Pearl II

''Saga Pearl II'' ( IMO: 8000214) (formerly ''Astoria'', ''Quest for Adventure'' and ''Saga Pearl II'') was a passenger ship that was built in Germany in 1981.

She measured 18,627 Gross Tons and her draught was reported to be . Her length overall was and her beam was .

For most of her life Pearl II had operated as a cruise ship.

History

''Astor''

The ship was built in 1981 in the ship yard of Howaldtswerke-Deutsche Werft, Werk Ross, Hamburg, Yard no. 165. The ship was ordered by the newly formed German company Hadag Cruise Line, but was quickly sold to South African company Safmarine, because the ship was not profitable enough.

However, Safmarine discovered that the ''Astor'' did not have enough speed to maintain the liner schedule. So a new ship was ordered that could meet the required schedule and the ''Astor'' sold.

''Arkona''

On 29 August 1985, the ''Astor'' was sold to ''Deutfracht Seereederei'' an East German shipping company. It was renamed the ''Arkona''. The vessel was used to give favoured party officials, cruises for part of the year and was chartered to western operators for the rest of the year. After the reunification of Germany in the early 1990s the state shipping company was privatised and became DSR. DSR acquired Seetours of Bremen.Plowman. Australian Cruise Ships p.14

Cruises on the ''Arkona'' were marketed under the Seetours franchise.

''Astoria''

P&O Princess Cruises acquired Seetours in 1999 (Seetours was rebranded as AIDA Cruises in 2004). The ''Arkona'' was renamed ''Astoria'' in 2002 and bareboat chartered to Transocean Tours of Bremen. Under Transocean ''Astoria'' specialized in cruises to Norway and Europe. The vessel then operated closer to the shore, making low-cost cruises for German, Norwegian and Swedish passengers.

In November 2008, a world cruise had to be aborted after serious mechanical problems were identified during a refit in Barcelona. The ship remained laid up in Barcelona until June 2009 when she was towed to Gibraltar. Following an auction in August, Saga Cruises acquired the ship after an unsuccessful attempt to do so earlier in the year.

''Saga Pearl II''

Saga Cruises acquired the ship, at auction, in August 2009. ''Saga Pearl II'' effectively replaced the MS Saga Rose which was decommissioned in 2009. In late 2009, the ship sailed to Swansea, Wales where she underwent a £20million three-month refit in the re-opened Swansea dry dock. She sailed on her first cruise as ''Saga Pearl II'' on 15 March 2010 to the Norwegian Fjords.

''Quest for Adventure''

She was renamed MV ''Quest for Adventure'' in May 2012 and became the flagship for Saga's Discovery-style Adventure Cruises. She did not undergo a refit at that time but continued in her new role with the same facilities, captain and crew.

In December 2012, MV ''Quest for Adventure'' underwent a refit, where she received her new Saga livery funnel. This was like her fleetmate ''Saga Sapphires funnel. However, the port side of the funnel was left blank and did not display the "SAGA" logo.

''Saga Pearl II''

The ''Quest for Adventure'' had the name ''Saga Pearl II'' restored to it on 21 November 2013 and received the "SAGA" logo on the port side of her funnel. In 2018 Saga reverted to the traditional yellow funnel livery, ''Saga Pearl II'' was the second ship to receive the yellow funnel, in late 2018.

In 2019, ''Saga Pearl II'' was replaced by , Saga's first new build. For her last voyage ''Saga Pearl II'' sailed from Portsmouth (UK) on 16 February 2019 for a 54-day cruise to South Africa. This was a coming-home cruise, as it is where the ship spent many of its earlier years, when it sailed the South Atlantic waters for Safmarine.

''Pearl II''

In 2019 ''Saga Pearl II'' was sold to the British Virgin Islands company Aqua Explorer Holdings, renamed ''Pearl II'', and laid up near Piraeus, Greece. In July 2022 the ship was towed from Greece to Aliağa, Turkey, for demolition.

Design

The ship had a length of and beam of . She had capacity for a maximum of 449 passengers, served by 252 crew members. In spite of the low ratio, the cruise ship offered a luxury service to its passengers. The gross tonnage of the vessel was 18,591 gross tons and this tonnage was driven by 4 Sulzer-Wärtsilä main engines with total power of . The maximum speed of the vessel was . Stabilization is provided by a Pinfabb Digital Stabilizers Control system.

See also

* MS ''Astor'' (sister ship)

References

Notes

Bibliography

*
*

External links

*
*
{{Howaldtswerke-Deutsche Werft
Cruise ships
1980 ships
Cruise ships of Germany