Black Prince

Black Prince was built at the Flender Werke in Lubeck, Western Germany and the ship was launched at the 14th of may 1966. Het yardnumber had been 561 and she was built as an overnight ferry for Frederik Olsen & Co.. The ship had accomodations for 693 passengers and 200 cars on her ferryservices, but on cruiseservice she was sailing with 330 passengers. Her lenght was 141,64 meters, width 20,02 meters and her draft was 6,10 meters. She was measured at 9499 tons and her normal speed was 22,5 knots. She was the second ship of a pair of sisters, her older sister Black Watch was launched a few months before her, at the 5th of march of the same year. For both ships it was the second time the names were used within the history of the company.

As you might not know, Fred Olsen Lines is one of the oldest shipping companies in the world. The company was formed by the Norwegian shipowner Frederik Christian Olsen in 1848, so its history spans a time of more than 150 years. The first ships of the company were wooden schooners of no more than 50 tons, and a lot of accidents occured within the early years of the operations. Frederik had owned 22 ships in his life before he died in 1875, of whom 10 were lost. Frederiks brother Petter joined the company in 1852 and a thirth brother, Andreas, joined in 1860. These two brothers brought in several sailingvessels. But it was Thomas Frederik Olsen, the son of Petter, who really establised the company in Norway. His father gave him the management of two of his ships and slowly more ships were added to the fleet of this second Fred. Olsen in the years that followed. It was also this Fred. who ordered the first steamship Bayard for the company. After this ship, almost every newbuild had its name beginning with the letter B and the theme of the naming was Scandinavian heritage. They were a little late by starting with steam, the year was 1896. Just after this move, the companies headoffices were moved from the town of Hvisten to Christianna in 1899. Christianna is now of course known as Oslo, the Norwegian capital. Here, Fred. really established himself as a shipowner, where even a street was named after him and still is, Fred. Olsens Gate.

The involvement in passenger shipping started in 1901 when the Faerder Steamship Company was taken over. The ships of this company carried some 100 passengers each. But these ships still were small and the first bigger passengership was added to the fleet in 1926 and this ship was named Brabant.  Her tonnage was 2335 and she could carry a considerable amount of cargo besides 100 passengers. The slum of the 1930's hit hard on the company and also Fred. died in 1933. But the company survived and in 1951 started sailing the ferryservice between Oslo and Newcastle with a ship named Blenheim. The second ferry for this route folowed two years later and was named Braemar.

The Black Prince and Black Watch of 1966 were the next generation of passengerships for the company and started sailing a service between London and the Canary Islands. It was a weekly service, so a true ferryroute, but it was mostly advertized as a cruise too. They were not the first ships Fred. Olsen operated on this route, but they were intended to attract a new kind of passenger and they were also the biggest ships in the fleet. These sailings would only be sold during the winter months, during summer the ships were used by Det Bergenske Dampskibs Sellskap and for them Black Prince was named Venus and was sailing the service between Kristiansand, Amsterdam and Harwich. Black Watch as named Jupiter for Det Bergenske and sailed the service between Bergen and Newcastle.  With these ships, Fred. Olsen established a very friendly and relaxed cruiseproduct that really became the cornerstone for the company. Since these ships, the company has a lot of repeat passengers, mostly slightly older in age, but who appreciate the social atmosphere found on these small cruisevessels. Not many problems were to be overcome in the early years, with the exception of a total engine failure in may 1973, after one of the ships propellers had hit the seabed.

In 1987, Fed. Olsen changed directions by selling Black Watch to Norway Line for further ferry services at the North Sea, not really renamed as Jupiter now all year round. Black Prince was not sold, although the ship was rebuilt as a full-time cruiseship at the Wärtsilä yards in Turku, Finland. Her new tonnage measure was 11.209 and she could now sail with 527 cruisepassengers served by 145 crew. Her new homeport became Manila and she started cruising from Southampton to the Mediterrannean and northern Africa. Her first cruise started at the 28th of february that year. She became a very popular and well-known cruiseship and in fact she now was the only cruiseship operated by Fred. Olsen. Next to this ship, the company still sailed a ferryservice with two ships, but this was discontinued and the ships sold in 1991. From this year on, Fred. Olsen is only a cruisecompany and Black Prince their only ship untill  1996, when the former Royal Viking Star was bought and renamed Black Watch. In 1990, a problem arose with the Swedish and Danish seafarers unions while the ship sailed some services between Copenhagen and Stockholm, because the company was using underpaid Filipino crewmembers on the route.

The company grew steadily over the years that came, adding new ships to the fleet every couple of years. The ships that were added to the fleet were older vessels, but they were rebuilt extensively before entering Fred. Olsen service. Black Prince became the oldest member of the fleet in every kind of way, although she still was very popular by her regular passengers. But in may 2009, just before the new SOLAS (Safety Of Lifes At Sea) regulations were put into action, the ship was sold to the SAVECA company of Venezuela. This because the ship would not be able to sail international waters under the new regulations after 2010. For SAVECA, she would only sail coastal services so for this she would not need a costly rebuilding. On the 9th of september 2009, the ship sailed on her last Fred. Olsen cruise and arrived back on the 11th of october. She was renamed Prins in november of that year and left for Venezuela. One month later, she was renamed Ola Smeralda but she had to be laid up because the was not granted a permit to sail. In january 2010, a new role was given to her as a accomodationsship for workers of a Mexican oilcompany. From april 2010 onwards,the ship was chartered by the United Nations for service as a housing ship for aid workers at Haiti after the devestating earthquake. This charter caused a stirr in bad publicity, because the ship had now ties with the not very popular Venezuelan president Hugo Chavez.