MS ''Svea Corona'' was a car-passenger
ferry
A ferry is a ship, watercraft or amphibious vehicle used to carry passengers, and sometimes vehicles and cargo, across a body of water. A passenger ferry with many stops, such as in Venice, Italy, is sometimes called a water bus or water taxi ...
built in 1975 by
Dubegion-Normandie S.A.,
Nantes
Nantes (, , ; Gallo: or ; ) is a city in Loire-Atlantique on the Loire, from the Atlantic coast. The city is the sixth largest in France, with a population of 314,138 in Nantes proper and a metropolitan area of nearly 1 million inhabita ...
, France for
Rederi AB Svea
Stockholms Rederi AB Svea (originally Sveabolaget, later often referred to as Rederi AB Svea or simply Svea) was a Swedish shipping company founded in the 1870s. It operated a wide variety of ships carrying freight and passengers around the world ...
, Sweden for
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 ...
traffic. She was later rebuilt as a cruiseship and known under names MS ''Sundancer'' and MS ''Pegasus''. She was scrapped in 1995 in
Aliağa
Aliağa is a town and a district of Izmir Province in the Aegean Region of Turkey. The town is situated at about north of Izmir. Aliağa has a large port, mainly for oil and bulk cargo. Its economic activity is based on tourism, shipbreaking, ...
, Turkey.
History
1975–1984
MS ''Svea Corona'' was the first of the so-called "second generation French sisters" to be built for Silja Line traffic. The first generation French sisters,
MS ''Aallotar'' and
MS ''Svea Regina'' were delivered in 1972 and started year-round ferry traffic between
Helsinki
Helsinki ( or ; ; sv, Helsingfors, ) is the Capital city, capital, primate city, primate, and List of cities and towns in Finland, most populous city of Finland. Located on the shore of the Gulf of Finland, it is the seat of the region of U ...
, the capital of Finland and
Stockholm
Stockholm () is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in Sweden by population, largest city of Sweden as well as the List of urban areas in the Nordic countries, largest urban area in Scandinavia. Approximately 980,000 people liv ...
, the capital of Sweden. After just three years, three new ships of similar but larger construction replaced the first generation ships. The new ships were the ''Svea Corona'' and her sisters
MS ''Wellamo'' and
MS ''Bore Star''.
[Malmberg & Stampehl (2007). pp. 129–131] These ships started a new era in
Baltic Sea
The Baltic Sea is an arm of the Atlantic Ocean that is enclosed by Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Russia, Sweden and the North and Central European Plain.
The sea stretches from 53°N to 66°N latitude and from ...
ferry traffic, being larger than any previous ferries to have sailed in those waters.
On 24 May 1975, the ''Svea Corona'' started service for the Silja Line. She damaged her bow thruster during the maiden voyage, and it was not repaired until 10 June of the same year during an extra docking at
Vuosaaren telakka, Helsinki.
With all three ships in operation, there wasn't enough passenger traffic on the route to support three ships through the entire year. As an initial solution, the ''Bore Star'' was chartered to
Finnlines
Finnlines Plc ( fi, Finnlines Oyj, sv, Finnlines Abp) is a shipping operator of ro-ro and passenger services in the Baltic Sea and the North Sea. It is a subsidiary of the Grimaldi Group. Finnlines’ sea transports are concentrated in the Bal ...
for winter seasons 1975-76 and 1976-77 while ''Svea Corona'' and ''Wellamo'' served the route as a two-ship operation. During the summer seasons, an unusual schedule allowing two daily departures from each port with three ships was adopted instead of the route's normal one daily departure per port arrangement.
On 14 April 1977 there was a bomb threat on board the ''Svea Corona'', but it turned out to be false.
After September 1977, the ''Svea Corona'' served on the
Turku
Turku ( ; ; sv, Åbo, ) is a city and former capital on the southwest coast of Finland at the mouth of the Aura River, in the region of Finland Proper (''Varsinais-Suomi'') and the former Turku and Pori Province (''Turun ja Porin lääni''; ...
–
Mariehamn
Mariehamn ( , ; fi, Maarianhamina ; la, Portus Mariae) is the capital city, capital of Åland, an autonomous territory under Finland, Finnish sovereignty. Mariehamn is the seat of the Government of Åland, Government and Parliament of Åland, ...
–Stockholm route during the winter season (between September and May) and spent the summer months as a third ship on the Helsinki–Stockholm service. The arrangement lasted until 1981 when larger tonnage was delivered to the Helsinki–Stockholm route, and ''Svea Corona'' alongside her sister ''Bore Star'' (which had been renamed ''Silja Star'' the previous year after a change of ownership) transferred permanently to the Turku–Stockholm service. In 1978, Rederi AB Svea signed a
memorandum of agreement to sell ''Svea Corona'' to
DFDS
DFDS is a Danish international shipping and logistics company. It is the busiest shipping company of its kind in Northern Europe and one of the busiest in Europe. The company's name is an abbreviation of Det Forenede Dampskibs-Selskab (literally ...
on delivery of the new Helsinki–Stockholm ship, but this agreement was not exercised and DFDS acquired Effoa's ''Wellamo'' instead. On 24 November 1981,
Johnson Line purchased Rederi AB Svea, owner of ''Svea Corona''. As a result, the ship lost her original white/black funnel colours and gained Johnson Line's blue/yellow colours.
