''Aegean Goddess'' is a cruise ship completed in 1994 and previously sailed for

Holland America Line Holland America Line is an American-owned cruise line, a subsidiary of Carnival Corporation & plc headquartered in Seattle, Washington, United States. Holland America Line was founded in Rotterdam, Netherlands, and from 1873 to 1989, it operate ...

as ''Ryndam''. It was planned that she would sail for Cruise & Maritime Voyages as ''Ida Pfeiffer'' from 2021, but that never happened. P&O subsequently sold her to

Seajets Seajets is a Greek/ Cypriot ferry company operating passenger and freight ferry services in the Aegean Sea. History Seajets was established in 1989. Today, it operates a fleet of 14 high speed vessels, and 3 conventional Ro-Ro ferries which serv ...

in 2020.

Construction and career

MS ''Ryndam''

''Aegean Goddess'' previously served as ''Ryndam'' from 1994 to 2015, where she served as a member of Holland America Line's , otherwise known as S class. She was ordered in November 1989 alongside two sister ships of her class, and was designated hull number 5883. Her

keel The keel is the bottom-most longitudinal structural element on a vessel. On some sailboats, it may have a hydrodynamic and counterbalancing purpose, as well. As the laying down of the keel is the initial step in the construction of a ship, in Br ...

was laid by

Fincantieri Fincantieri S.p.A. () is an Italian shipbuilding company based in Trieste, Italy. Already the largest shipbuilder in Europe, after the acquisition of Vard in 2013, Fincantieri group doubled in size to become the fourth largest in the world (2014 ...

in 1993. From 1993 to 1994, the ship was completed and underwent

sea trial A sea trial is the testing phase of a watercraft (including boats, ships, and submarines). It is also referred to as a " shakedown cruise" by many naval personnel. It is usually the last phase of construction and takes place on open water, and ...

s. In 1994, ''Ryndam'' was christened by Madeleine Arison, and she embarked on her maiden voyage. In 2006, ''Ryndam'' underwent dry dock renovations at Grand Bahama Shipyard in Freeport,

Grand Bahama Grand Bahama is the northernmost of the islands of the Bahamas, with the town of West End located east of Palm Beach, Florida. It is the third largest island in the Bahamas island chain of approximately 700 islands and 2,400 cays. The island i ...

. From January through March 2007, the cruise ship suffered three outbreaks of

norovirus Norovirus, sometimes referred to as the winter vomiting disease, is the most common cause of gastroenteritis. Infection is characterized by non-bloody diarrhea, vomiting, and stomach pain. Fever or headaches may also occur. Symptoms usually devel ...

and was forced to return to

San Diego San Diego ( , ; ) is a city on the Pacific Ocean coast of Southern California located immediately adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a 2020 population of 1,386,932, it is the eighth most populous city in the United State ...

, California. 355 passengers and 47 crew became sick on the three voyages. After the third outbreak, the vessel underwent a three-day disinfectant servicing before returning to cruise operations. In February 2008, ''Ryndam'' returned to San Diego from a ten-day tour with 113 passengers and 8 crew sickened from a norovirus outbreak. In November 2010, an intoxicated passenger released ''Ryndam''s stern

anchor An anchor is a device, normally made of metal , used to secure a vessel to the bed of a body of water to prevent the craft from drifting due to wind or current. The word derives from Latin ''ancora'', which itself comes from the Greek ἄ� ...

while the ship was in

international waters The terms international waters or transboundary waters apply where any of the following types of bodies of water (or their drainage basins) transcend international boundaries: oceans, large marine ecosystems, enclosed or semi-enclosed region ...

en route to

Florida Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to ...

. No damage to the ship was reported. In 2010, ''Ryndam'' once again underwent dry dock renovations at Grand Bahama Shipyard in Freeport, Grand Bahama. On 20 May 2014, Holland America Line announced the transfer of ''Ryndam'' to

P&O Cruises Australia P&O Cruises Australia is a British-American owned cruise line with operational headquarters as part of Carnival Australia, based in Chatswood, New South Wales, Australia. Originally a sister company of P&O Cruises in the United Kingdom, it was ...

