises Brands" (Press release). Carnival Corporation & plc. 3 August 2011. Retrieved 31 August 2011.
  6. ^ Staff writers (14 July 2011). "Costa Marina Leaves Fleet". Cruise Industry News. Retrieved 2 August 2011.
  7. ^ "El nuevo destino del Costa Marina" (in Spanish). Noticias de Cruceros. 29 November 2011. Archived from the original on 13 April 2012. Retrieved 28 April 2012.
  8. ^ "Club Harmony offers luxurious, yet affordable journey". Archived from the original on 26 November 2012. Retrieved 13 June 2012.
  9. ^ "Equasis vessel folder (free login required)". Retrieved 15 September 2014.
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