MV Oriana

MV Oriana, a cruise ship and ocean liner of the P&O Cruises fleet, was built in Papenburg,Germany. It is the smallest of seven ships currently in service with P&O Cruises. It officially entered service with the company in 1995 and though it is the oldest, and longest-serving ship in the fleet, it holds the Golden Cockerel as the fastest one. Oriana’s scheduled appearances in Madeira for 2019 include:

Funchal (Madeira)   7 June 2019     08:00-17:00

Funchal (Madeira)   2 Sept 2019     09:00-15:00

Funchal (Madeira)   13 Oct 2019     08:00-17:00

Funchal (Madeira)   13 Dec 2019           N/A

Aim... Oriana was the first ship to be designed specifically for the British cruise market. It was also designed in the style of an ocean liner to facilitate long distance voyages and world cruises. Despite numerous changes of ownership, Oriana has been operated by P&O Cruises throughout and it is an adult-only ship.

Characteristics...

Oriana is 260 metres (853 ft) long, with a beam of just over 32 metres (105 ft), and a draught of 7.9 metres (26 ft), which varies up to 8.2 m depending on load. There is a 69,153 GT and a maximum passenger capacity of 1,928. Outside passenger deck space is 105,000 square feet (9,800 m²). Power is provided by four MAN B&W Diesels generating a total of 47,750 kW giving the ship a service speed of 24 knots (44 km/h).

Design...

Oriana has a single deck of balconies reserved for suites, mini suites and staterooms to cater for the growing desire for balconies on board.

Oriana’s team of designers were engaged by P&O to bring the British look to the high-revenue generating interiors of the ship, such as Anderson's, Lord's Tavern, the Knightsbridge Shops, the Emporium, Harlequins, the Casino, the Photo Gallery, the Pacific Lounge, and related public spaces, as well as on-board information graphics.

Service...

When Oriana entered service it was one of the largest cruise ships in the world, and the largest ship built in Germany since 1914. Since then tonnages have increased as economies of scale make larger ships more profitable to operate. Oriana normally operates cruises within the Mediterranean, the Canaries, Madeira and the Baltic seas.

Refitting...

In 2006 the Oriana underwent a £12 million refit in  Germany. Due to the success of the 'Arcadian Rhodes' restaurant on board the Arcadia, a new Oriana Rhodes restaurant was introduced, replacing The Curzon Room. Oriana Rhodes was designed by chef Gary Rhodes, and can accommodate 96 passengers. Other modifications included the extension of the popular Lord's Tavern bar, festooned with cricket memorabilia, and refurbishment of the children's play areas, which were converted to cabins.

Race for Water

After beginning its five-year Odyssey with the mission to promote solutions to preserve the ocean, the vessel, Race for Water, arrived in Madeira on Thursday, April 20 for a short three-day stopover before heading to Bermuda.

Race for Water is a state-of-the-art vessel powered by a mixture of renewable energy sources : solar, hydrogen and a traction kite.

Departing on a five-year expedition around the world, the Foundation aims to propose solutions for the conservation of the oceans. “With this Odyssey 2017-2021, we want to demonstrate that sustainable solutions for conserving the oceans from pollution exist thanks to innovative technologies,” says Marco Simeoni, President of the Foundation.

At the heart of this major project are four main objectives :

1-Promoting innovative solutions capable of transforming plastic waste into energy resources (with a machine developed with our partner, ETIA, whose pilot project will be carried out in autumn 2017).

2-Advancing energy transition by showcasing the mixed solar-hydrogen-kite-powered ambassador vessel.

3-Contributing to science 
by hosting international teams of researchers and educational science projects on board.

4-Raising awareness 
among decision-makers, the general public and younger generations.

NRP Sagres - The Portuguese Naval School Ship

The NRP Sagres is a lengthy school ship that has been serving the Portuguese Navy since 1961. As the third ship with this name in the Portuguese Navy, it is sometimes referred to as Sagres III.

The ship is a steel-built three masted barque, with square sails on the fore and main masts and gaff rigging on the mizzen mast. Its main mast rises 42 m above the deck. It carries 22 sails totaling about 2,000 m² (21,000 ft²) and can reach a top speed of 17 knots (31 km/h) under sail. It has a sparred length of 89 m (295 ft), a width of 12 m (40 ft), a draught of 5.2 m (17 ft), and a displacement at full load of 1,755 tons.

The three-masted ship was launched under the name Albert Leo Schlageter on 30 October 1937 at Blohm & Voss in Hamburg for Nazi Germany's Kriegsmarine.

On 14 November 1944 this vessel hit a Soviet mine off Sassnitz and had to be towed to port in Swinemünde. Eventually, it was transferred to Flensburg where it was taken over by the Allies. By the end of the war it had finally been confiscated by the United States.

In 1948, the U.S. sold her to Brazil for a symbolic price of $5,000 USD. It was towed to Rio de Janeiro where it sailed as a school ship for the Brazilian Navy under the name Guanabara. In 1961, the Portuguese Navy bought the three-masted ship to replace the previous school ship Sagres (which was transferred to Hamburg, where it is a museum ship under its original name Rickmer Rickmers). The Portuguese navy renamed it Sagres (the third ship of the same name), and it continues to serve the Portuguese Navy till this day.

