Orient Lines was a

cruise line A cruise line is a company that operates cruise ships that operate on ocean or rivers and which markets cruises to the public. Cruise lines are distinct from passenger lines which are primarily concerned with transportation of passengers. Though ...

specialising in exotic destinations that was in operation 1993–2008. The brand was founded in 1993 by Gerry Herrod, and was sold to

Norwegian Cruise Line Norwegian Cruise Line (NCL), also known in short as Norwegian, is an American cruise line founded in 1966, incorporated in Bermuda and headquartered in Miami. It is the fourth-largest cruise line in the world by passengers, controlling about 8.6 ...

in 1998. It ceased operations in March 2008 and was sold to new owners in June 2008. Operations were planned to be restarted in April 2009; however, due to the

Great Recession The Great Recession was a period of marked general decline, i.e. a recession, observed in national economies globally that occurred from late 2007 into 2009. The scale and timing of the recession varied from country to country (see map). At ...

of 2008, the re-launch of the Orient Lines brand was put on hold and eventually cancelled.

History

The history of Orient Lines began in 1991 when Shipping & General Ltd, owned by Gerry Herrod, acquired the cruise ship ''Alexandr Pushkin'' from Far Eastern Shipping Company. During the next two and a half years the ''Alexandr Pushkin'' was almost entirely rebuilt and emerged in 1993 as the ''Marco Polo'' for the new Orient Lines brand, embarking on a varied program with cruises all around the world. In 1998,

(NCL) acquired the brand. In 1999, NCL itself was acquired by

Star Cruises Star Cruises was a cruise line headquartered in Hong Kong and operating in the Asia-Pacific market. The company was owned by Genting Hong Kong. It was the eighteenth largest cruise line in the world after Carnival Corporation, Royal Caribb ...

. Following this, NCL's ''Norwegian Crown'' joined the Orient Lines fleet in May 2000 under the name '' Crown Odyssey''. In March 2001 Star Cruises announced that their '' SuperStar Aries'' would be joining the Orient Lines fleet in mid-2002 as the ''Ocean Voyager''. This plan was shelved however, and in 2003, the ''Crown Odyssey'' returned to the NCL fleet and Orient Lines reverted to operating with just one ship. On 4 June 2007, the ''Marco Polo'' was sold to the

Greece Greece,, or , romanized: ', officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the southern tip of the Balkans, and is located at the crossroads of Europe, Asia, and Africa. Greece shares land borders with ...

-based

Global Maritime Global Maritime is an independent offshore and engineering consultancy headquartered in Stavanger, Norway. The company provides engineering, marine and advisory services to the offshore and shipping industry. Originally operating primarily in the ...

, with a delivery date on 31 March 2008. Without its only ship sold and no other ships to replace it, the Orient Line brand ceased to operate. On 27 June 2008, Star Cruises sold the Orient Line brand to Origin Cruise Group, owned by Wayne Heller. The new owners stated they would be restarting operations with several second-hand ships with a capacity of 600 to 800 passengers. The first ship acquired by the "new" Orient Lines was , which was purchased from

Sovcomflot Sovcomflot (russian: ПАО «Совкомфлот», ПАО «Современный коммерческий флот», , Modern Commercial Fleet). Sovcomflot is Russia's largest shipping company, and one of the global leaders in the maritime ...

on 20 August 2008. The ''Maxim Gorkiy'' was due to enter service with Orient Lines in April 2009 as SS ''Marco Polo II''. On 19 November 2008 Wayne Heller stated that due to the

of 2008, the relaunch of the Orient Lines brand was delayed indefinitely. The ''Maxim Gorkiy'' never was refitted and renamed ''Marco Polo II''. The ship was sold for scrap in January 2009. No further announcements have been made regarding the future of the Orient Lines, though the trademarks are still owned by Origin Cruise Group. In 2019, the abandoned website was taken down due to the domain expiring.

Former Ships

References

External links

Archived official website
{{Former Subsidiaries of Norwegian Cruise Line Transport companies established in 1991 Transport companies disestablished in 2008 Defunct cruise lines Norwegian Cruise Line 2008 disestablishments in Norway Norwegian companies established in 1991