- For the company sometimes referred to as "Orient Line", see Orient Steam Navigation Company
Orient Lines was a cruise line specialising in exotic destinations that was in operation 1993—2008. The brand was founded in 1993 by Gerry Herrod, who had previously owned Ocean Cruise Lines.[1] Orient Lines was sold to Norwegian Cruise Line in 1998,[2] and ceased operations in March 2008.[3] However, the brand was sold to new owners in June 2008, with the aim of re-starting operations.[4]
History
The history of Orient Lines began in 1991 when Shipping & General Ltd, owned by Gerry Herrod, acquired the cruise ship Alexandr Pushkin from Far Eastern Shipping Company.[1] Herrod had previously operated Ocean Cruise Lines, but had sold that venture in 1990 to Paquet Lines.[5] During the next two and a half years the Alexandr Pushkin was almost entirely rebuilt and emerged in 1993 as the Marco Polo for the new Orient Lines brand, embarking on a varied program with cruises all around the world.[1][6][5]
In 1998 Norwegian Cruise Line acquired the successful brand.[2] In 1999 NCL itself was acquired by Star Cruises.[7] Following this NCL's Norwegian Crown joined the Orient Lines fleet in May 2000 under the name Crown Odyssey.[8] In March 2001 Star Cruises announced that their SuperStar Aries would be joining the Orient Lines fleet in mid-2002 as the Ocean Voyager. This plan was shelved however,[6] and in 2003 Orient Lines reverted to operating with just one ship when the Crown Odyssey returned to the NCL fleet.[6][8]
On 4 June 2007 NCL announced that the Marco Polo had been sold to the Greece-based Global Maritime, with a delivery date on 31 March 2008. This meant the end of the Orient Line brand, as no ship was brought in to replace the Marco Polo.[3][9] Global Maritime in turn chartered the Marco Polo to the Germany-based Transocean Tours.[3]
On 2008-06-27 it was reported that Star Cruises had sold the Orient Line brand to Origin Cruise Group, owned by Wayne Heller. The new owners are planning to restart operations with several second-hand ship with a capacity of 600 to 800 passengers.[4] On the same date Heller stated that the identiry of the first ship of the "new" Orient Lines would be revealed "in the coming weeks".[10]
Ships
References
External links
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