Introduction
It was announced on the 25th November 2005 that Brittany Ferries had
sold the
Val de Loire to DFDS Seaways, for an undisclosed
sum, to operate between Newcastle and Amsterdam. As part of the
sale, a medium term charter of the Duke of Scandinavia
was
arranged for operating between Plymouth and Roscoff. The two ships
were to be renamed King of Scandinavia and Pont L'Abbe
respectively for their new roles.
The Val de Loire undertook her final voyage under Brittany
Ferries on the 20th February 2006, departing Portsmouth at 0745, arriving
into Cherbourg at 1440. Upon arrival she was de-stored and handed
over to DFDS Seaways where refitting and repainting began apace. She was officially
re-named and registered in Kobenhaven on the 8th March
2006, and departed for Ijmuiden
on the 28th February, arriving the following day.
During her layover much work was carried out onboard in order to
bring her into line with the DFDS Seaways image. Externally the
Brittany Ferries logo and livery were painted out and DFDS Seaways own applied.
The blue window stripes were extended further forward, and her
forward superstructure on deck 10 was painted white.
Internally, the order of the day was cleaning, bringing the ship up
to her former glory following a number of years minimum investment
from Brittany Ferries. The two major areas to receive attention were
the aft end of decks 7 & 9. On deck 7 the former 'la Magdalena'
self-service restaurant was turned into the '7 Seas Buffet'
restaurant. Deck 9 saw the removal of 'le Kiosque', in its place a
giant slot machine area being installed, whilst the previous games
area was turned into a casino sporting card tables and blackjack
boards. The main bar 'le Rabelais' now becomes the 'Columbus Club',
and now sports a blue livery, and larger dance floor. Immediately
off the 'Columbus Club' is the brand new 'Sports bar', where
previously 2 reclining seat lounges were found. The meeting rooms
were converted into a computer games room.
The former Commodore Class section has remained, however under DFDS
it is now known as 'Commodore De-luxe'. Whilst the cabins
remain the same (minus their toilet doors and individual French
names) the Commodore De-luxe lounge has now come into its own. Now
you can find a plasma TV, free internet access, and a
complimentary selection of food and beverages.
The Festivities
The new giant of
the North Sea was christened in a formal ceremony in the Dutch port
of Amsterdam (IJmuiden) by its godmother Ragnhild Moberg, wife of
DFDS A/S Board Director Anders Moberg, on the 8th March.
She first arrived into Newcastle on the morning of the 12th March,
in preparation for her maiden voyage later that day. As part of the
festivities local radio station Century FM, using satellite
technology on a cruise ferry for the first time, broadcast their
morning show live from the King of Scandinavia on Monday and
Tuesday morning. Upon her return into Newcastle on Tuesday 14th
March further 'red carpet' festivities took place including a VIP
onboard lunch.
Down to Work
Following the festivities and fanfare of her arrival, the King of
Scandinavia settled into her night sailing schedule, departing
Newcastle at 17:30 and Amsterdam at 18:00 every other day.
During her first month in service the King of Scandinavia hit
the local headlines for rather different reasons. An emergency
medical evacuation took place on the 24th March, in storm weather
conditions off Flamborough after a passenger severed her finger
in a closing watertight door on deck 2. Later that same month
a number of small fires were started in
the early hours of 30th March whilst en-route to Newcastle.
Since her introduction the King of Scandinavia has been met
with positive comment and has seen a significant increase in
passenger numbers on the Newcastle to Ijmuiden line. Refurbishment
continues to take place onboard, and the ship is due to undergo a
dry dock period in early January between the 2nd and 17th.
Reunited
In a surprise
move, DFDS announced on the 6th September 2006 that they had
purchased Fjord Lines' flagship Fjord Norway and that they
would be taking over the company's route between Newcastle and
Bergen, which also calls at Stavanger and Haugesund. She was handed
over to DFDS Seaways on the 15th October in Hanstholm where she then
sailed to Frederikshaven to be refitted and have the DFDS livery
applied. She was renamed
Princess of Norway and
re-registered in Kobenhavn on the 16th October, sailing under the
Danish flag.
The Princess of Norway was originally constructed in 1986 as
the Peter Pan for TT-Line of Germany, operating between
Travemunde and Trelleborg. A year later a sister ship, the Nils
Holgersson was also introduced, which now sails as the King
of Scandinavia. In 1990 the Peter Pan was sold to
the Tasman Government, Australia, for introduction in 1993 as the Spirit of Tasmania
where she operated between Devonport and Melbourne. She
remained 'down under' until she was sold to Fjord Line at the end of
2002. She set sail for Frederikshaven as the Spir and entered
service with Fjord Line as the Fjord Norway following a refit
on the 8th April 2003.
As a consequence of the
acquisition of Fjord Line's route to England, DFDS Seaways’
Gothenburg/Kristiansand-Newcastle route closes on the 1st November
2006 and the Princess of Scandinavia was sold to Moby Lines for
operation as the Moby Otta in the Mediterranean, where her own
sister ship, the Moby Drea (ex Prince of Scandinavia)
also operates.
The Princess of Norway commences service with DFDS
Seaways on the 11th November.
Please keep coming back as we add more pages
to our King of Scandinavia feature over the coming weeks!
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