MV Tros
ex Albatros, Crown, Norwegian Star I, Royal Odyssey, Royal Viking Sea
Royal Viking Sea – © Marc Piché
Steel twin screw motor vessel built in 1973 by Oy Wartsila Ab, Helsinki, Finland (Yard No 397) as a Passenger (Cruise) Ship for Royal Viking Line, Oslo, Norway
Technical Data
- Length: 177.70m (overall) (1971), 205.46m (1981)
- Breadth of hull: 25.20m (extreme) (1971), 27.00m (1981)
- Draught: 7.30m (maximum)
- Tonnage: 20,018 gross (1971), 21,848 (1981), 28,018 (1983), 5,660 deadweight (1971), 3,594 (1981), 5,660 (1983)
- Engines: Four 9-cylinder Sulzer-Wartsila diesels
- Power: 13,240kW
- Speed: 21 knots
- Capacity: 536 (1971), 812 (1981)
- Call sign: LECH, C6CN4
- MMSI Number: 308784000
- IMO Number: 7304314
- Registry: Oslo/Norway 🇳🇴, Nassau/Bahamas 🇧🇸
- Sister Ships: Royal Viking Sky (396), Royal Viking Star (395)
History
January 19th 1973: Launched.
November 16th 1973: Delivered to Viking Line, Oslo, Norway.
November 25th 1973: Maiden voyage Bergen – Newcastle.
December 11th 1979: World cruising.
Royal Viking Sea – © Simonwp
March 11th 1983: Arrived at Bremerhaven for lengthening, by insertion of 27.7m prefabricated section, at AG “Weser” Seebeckwerft.
June 5th 1983: Delivered back to owners
Royal Viking Sea – © Brian Fisher
Royal Viking Sea – Courtesy of Chris Howell
November 29th 1983: Rescued 151 survivors from Indian ferry DOFO adrift 11 days off Celebes.
May 1984: Agreement in principle for sale to US investor group did not proceed.
August 1984: To Norwegian Caribbean Line A/S, Oslo, but continued under Royal Caribbean Viking Line management.
1987: Registered under ownership of Nassau, Bahamas.
1991: Renamed ROYAL ODYSSEY. Owned by Royal Cruise Line.
May 2nd 1996: Suffered engine problems and was repaired in San Francisco.
May 27th 1996: Returned to service.
July 17th 1996: Suffered engine problems and as results a 2 week cruise was cancelled. Repaired in Vancouver.
August 1996: Returned to service. .
April 1997: 350 suffered from food poisoning. All her cruises were suspended.
November 1997: Sold to Actinor Cruise, Nassau, Bahamas and renamed NORWEGIAN STAR
Norwegian Star – © Glenn Towler
November 1997 – December 1998: Chartered to Norwegian Cruise Lines, cruising from Houston, Texas.
January 1999 – June 2001: Cruising for Norwegian Capricorn Line.
October 2001: Returned to Actinor Cruise and all connections with Capricorn Holidays terminated.
November 2001: Renamed NORWEGIAN STAR I.
May 24th 2002: Charter completed.
June 2002: Chartered to Crown Investments and renamed CROWN. Commenced casino cruising from Shanghai to Jeju Island.
Crown – © Carlos Poveda (Visual Ships)
November 2002: Arrested in Shanghai, China owing to unpaid bills by Crown Investments.
February 2003: Guarantee from owners wiped out debts.
June 2003: Cruising in the Mediterranean.
January 2004: Chartered to Phoenix Reisen, Germany and renamed ALBATROS.
Albatros – © Carlos Poveda (Visual Ships)
2007: Remains on charter to Phoenix Reisen, Germany.
Albatros – © Aleksi Lindstrom
Registered Owner Albatros Shipping Limited, Nassau, Bahamas.
Albatros – © Ray Goodfellow
Albatros – © Ken Lubi
Albatros – © Nigel Scutt (Dover Strait Shipping)
April 7th 2020: Arrived in Bremerhaven.
April 10th 2020: Arrived in Emden and laid-up owing to Coronavirus Pandemic.
Albatros – © Jens Smit (Emden, 10/04/2020)
July 10th 2020: Sailed to Bremen and continued lay-up.
October 8th 2020: Announcement made that she had been purchased by Egyptian Pick Albatros Group who intend using her as a floating hotel.
October 12th 2020: Sailed from Bremen to Bremerhaven.
Albatros – © Christian Eckardt (Kleinensiel, Niedersachsen, Germany, 12/10/2020)
October 19th 2020: Left Bremerhaven bound for Suez.
October 20th 2020: Passed Dover en-route to Suez
Albatros – © Paul Jolliffe (Dover Strait Shipping)
October 22nd 2020: Arrived in Le Havre. News circulating suggested that her crew had been tested for Coronavirus prior to leaving Bremerhaven. Results of these tests were not known until she was en-route to Suez. Seven crew members were later found to be positive. The ship sailed to Le Havre Anchorage where further tests were administered.
October 24th 2020: Remains at Le Havre Anchorage.
October 28th 2020: Left Le Havre showing destination as Suez.
November 11th 2020: Arrived Hurghada, Egypt.
Plans to convert her to a floating hotel failed and she was reportedly stripped of anything of value.
July 14th 2021: Sailed from Hurghada showing destination as Jeddah. (Noted as being renamed TROS).
(Reportedly sold for scrap and her final destination will be Alang)
July 27th 2021: Beached at Alang.
All information is believed to be correct and no responsibility is accepted for any errors or omissions found. All items included in this article are subject to © copyright. We would like to take this opportunity of thanking: Christian Eckardt, Brian Fisher, Chris Howell, Aleksi Lindstrom, Ken Lubi, Marc Piché, Carlos Poveda (Visual Ships), Nigel Scutt & Paul Jolliffe (Dover Strait Shipping), Simonwp, Jens Smit, Glen Towler and Urbain Ureel for their assistance in compiling this feature.