1984–1995
In February 1984 ''Svea Corona'' ceased service with Silja Line, and was sold to
Sundance Cruises,
a company owned by
Effoa, Johnson Line and
McDonald Enterprises.
She was rebuilt at
Oskarshamns Varv, Sweden as MS ''Sundancer'' for cruising on the west coast of North America. However, on what was just her third cruise as the ''Sundancer'', The ship hit a rock on her starboard side on Maud island while trying to turn to starboard to enter Seymour Narrows. She entered Menzies Bay to try to run aground but decided to try to run south in Discovery passage to the Elk Falls Mill to try and come alongside the paper dock. The M/V ''Seymour Crown'', a Tug based at the mill was called out and managed to reverse the starboard list to a port list against the dock and mill employees managed to remove all on board with no loss of life.
In August 1984 the ''Sundancer'' was refloated and towed into
Burrard Shipyard, Vancouver, where she was examined and declared a
constructive total loss
Marine insurance covers the physical loss or damage of ships, cargo, terminals, and any transport by which the property is transferred, acquired, or held between the points of origin and the final destination. Cargo insurance is the sub-branch o ...
. The ship was left laid up at the shipyard, awaiting potential buyers.
In November 1984 she was sold to the Greece-based
Epirotiki Line
Epirotiki was a shipping company that began in 1850. Epirotiki Line operated cruise vessels, cargo and tanker vessels.
Foundation
Anastassios Potamianos began his first shipping venture in 1850 transporting cargo and passengers along the Danu ...
, and during December 1984 the ship was towed to
Piraeus
Piraeus ( ; el, Πειραιάς ; grc, Πειραιεύς ) is a port city within the Athens urban area ("Greater Athens"), in the Attica region of Greece. It is located southwest of Athens' city centre, along the east coast of the Saronic ...
, Greece, where she was restored during the year 1985 as the cruise ship MS ''Pegasus''.
During early 1986 she was chartered to
V.T.C. for cruising on the east coast of
South America
South America is a continent entirely in the Western Hemisphere and mostly in the Southern Hemisphere, with a relatively small portion in the Northern Hemisphere at the northern tip of the continent. It can also be described as the southe ...
. Between May and September of the same year she returned to Vancouver, where she was laid up as a hotel ship. After the charter she was used by Epirotiki Lines on cruises on the
Mediterranean
The Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean Basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Western and Southern Europe and Anatolia, on the south by North Africa, and on the e ...
and between 1989 and 1990 also on the
Caribbean
The Caribbean (, ) ( es, El Caribe; french: la Caraïbe; ht, Karayib; nl, De Caraïben) is a region of the Americas that consists of the Caribbean Sea, its islands (some surrounded by the Caribbean Sea and some bordering both the Caribbean Se ...
.
On June 2, 1991, a fire broke out onboard while the ship was in
Venice
Venice ( ; it, Venezia ; vec, Venesia or ) is a city in northeastern Italy and the capital of the Veneto Regions of Italy, region. It is built on a group of 118 small islands that are separated by canals and linked by over 400 ...
, preparing to depart on a product exhibition cruise for
Bosch.
She partially sank in the shallow waters, and was declared a total constructive loss for the second time. In August of the same year she was towed to Piraeus where she was laid up for the next three years awaiting buyers.
Finally in 1994 a buyer emerged. The Greece-based
Strintzis Lines purchased the ship and renamed her ''Ionian Express'', with intention to rebuild her as a car-passenger ferry for their Swansea Cork Ferries (although officially renamed ''Ionian Express'', this name was never painted on her hull
). A fire broke out in her engine room during the rebuilding at
Perama
Perama ( el, Πέραμα) is a suburb of Piraeus. It is part of Athens urban area and belogs to the Piraeus regional unit. It lies on the southwest edge of the Aegaleo mountains, on the Saronic Gulf coast. It is 8 km northwest of Piraeus, ...
, Greece, and for a third time the ship was declared a total constructive loss. No further buyers were found to restore the ill-fated ship, and she was towed to the scrapyard in
Aliağa
Aliağa is a town and a district of Izmir Province in the Aegean Region of Turkey. The town is situated at about north of Izmir. Aliağa has a large port, mainly for oil and bulk cargo. Its economic activity is based on tourism, shipbreaking, ...
, Turkey, on 29 March 1995,
and was subsequently broken up.
Her engines were sold to
Med Link Line and installed on their
M/S ''Agios Andreas''.
Facilities
Interior features of the ''Svea Corona'' (and her sisters) included a
sauna
A sauna (, ), or sudatory, is a small room or building designed as a place to experience dry or wet heat sessions, or an establishment with one or more of these facilities. The steam and high heat make the bathers perspire. A thermometer in a ...
and
swimming pool
A swimming pool, swimming bath, wading pool, paddling pool, or simply pool, is a structure designed to hold water to enable Human swimming, swimming or other leisure activities. Pools can be built into the ground (in-ground pools) or built ...
, several restaurants, conference facilities for 140 people, a night club, movie theatre and a children's playroom.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Svea Corona
Ferries of Finland
Ferries of Sweden
Cruise ships
Ships built in France
1974 ships