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She can be viewed at some of the ports of call on her present cruise.
The asking price is reported to be US $ 15 million but is open to negotiations.
Her next big survey is reported as being due in November 2014.
.
Apart from it being said that ship breakers would be invited on board in April, if there was no other offers to buy the ship, there has been no other news..
quote:I know that this isnt much. But we can at least voice our thoughts about saving the SS Oceanic through a signature petition. Here is the link:http://www.thepetitionsite.com/823/199/057/save-the-ss-oceanic/If you feel that the ship deserves to avoid the scrapyard, please sign and voice your personal memories about the ship. This is a ship that is worth saving.
http://www.thepetitionsite.com/823/199/057/save-the-ss-oceanic/
If you feel that the ship deserves to avoid the scrapyard, please sign and voice your personal memories about the ship. This is a ship that is worth saving.
There's a place, on the nortwest cost of the country that has an archipelago called Fernando de Noronha. This island are a national natural preservation site, and has limitations to the ships that call there. This ships, could only carry about 1,000 passangers. This last season, Ocean Dream has done the routes there, after, Bleu de France was there.
Now, Pullmantur doesn't have a ship with the ideal size for the area. But they don't want to leave the place, because the spanish company is the one that is authorized by the government to cruise there. And the area is a such popular place.
A good solution, if Oceanic was really just chartered is put the ship there, by Pullmanturs brand again, or even chartered to CVC, the biggest partner of Pullmantur here.
Let's see...
As for the call to "save" her, the less said the better.
quote:Originally posted by dougnewman:She was not chartered to Peace Boat by RCCL. RCCL sold the ship in 2009 for $14.5 million. As for the call to "save" her, the less said the better.
Not true Doug. The ship did leave the Royal Caribbean "books" but Peace Boat is an NGO and they only charter their ships, including the Oceanic. Japan Grace i their travel company. They had a five year charter on the ship.
As for the effort to save her, why not? She is clearly one of the most significant ships left. She is the last of the ships designed for dual purpose, Atlantic and cruising, and the last of the classical Italian designs. She played a critical role in the development of the modern cruise ship industry, she was the first size of her size to go directly into cruise service and remained the largest for nearly 20 years. She has been arguably one of the sot successful passenger ships ever built with three strong careers and she has lots of fans around the world.
The Oceanic could easily become another hotel ship similar to the ms Veronica and actually has more going for her design and layout than the old Kungsholm.
Most would argue she is a much finer ship than The Emerald ex. Santa Rosa which appears to have found a buyer.
I think it is a shame that the Oceanic is being rushed to the scrapyards and all I can assume is that her owners fear a Norway style backlash. The Oceanic went on the market in February and will be sold for scrap in April it appears .... not leaving a lot of time for commercial buyers to get a chance at redeploying her.
I did not start the petition (see above) but I hope everyone will sign it and maybe the Oceanic can get a few more months so commercial buyers can have a good look at her and make a bid.
quote:Originally posted by dougnewman:She was not chartered to Peace Boat by RCCL. RCCL sold the ship in 2009 for $14.5 million.
quote:Originally posted by SSTRAVELER:Not true Doug. The ship did leave the Royal Caribbean "books" but Peace Boat is an NGO and they only charter their ships, including the Oceanic. Japan Grace i their travel company. They had a five year charter on the ship.
You are both saying the same thing. RCCL sold her, but not to Peaceboat. Peaceboat charter her. According to Equasis she is owned by the Maritime Holdings Group who seem to have lots of fingers. Many rumours come and go, we can only wait and see, but her time has come I feel and I would personally not wish to see her languish about as some static 'thing'. Ships are for sailing. If she finds further work, great, otherwise scrap
Pam
quote:Originally posted by PamM:You are both saying the same thing. RCCL sold her, but not to Peaceboat. Peaceboat charter her. According to Equasis she is owned by the Maritime Holdings Group who seem to have lots of fingers.
That is the company formerly called SeaHawk they are just a management company to provide the operations. Equasis is wrong they definitely do not know the ship. The official ownership was listed as GP Cruises of Panama. But that is just a shell company.
Pullmantur/Royal Caribbean are the owners and they are the ones sending the Oceanic to the scrap yards.
quote:Originally posted by SSTRAVELER:That is the company formerly called SeaHawk they are just a management company to provide the operations. Equasis is wrong they definitely do not know the ship. The official ownership was listed as GP Cruises of Panama. But that is just a shell company.Pullmantur/Royal Caribbean are the owners and they are the ones sending the Oceanic to the scrap yards.
