VERONICA Hotel Closes (Ex KUNGSHOLM, VICTORIA etc)
Hotel ship MS VERONICA, owned and operated by Daewoo Shipping and Marine Engineering Oman LLC, is reported to have ceased operations after 18 months as “The Duqm Floating Hotel, Veronica Duqm”. A notice was placed at the entrance of Oman Drydock announcing that the ‘floatel’ had ceased operations effective October 3, 2013.
This ship is familiar to MaritimeMatters readers as the former Swedish American Line’s 26,678 gt MV KUNGSHOLM, (the fourth SAL ship to bear the name) built at John Brown, Clydebank in 1966. Later, she became SEA PRINCESS for both P&O and Princess Cruises, then P&O’s VICTORIA before being sold to Greek interests who chartered to Holiday Kreuzfahrten as the MONA LISA. Later, she was chartered to Spanish-based Pullmantur Cruises, who operated the ship as OCEANIC II in the spring of 2007, then for a brief season as the floating university SCHOLARSHIP. German-based Lord Nelson Seereisen revived the ship for a charter as MONA LISA in the spring of 2008. In 2009, the MONA LISA returned to Lord Nelson and Peaceboat service, reverting to full-time cruise service for Lord Nelson until being retired in September of 2010, due to the implementation of new SOLAS regulations that prohibit any overnight passenger ship to operate with wood in its construction.
Arriving in Oman in late 2010, the ship was refitted as the VERONICA, a luxury floating hotel at Duqm, in the Sultanate of Oman as the only deluxe hotel housing tourists and business travelers. When the Crowne Plaza Duqm, a five-star property, opened its doors earlier this year, her role came to an end.
According to officials, VERONICA is expected to depart Duqm as soon as her next use is clarified.
Please see Peter Knego’s two part tour and history of this fascinating ship in her former life:
MV MONA LISA, Double Decked! Part One: KUNGSHOLM to SEA PRINCESS to VICTORIA
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Not good news at all. Her owners seem to have invested quite a lot in her new hotel interiors, somewhat surprising she only lasted three years in that use.
When Veronica first opened, Daewoo had stated that she was only going to be used as a stopgap until a new shoreside hotel could be completed. She was living on borrowed time ever since that new Crowne Plaza opened.
That said, they also talked about keeping her for future deployment in other cities where additional hotel rooms were needed. Whether they stay with that, or decide to flip her to a scrapyard for a quick buck, remains to be seen.
very sad to hear. went on her when i was 10.this ship will always hold a special place in my heart. hope someone sees her potential as a floating hotel
I SERVED ON THIS SHIP AS SEA PRINCES IN P& O LIVERY AND P&O PRINCESS LIVERY . AND I SAILED ALL OVER THE WORLD IN THIS SHIP, WONDERFUL MEMORIES
Too bad but maybe not a surprise. Positive note is that the current owners have invested a lot of money in her and she is a floating hotel “ready to go” almost anywhere in the world. And because of that i suppose that the owners would like to get more than just scrap money for her. Or at least that they will have som patience to wait for a buyer rather than sending her to Alang next week or so.
she is looking great and elegant. and now????????????? india ?????????
This is both sad and very worrying. We all know she’s been on the S&P market for a couple of years now, but with no bids to buy her.
As the penultimate liner produced by John Brown (three years before QE2)and as an icon of P&O and Princess (as well as Swedish America) then, hey Boris, if we can’t have QE2 at the Carlsberg Wharf opposite the O2 Arena, then this is as good an alternative.
And, hey Lars Hallgren, it’s not too late to bring her back home to Stockholm or Gothenburg.
But just do one thing please. Retro-fit the forward funnel to remove that shameful stub that was left over.
Unfortunately, I fear the worse. For whom the bell tolls. “K-alang”.
Looks like it might be the beginning of the end.
I was a purser on the then P & O Sea Princess – met my wife onboard whilst in dry dock in Malta in 1986 when she was converted to the Sea Witch funnel of Princess Cruises.
Stunning vessel and loved by crew and passengers alike.
I guess the scrapyard beckons.
Does this come as a surprise to anyone? Surely not.
This sort of refit which for hotel rooms as seen here seems to be rather substantial. Perhaps this investment and her condition will give he a better chance of survival in a world hell bent on eradicating the worlds oceans of fabulous ships like this. We know the usual scenario but we can always hope.
My beloved Sea Princess, my 1st ship as a Cabin Steward back in the late 80’s, have been following her with great interested, let’s HOPE she can be saved in any form, the pick’s above show her in fantastic condition…. fingers crossed (and everything else) she will be safe from a final trip to India or Turkey.