The ship has sailed under the Portuguese flag since 1962. In 2012 the ship celebrated its 75th anniversary and 50 years in the service of the Portuguese navy.

MV Funchal

MV Funchal is a Portuguese passenger and cruise liner. It is the last remaining ship and symbol of the once large fleet of Portuguese liners. Since the beginning of 2013, Funchal has been owned and operated by the Portuguese cruise company Portuscale Cruises.

Construction...

The ship was built in 1961, under the guidance of the Portuguese naval engineer Rogério d'Oliveira. Funchal is an ocean liner with a classic profile and interiors.

The ship's features include stabilisation, air-conditioning, three lifts, a main show lounge (Ilha Verde), piano bar (Porto Bar), club room, library, card room, lido bar, shop, photo shop, medical centre, excursion office, and reception with exchange facilities.

Service...

Funchal served as a Portuguese presidential yacht. The ship was once owned by one of the wealthiest families in the Azores.

International Cruises...

Funchal was the first vessel to join the Classic International Cruises fleet in 1984, and under that flag successfully served the British cruise market for over 20 years, carrying thousands of passengers.

Having undergone extensive work in 2010, to comply with SOLAS 2010, Funchal went back to a Lisbon Shipyard in February 2011 for a lengthy refit, which would include changes to its power plant as well as passenger and crew cabins and public lounges. The idea was to make the ship fit for service for at least another ten years. In November 2011, she completed 50 years of service, always under the same name. However, in 2012, work stopped towards April with only 20% of the required work completed. Following Classic International Cruises' liquidation, in December 2012, the ship faced the threat of being sold for scrap.

Portuscale Cruises...

In early 2013 a Portuguese entrepreneur Rui Alegre purchased Funchal - as well as Princess Danae, Arion and Athena—to serve the newly-formed Portuscale Cruises. During 2013, Funchal was extensively refurbished in Lisbon's Naval Rocha shipyards, being upgraded to a 4-star vessel, at a cost of about 10 million Euros. In the refurbishment, the ship's hull was re-painted black, its original colour.

On 1 August 2013, the refurbished Funchal was re-instated, in the presence of prime-minister Passos Coelho. In late August 2013, the ship left dry dock in Lisbon, Portugal and, on 27 August 2013, arrived in Gothenburg, Sweden, to restart its cruising career.

On 28 August 2013, the refurbished Funchal was not released from the harbour in Gothenburg. The cruiseship was fully loaded with passengers but was not allowed to leave. According to some Swedish press accounts, many security issues were found. In a press release, the Portuscale Cruise CEO denied the existence of security issues, saying that the issues were related to the malfunctioning of two watertight doors and one sprinkler station, issues that had already been detected by the crew, who had informed the Swedish Port State Control authorities.

On 2 September 2013, with the issues resolved, and all inspections made and certifications granted, Funchal left Gothenburg harbour and restarted its cruise, heading to Scotland.

Signature Living...
On 5 December 2018, after a period of being laid up in Lisbon, Funchal was sold at auction in Lisbon for €3.1 million. The buyers, Signature Living, is a UK-based hotel group who converted the ship to a party hotel to travel from Liverpool to the Mediterranean.

Pacific Princess ... The Love Boat!

Pacific Princess, of Princess Cruises, was built in 1971 in West Germany. It operated cruises between the United States and Bermuda and was famous for appearing in the romantic sitcom The Love Boat. It visited Madeira for the first time on May 4 1985 while on route from San Juan of Porto Rico to Lisbon. Funchal was the first European port which Princess had anchored in.
Pacific was retired from service when renovation work proved more expensive than had been anticipated and was sold to a company specializing in ship breaking in 2012. After the sale fell through, it remained laid up in Genoa for an extended period before being towed to Aliaga where it arrived in August 2013 for dismantlement.

The Vagrant ... Ex-Beatles’ Yacht

The Vagrant was constructed in the Bath Iron Works shipyard in Maine - USA in 1941 for North American multimillionaire Horace P. Vanderbilt and was bought by Fab Four in 1966. At the time, the Vagrant was considered one of the ten most luxurious yachts in the world. A symbol of such class lies within the gold covered crest which is located on the bow of the vessel. Besides The Beatles there were yet other famous owners such as the North American singer Donovan and the Greek tycoon Goulandris.

By the end of 1977 it suffered an accident in Grand Canary, having washed up on the shores of “Las Alcaravaneras”, where it stayed there for quite some time. It was then purchased by Madeiran-born João Bartolomeu de Faria who patched it up and had it sent to Madeira where it finally arrived here in October 1979. After many years of reparation it was finally inaugurated by the regional president Alberto João Cardoso Gonçalves Jardim on October 10th 1984. On December 22^nd 1988 João Bartolomeu received the prestigious “Estrelicía Dourada” (Bird of Paradise) Award in recognition for his contribution to tourist development on Madeira.

Due to the work being done in the coastal zone of Funchal, the yacht was most recently removed from the site where it had been operating as a bar and restaurant for the past 30 years and temporarily sent to a dry dock in Caniçal. The regional government has plans to turn the vessel into an artificial reef, but before being taken to the ocean to be sunk the exact location is yet to be confirmed.