Allan,
RCCL most definitely does not own the Oceanic, they and Pullmantur have nothing to do with her financially, operationally or otherwise.
Tim
quote:Originally posted by Tim in Memphis:RCCL most definitely does not own the Oceanic, they and Pullmantur have nothing to do with her financially, operationally or otherwise.
It has been already posted here and I have heard it elsewhere that the Oceanic is included in the deal for the Ocean Dream ex. Tropicale so Royal Caribbean/Pullmantur are the owners of the Oceanic.
For what it's worth, GL lists her owner as Japan Grace Co., which is the company that handles Peace Boat's commercial activities.
quote:Originally posted by SSTRAVELER:As for the effort to save her, why not?
Admittedly, there is I guess not really any harm in signing a meaningless e-petition (though I am not going to sign it), but basically all "save (some ship or other)" efforts are completely futile.
I agree, she is a historically important ship in the development of cruising. The number of people in the world who care at all about the historical development of cruising is minuscule. The amount of money required to preserve a very large, very old cruise ship indefinitely is massive. Essentially we are talking about an enormously expensive project to preserve an object that is of historical importance to something that almost no one cares about.
OK, there is an argument that maybe the ship's owners should wait a little longer to see if someone might buy her for something other than scrap, but even if someone did we would be right back in this same situation in a few years, facing the same futile calls to "save" her and so on. It's true that a few ships like the former KUNGSHOLM have temporarily escaped the breakers and found other roles, but none of that has anything to do with preserving history and sooner or later they will no longer be needed and will, like nearly all ships that have reached the end of their commercial lives, be disposed of.
I take it for granted that the absolute best-case scenario for OCEANIC would be another few years (let's say 5 years) as an accommodation ship in some remote (to us) port and then the inevitable trip to the breakers. And frankly, to me that is not appreciably better than her going to the breakers now. I will grant that this is a ship I don't really have a sentimental connection to (though I recognize that she is historically important and also quite simply a very beautiful ship, at least externally), and perhaps for those who do there would be some psychological comfort in knowing that she still exists somewhere in the world. But realistically, even in that best case scenario, probably almost none of us would ever lay eyes on her again, let alone step foot aboard, and to her "passengers" she would just be some random ship. It is not as though this best-case scenario (which is still a fairly remote chance) would extend the opportunity for ship enthusiasts to continue enjoying the ship for a while longer, which to me is the only real point in keeping an old ship around for longer.
And anyway, the petition is explicitly asking that she be turned into a ROTTERDAM-style hotel ship, which is a completely ridiculous idea and will never happen.
quote:Originally posted by dougnewman:[...]I agree, she is a historically important ship in the development of cruising. [...]
Of course, this is not nearly enough to justify the effort it would take to preserve her. Beside what you already pointed out (that this is interesting to a small group of people only) - what would be gained in keeping her around as static artifact? e.g. compare her to Queen Mary or Rotterdam - what features make her so outstanding to justify the efforts to keep her as a whole? In my opinion Augustus would have been a more interesting candidate but even in her case I have to admit that there was not much 'substance' for becoming a museum.
The sad reality is the cost to re-build her systems is prohibitive based on her age not to mention the fuel bills for her turbines.
She retained her beauty until the end which is rare.
[ 04-09-2012: Message edited by: lasuvidaboy ]
quote:What Oceanic has going for her over 95% of other passenger ships in service today are her incredible sleek looks.
I agree but, sadly, that's not enough to sustain her in a static role. On the flip-side, what 95% of the other passenger ships in service today have over Oceanic is that 99.9% of their passengers don't really care about sleek looks....they just want an enjoyable vacation.
Besides, beauty is in the eye of, well, you know the rest. Personally I think there are plenty of nice looking cruise ships out there (as well as just as many dogs).
-Russ
But as pointed out she is the last example of style and an era. When she is gone the last of the true Italian built luxury liners will be gone not to mention an excellent example of the transitional period from liner to cruise ship.
I see the reports that The Emerald has found a buyer and wonder why not the Oceanic. She is a better ship in my eyes.
I see the Veronica operating as a hotel and say why not the Oceanic?
I think the Rotterdam and the Queen Marry are kind of special cases as well but why not the Oceanic too?
