MS ''Crown Seaways'' is a cruiseferry operated by DFDS Seaways on a route connecting

Copenhagen Copenhagen ( or .; da, København ) is the capital and most populous city of Denmark, with a proper population of around 815.000 in the last quarter of 2022; and some 1.370,000 in the urban area; and the wider Copenhagen metropolitan ar ...

Frederikshavn Frederikshavn () is a Danish town in Frederikshavn municipality, Region Nordjylland, on the northeast coast of the Jutland peninsula in northern Denmark. Its name translates to "Frederik's harbor". It was originally named Fladstrand. The town h ...

Denmark ) , song = ( en, "King Christian stood by the lofty mast") , song_type = National and royal anthem , image_map = EU-Denmark.svg , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Danish Realm, Kingdom of Denmark ...

Oslo Oslo ( , , or ; sma, Oslove) is the capital and most populous city of Norway. It constitutes both a county and a municipality. The municipality of Oslo had a population of in 2022, while the city's greater urban area had a population of ...

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe, the mainland territory of which comprises the western and northernmost portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and t ...

. The ship was built in 1994 by Brodosplit in Split,

Croatia , image_flag = Flag of Croatia.svg , image_coat = Coat of arms of Croatia.svg , anthem = "Lijepa naša domovino"("Our Beautiful Homeland") , image_map = , map_caption = , capit ...

. She was originally ordered by

Euroway Euroway was a Swedish ferry company that operated cruise ferries between Sweden and Germany from 1992 till 1994. History Founded by the Norwegian businessman, Elling Ellingsen, owner of Sea-Link Shipping AB, with the objective to set up cru ...

and was to be called ''Frans Kockum'' but never sailed under that name. The ship was also temporarily renamed ''Thomas Mann'' during construction. She first sailed under the name ''Crown of Scandinavia''. ''Crown Seaways'' has three sister ships: ''Amorella'' and ''Gabriella'' in the Viking Line fleet and ''Isabelle'' in the

Tallink Tallink () is an Estonian shipping company operating Baltic Sea cruiseferries and ropax ships from Estonia to Finland, Estonia to Sweden to Sweden and Finland to Sweden. It is the largest passenger and cargo shipping company in the Baltic Sea r ...

fleet.

History

Euroway originally planned to operate two cruiseferries on a route connecting

Malmö Malmö (, ; da, Malmø ) is the largest city in the Swedish county (län) of Scania (Skåne). It is the third-largest city in Sweden, after Stockholm and Gothenburg, and the sixth-largest city in the Nordic region, with a municipal populat ...

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden,The United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names states that the country's formal name is the Kingdom of SwedenUNGEGN World Geographical Names, Sweden./ref> is a Nordic country located on ...

Travemünde Travemünde () is a borough of Lübeck, Germany, located at the mouth of the river Trave in Bay of Lübeck, Lübeck Bay. It began life as a fortress built by Henry the Lion, Duke of Saxony, in the 12th century to guard the mouth of the Trave, an ...

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

. To achieve that two identical cruiseferries were ordered from Brodosplit, Croatia, to be called ''Frans Suell'' and ''Frans Kockum''. The ships were a somewhat enlarged version of ''Amorella'' and ''Isabella'' that the shipyard had built for

SF Line SF may refer to: Locations * San Francisco, California, United States * Sidi Fredj, Algeria * South Florida, an urban region in the United States * Suomi Finland, former vehicular country code for Finland In arts and entertainment Genres ...

in 1988 and 1989, respectively. Due to the

Croatian War of Independence The Croatian War of Independence was fought from 1991 to 1995 between Croat forces loyal to the Government of Croatia—which had declared independence from the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (SFRY)—and the Serb-controlled Yugosl ...

the delivery of ''Frans Suell'' was delayed by nearly a year, from 1991 to 1992. Poor profitability of the route, further delays in construction of the second ship and a joint operations agreement with

Silja Line Silja Line is a Swedish-Finnish cruiseferry brand operated by the Estonian ferry company AS Tallink Grupp, for car, cargo and passenger traffic between Finland and Sweden. The former company Silja Oy—today Tallink Silja Oy—is a subsidiary ...

made Euroway decide to cancel the order for ''Frans Kockum''. MS Crown of Scandinavia Oslo

After the order was cancelled, the ship was renamed ''Thomas Mann'' and work on her was continued, but at a more leisurely pace. In March 1994 the Thomas Mann sailed from the shipyard in Split to the Fincantieri shipyard at

Trieste Trieste ( , ; sl, Trst ; german: Triest ) is a city and seaport in northeastern Italy. It is the capital city, and largest city, of the autonomous region of Friuli Venezia Giulia, one of two autonomous regions which are not subdivided into provi ...

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical re ...

for minor modifications. On 2 May 1994 DFDS made a tentative agreement to purchase the ship, and bought her ten days later. The ship was finally delivered on 11 June 1994. From Trieste she sailed to

Lloyd Werft Lloyd Werft Bremerhaven GmbH is a dockyard in Bremerhaven. It was founded in 1863 by the shipping company Norddeutscher Lloyd, first mainly used as a repair workshop for the company’s own merchant fleet. This new yard was established in ...

, Bremerhaven, Germany, where stern

sponsons Sponsons are projections extending from the sides of land vehicles, aircraft or watercraft to provide protection, stability, storage locations, mounting points for weapons or other devices, or equipment housing. Watercraft On watercraft, a spon ...

were added to the ship for increased stability. On 26 July the ship was renamed ''Crown of Scandinavia'' and began sailing on Scandinavian Seaways (a marketing name for DFDS passenger operations) Copenhagen — Helsingborg — Oslo -service. In 1999 the company name reverted to DFDS Seaways. In January 2005 the ship was rebuilt at Öresundsvarvet,

Landskrona Landskrona (old da, Landskrone) is a town in Scania, Sweden. Located on the shores of the Öresund, it occupies a natural port, which has lent the town at first military and subsequent commercial significance. Ferries operate from Landskrona t ...

, Sweden. On 15 October 2006 the call at Helsingborg was dropped from the route in order to cut down fuel and pilot expenses. In July 2020 and after a break of 46 years, Frederikshavn was introduced as a port of call in both directions.

2014 engine incident

On 27 April 2014, the vessel experienced engine problems near the Danish island of Anholt, whilst travelling from

towards

. It is reported that passengers heard a loud bang, a shudder and smoke at about 21:30, when the vessel suffered an engine failure and crank explosion. The ship soon continued on its way towards Oslo. The cause of the incident is unknown.

References

External links

*
Company Website for Crown of Scandinavia
(in Danish) {{DEFAULTSORT:Crown Seaways Cruiseferries Ferries of Norway Ships built in Croatia 1992 ships Merchant ships of Norway