Southampton is so in need of a decent hotel and this wonderful ship would make the perfect luxury floating hotel. It would be amazing to see her berthed in the docks here again. She must not be allowed to disappear!
Hard to believe that stateroom pictured is aboard a ship! Beautiful.
In reply to all the above comment’s about this Beautiful Ship, maybe we should all forward these messages to Southampton City Council to take her as a Floating Hotel, as suggested by Steve Springford.. she MUST be saved.
A relic of a time when naval architects still took pains to design beautiful ships.
How much prettier she would be if she had her two funnels, the KUNGSHOLM funnels, the faux forward and the working aft, reinstated. Surely some metal shop could replicate them. That puny thing she sports in the photo as VERONICA was a concession made by P&O when they purchased the ship and tried to make her “modern” –
Aside from the vile funnel, she had numerous cramped cabins added and outdoor/pool area buffet added. To make more money, the coveted single seating dining became two seating, due to cabin additions. Much of her interior fittings were also removed, one in particular, and a major collection, the Royal Copenhagen plates that graced the main dining room, a collection worthy of a museum.
In addition to an accommodation vessel, there is also the potential, if her propulsion equipment is okay, for her to relocate during the UK summer to those parts where a major event is being staged and where hotel accommodation is hard to find i.e. in close proximity to where a coastal British Open is being staged, the Isle of Man TT, Wimbledon ( berthed at the proposed new cruise terminal at Greenwich ), Leith during the Edinbirgh Tattoo etc etc
Well said Terry good idea, we need to make sure these comments are read by the right people, come on Martin I’m sure you got friends in the right places 🙂
Using a cruise ship as an accommodation ship along side a venue that is in need of additional hotel rooms or convention space is nothing new, it is given, if allowed to happen more often. It is an idea I really would like to see happen everywhere.
What could be a real given is a company or corporation that specializes in the use of chartering or leasing out of these ships for the express purpose of needed rooms in the hospitality and restaurant business, for which my husband and I were involved in for a spell.
Not all of the ships are old relics, look at what was in use during several of the past Olympics.
Imagine leasing one of the mega ships, sure to draw a crowd, even the older smaller ships would be booked up.
All it takes is the right connections to form such an adventurous and expensive set up fee, and the proper port and the proper “green” connections for sewage, electricity, water, sanitary mandates, union demands, local bylaws, on board and on land security, medical care, insurance for all concerned, meeting local and national laws, not to mention the impact on the local infrastructure. – this is a no end list –
Great ideas cease when money talks. Still, it is a wonderful idea, accommodation ships.
Is there any mews on this beautiful old girls yet ????
Such a pity, her refitting gave a genuine feeling that she, our first and therefore favourite vessel, would be around for a while to come yet.
Hopefully having invested so heavily will encourage the owners to seek another destination for her, other than the scrap yards.
Fingers crossed for the beautiful and elegant lady.
Alan,
what is the asking price for her ?
what is her salvage value ?
Alan > Brian
Further to conversations last week:-
– Veronica now sold to unknown buyers for in excess US$ 16 million.
– Saga Ruby near completion of sale to Chinese for fuerther cruising.
Hi Alan,
I am glad to see that the Veronica was sold to someone other than a scrapper. Also, I am glad to see that the Saga Ruby is being given a new lease on life. It’s too bad that the Chinese didn’t consider buying the Saga Rose and the SS Oceanic for further cruising.
Dan: Unlike the excellent MidShipCentury photographic archives, we have no photographic evidence that Oceanic was broken up at Hangyong Zhoushan. She could still be alive and kicking, for all we know.
Hi Allan,
If the SS Oceanic is still in one piece, then I am quite happy about that as they have been far too many post WWII ships that have gone to the scrapyard over the past decade. The breakup of the MS Augustus and the SS Maxim Gorkiy really put a damper on my enthusiasm of seeing some of these ships to become hotel vessels. I hope for the best for the last remaining Italian ocean liner(SS Oceanic)as well as for the MS Veronica and Saga Rose!!!
Is there any real reason why Oceanic, having been sold to ship breakers, should still be intact? Certainly none that I can think of, she was bought because of her scrap metal value. Likewise Saga Rose, I did hear a while back that there are some photos of Saga Rose being broken up somewhere out there on the Internet. I did not follow up the lead as I don’t like to see images of ships being dismantled. But we have to accept the fact that those two beauties are now only memories.
does anyone know who the Veronica duqm was sold to?