. In April 2015, two passengers on board ''Ryndam'' were found deceased in their stateroom in what appeared to be a murder-suicide. According to Holland America Line, "The cabin was immediately secured and the authorities, including the

FBI The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) is the domestic intelligence and security service of the United States and its principal federal law enforcement agency. Operating under the jurisdiction of the United States Department of Justice, t ...

, were notified." As of now, the formal cause of death associated with the incident remains unclear. In July 2015, ''Ryndam'' had to terminate a sailing early due to an outbreak of

. She was sailing a 14-day itinerary, which featured ports of call in Iceland and Norway. She underwent a deep clean in the Port of Harwich immediately afterwards, and returned to service shortly thereafter.

''Pacific Aria''

After concluding her final season with Holland America Line, ''Ryndam'' sailed to Singapore for dry dock at Sembcorp Marine Admiralty Yard. From 31 October to 12 November 2015, ''Ryndam'' underwent extensive interior and exterior changes, emerging as the new ''Pacific Aria.'' In an attempt to garner global social media recognition for the introduction of two new flagships, P&O Cruises Australia broadcast the ships' christening ceremony on

Twitter Twitter is an online social media and social networking service owned and operated by American company Twitter, Inc., on which users post and interact with 280-character-long messages known as "tweets". Registered users can post, like, and ...

and through their godmothers' social media accounts. On 25 November, ''Pacific Aria'' and her sister, ''Pacific Eden'', were renamed at a ceremony held in

Port Jackson Port Jackson, consisting of the waters of Sydney Harbour, Middle Harbour, North Harbour and the Lane Cove and Parramatta Rivers, is the ria or natural harbour of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. The harbour is an inlet of the Tasman Sea ...

, Sydney.

Jessica Mauboy Jessica Hilda Mauboy (born 4 August 1989) is an Australian singer, songwriter and actress. Born and raised in Darwin, Northern Territory, she rose to fame in 2006 on the fourth season of ''Australian Idol'', where she was runner-up and subseq ...

served as the godmother for ''Pacific Aria''. It was announces that ''Pacific Aria'' would leave the fleet in May 2021, but she was already retired in 2020 because of the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identi ...

''Ida Pfeiffer''

In November 2019, P&O Cruises Australia announced the sale of ''Pacific Aria'' to Cruise & Maritime Voyages to beginning in May 2021 as ''Ida Pfeiffer,'' in honour of the famous Austrian explorer. The two lines agreed to a formal transfer of ownership in

Singapore Singapore (), officially the Republic of Singapore, is a sovereign island country and city-state in maritime Southeast Asia. It lies about one degree of latitude () north of the equator, off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, bor ...

on 2 May 2021, followed by an extensive renovation'','' including an increase in beds, in order to prepare her for sailing for Cruise & Maritime Voyage's TransOcean Tours brand. However, on 20 July 2020 CMV was placed in administration and subsequently shut down operations.

''Aegean Goddess''

In 2020 ''Pacific Aria'' was sold to Seajets, and renamed ''Aegean Goddess''. On 12 May 2022 a Greek crewmember was found dead on the ship, laid up in

Heraklion Heraklion or Iraklion ( ; el, Ηράκλειο, , ) is the largest city and the administrative capital of the island of Crete and capital of Heraklion regional unit. It is the fourth largest city in Greece with a population of 211,370 (Urban Ar ...

References

External links

P&O Cruises Australia official site
{{1994 shipwrecks Ships of Seajets Ships of the Holland America Line Ships of P&O Cruises Australia Ships built by Fincantieri Ships built in Monfalcone Maritime incidents in 1994 Maritime incidents in 2007 Maritime incidents in 2010 1993 ships