I just think her owners are giving her the bums rush to the scrapyard, maybe fearful of a backlash? She is getting only a matter of weeks or months to fund a buyer where The Emerald got years. Pullmantur is holding the Atlantic Star ex. Fairsky which appears to have no more commercial value than the Oceanic. The Atlantic Star has been sitting at a dock for years now hoping to find a buyer yet everyone has walked away from her. Why not the Oceanic?
I just think it is a shame she is not being given some more time. Her certificates are all valid till the end of 2014 so she could operate without a new survey.
Or maybe the guys who were looking at a hotel ship for Atlantic City or Macu might be interested in the Oceanic too.
Any commercial buyer would need time to not only see the ship but structure their deal etc. Giving the Oceanic two months to find a buyer was only a ceremonial gesture in my eyes so she could be sold for scrap and the owners could say well we offered her and no one came forward.
The petition might be ill informed -- I might have phrased the goals differently -- but signing it let's the owners know there are people who care and hopefully they will slow their timeline and give the ship a chance.
That's all I am saying .....
quote:Originally posted by dougnewman:For what it's worth, GL lists her owner as Japan Grace Co., which is the company that handles Peace Boat's commercial activities..
Two lines below that GL says she is a "motor ship" ... don't believe everything you read.
Pullmantur is the one deciding the Oceanic's future and the one talking to scrappers as we speak.
quote:Originally posted by SSTRAVELER:I agree she has likely outlined her useful life .... maybe I am trying to hold on to my youth because I spent a lot of time on her when she and I were younger ....
I understand what you mean - it is nice to know that she is around. However, I sadly made the experience that it is not always a good idea to revist a ship one enjoyed many years ago.
quote:Originally posted by SSTRAVELER:[...]I see the reports that The Emerald has found a buyer and wonder why not the Oceanic. She is a better ship in my eyes.[...]
I can imagine many reasons for that. The Emerald has been modernized, is of different size and might be in a better condition.
quote:Originally posted by SSTRAVELER:[...]I see the Veronica operating as a hotel and say why not the Oceanic?[...]
Same as above. Another difference to Kungsholm would be that Oceanic is a steamship (OK, for a static use this would not necessarily make a huge difference).
quote:Originally posted by SSTRAVELER:[...]I think the Rotterdam and the Queen Marry are kind of special cases as well but why not the Oceanic too?[...]
Oceanic is not in the same league - it's not even close. Queen Mary is not only an extremely well know and historically important ship - and in her case this even applies to people who are not interested in ships. Beside that Queen Mary is much older and features craftsmanship and decorations which are in general rare these days. To a lesser extent (but still) all that can also be said about Rotterdam.The promenade of Oceanic on the other hand features a slight odd plastic floor.
When you got on the Oceanic there were familiar faces in the crew that were there for years and the dining room .... well what can you say ... it was Italian prepared by Italians and served by Italians .... not the Oliver Garden approach to Italian food the cruise ships have today.
They would went to Holland America and it was so very different than the Home Liens for example. Even Sitmar's Italian was different from Home Lines or Costa.
That's part of the reason it is so heartbreaking to think the Oceanic would be scrapped. She was part of that different era and has so many memories for so many people. Sure that does not support her but for those of us that enjoy ships it would be nice to have her around. And given enough time a commercial buyer could well appear to give her a new life. But if Pullmantur/Royal Caribbean wants to resolve her in weeks it is simply not enough time for a buyer to emerge.
quote:Originally posted by SSTRAVELER:That's part of the reason it is so heartbreaking to think the Oceanic would be scrapped. She was part of that different era and has so many memories for so many people. Sure that does not support her but for those of us that enjoy ships it would be nice to have her around. And given enough time a commercial buyer could well appear to give her a new life. But if Pullmantur/Royal Caribbean wants to resolve her in weeks it is simply not enough time for a buyer to emerge.
Hi Allan, If at all possible, maybe Pullmantur/Royal Caribbean coulld give the ship sometime for a buyer to show interest in the Oceanic. They have the fairsky on the market for quite sometime. If you know anyone at Pullmantur/Royal Caribbean, you might be able to ask them to give the ship some time because one month isn't enough to find a buyer for the ship. What's heartbreaking is the fact that skyhigh oil prices is what caused Peaceboat to cancel its charter with the Oceanic.
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