I have seen Google Earth pictures of a partially scrapped ship with the hull shape of the OCEANIC being moved around at Zhoushan. Dream on, that ship is a goner.
Any news regarding The Old Ladys new owners identity and future plans?
I did many contracts on this ship (as part of P&O’s Stadium Theatre Company, when she was called ‘Victoria’) including the Union Castle charter around Africa, followed by a world cruise in 2000. A beautiful ship, like a yacht, it was always able to get alongside in small ports. I was even on the final P&O contract when we left her in Civitivechhia. So many happy memories.
Oh yes I remember her well as Sea Princess & Victoria & I have her final cruise director Christine Noble sitting beside me as I write this
she was the first ship that I worked on as a ships historian & lecturer & she will always be among my favorites, so elegant, beautiful & a real ship
I hope she goes to someplace that will honor her for the lady that she is
Ken Vard
Looks like there MAY have been a sale to an operator who would bring her to Gothenberg, Sweden to operate again as hotel.
Article (in Swedish)
http://www.gp.se/nyheter/goteborg/1.2685851-tidtabellen-haller-for-kungsholm
Unfortunately the article was written before the sale was supposed to close on April 24, 2015 and I can find no indication of whether or not it actually went through. So as of now, the ship’s future remains unclear.
Veronica (ex Kungsholm) sold for scrap!
http://www.gp.se/nyheter/goteborg/1.2726390-m-s-kungsholm-kommer-att-huggas-upp
Surprise! As if anyone thought this would be a go-go.
Glad for page translation
No, I don’t suppose that we did. As it was she’d been butchered in order to fulfil her role as an hotel ship so it would have been a major undertaking to restore her to anything like her appearance as Kungsholm. I’m sure that it just would not have been an economic project. Plus the fact that neither Gothenburg nor Stockholm ever seemed enthusiastic about having either the former Gripsholm or Kungsholm returned ‘home’. We have to just be thankful that we can remember those lovely ships, that we saw them and perhaps even sailed on them.
Query for Peter Knego, if he reads this…
Peter – are you likely to be retrieving any artefacts from the former Kungsholm if she is, indeed, broken up? Reason I’m interested, is that I served in her when sailing as Sea Princess from 1982-84 and then again as Victoria, 1996-2001, so would be interested in acquiring some memento or other.
Thanks, Alan
Hello, I was a deck cadet on her in 2000 as the MV Victoria….does anyone know if she has been scrapped yet, any sad photos going around??
Thank you.
Fernleys are reporting the sale of VERONICA to unspecified breakers at USD 238/LDT
Rgds, Simon
Our beautiful Kungsholm is gone.We tried to save her by converting her to a centre for the University of Gothenburg and Chalmers because there is an enormous need for student rooms ,In addition there would be libraries and rooms for scientific projects.
All the students wanted to live on Kungsholm.But the city council of Gothenburg said no.They had already sold out all the space to real estate investors .We called for help from the Swedish Government,The Royal Family,Private Bankers,Investors.Nobody.We loved that vessel.Thousands of people wanted her to be back in Sweden again.Government and Investors said NO.She was loved like no ship has yet been loved.An icon for beauty and elegance.A reminder of times gone by.Farewell lovely Kungsholm.
I was there when she was launched in April 1965 and worked on her at John Brown’s during the summer of ’65. She was a beautiful ship – a real classic!!!
1993 My first ship!! as the Sea Princess (P&O). I have a very soft spot in my heart for the CP, after 22 years with P&O she is still the most elegant ship I ever had the joy of working on.
Sadly she now rests on a sand bank waiting to be broken up, not sure where.
What a waste of a beautiful conversion into a floating hotel.
Hi Mark,
I’m so glad to hear of your connection to the Sea Princess. I sadly never got the chance to see her in person as she is one of my favorite liners. The sandbank she is resting on is near the ship breaking yards of Alang, India and the photos of her are heartbreaking.
Hi Mark,
The MS Kungsholm could have avoided the scrapyard if she was brought to Belfast, Northern Ireland near the Titanic Quarter(where the RMS Titanic was built). But the guy who wanted to save her only focused on Sweden who said NO to the idea of providing a berth for the vessel. Ever since 2013, there was plenty of time to focus on other place that might have welcomed the ship as a floating hotel like the SS Rotterdam. Give that the ship was built in the UK, there were suitable berths that could have welcomed the MS Kungsholm. It goes to show that the backup plan must come first in case the first choice is not available.