M.S. EUROPA

Hapag-Lloyd Kreuzfahrten A.G.

Hamburg, Germany.

 

Photo taken in Istanbul, 1986.

 

Built: 1981 by Bremer-Vulkan Shipyard, Bremen - Vegesack, Germany. Refurbished and rebuilt in 1993, 1995 and 1999.

Technical:  

Overall length: 199.6 m

Beam: 28.6 m

Draft: 7.85 m

Gross Tonnage: 34500 tons

Passengers: 758

Power: 2 x 14400 HP Type BV/M.A.N diesel engines.

Service Speed: 22 knots

Operating Routes: She served mostly in the European-Mediterranean cruising market under the management of Hapag-Lloyd, with occasional world cruises. She was very succesfull and known as the best cruise liner in the world during the 80's. African, Caribbean and American cruises were also performed seasonally. Under the flag of Direct Cruises, she served in the Far-Eastern / Southeast Asian cruise market. She is supposed to be back to European market under Orient Lines.

Sister Ships: None.

Former Names: None

Later Names: M.S. Europa (1982), M.S. Megastar Asia (1999, never took effect), M.S. Superstar Europe (1999), M.S. SuperStar Aries (2000), M.S. Ocean Voyager (2002, transfer not taken place as of April 2002)

Owners:
- 1981-1998: Hapag-Lloyd Cruises, Hamburg, Germany.
- 1998-2002: Star Cruises, Sydney, Australia. (She was leased back to Hapag-Lloyd Kreuzfahrten through 1999)
- 2002- : Orient Lines (owned by Star Cruises).

History and Current Status: She was built for Hapag-Lloyd Cruises of Hamburg, Germany, by Bremer-Vulkan Shipyard between December 22nd, 1980 and January 8th, 1982. Hapag-Lloyd named her M.S. Europa, following the Norddeutscher/Hapag-Lloyd tradition (She is the 3rd in a series of 4 vessels. Here are some other Europa's: 1930, 1965). Her maiden voyage was around Africa, starting and ending at Genoa, Italy. She turned to be one of the most sought after ships in cruise history between 1982 and 1999, setting the highest standards in service, luxury and comfort in the cruise line industry. After a very succesful career in worldwide cruising, Hapag-Lloyd sold her to Star Cruises in 1998, deciding that she was no match in comfort, services and luxury to the new generation of cruise liners. They replaced her with a smaller but more modern ship, also called M.S. Europa. During her first year under Star Cruises, she got chartered back to Hapag for one year. In 2000, she started her Southeast Asian cruises, again serving succesfully. In 2001, Star Cruises officially announced that M.S. Superstar Aries will be transferred to their subsidiary company, the Orient Lines, for service in the European market in 2003. As of December 2002, the transfer has not materialized yet.

(email all info about her to ata.bilgili@dartmouth.edu)

Notes: Back in 1982, there were not many passenger vessels like M.S. Europa. When she was docked at Istanbul in all her grandeur, she always looked like an unreachable work of art, painted on giant steel canvas ornamented by the unpredictable harmony of orange and dark blue. Blocking the view of the terminals and apartment buildings on the hill behind, she was giving us a glimpse of what was then to come in the end of the eighties and all throughout the 90's: a new generation of cruise liners, which grew and grew to unimaginable proportions and shapes. M.S. Europa, however, was still far away from the ugly, boxy and untraditional (in the maritime sense) shapes of most of today's cruise liners, a fact probably due to her being of German origin. After all, Mercedes, Porsche and BMW came from Germany too!...

I am lucky enough to have seen her on her first year of service, in 1982 (see B&W photographs below). My first reaction was to go home and research the company that owned her in "Ships Monthly" and "Sea Breezes" magazines that I was able to get a hold of. At the time, no Internet existed and magazines specialized in a subject were among our limited sources of information. In any case, the research yielded Hapag-Lloyd and I was quick to write a request letter for postcards and catalogues. Interestingly, my first attempt at this failed succesfully!, because a misspelling that I did (Hadag instead of Hapag) made me a proud owner of a postcard and catalogue of then new M.S. Astor. My second attempt suceeded, however, and provided me with beautiful postcards, catalogues and even B&W advertisement photographs of M.S. Europa. It is important to mention that Hapag-Lloyd has always been great in public relations, providing beautiful postcards and more over the years. They are still that way as of 2002...

When M.S. Europa got sold to Star Cruises back in 1998, I was sad because of the fact that she was going to leave European waters and I would be unable to see her again in Hapag colors. Although she was still very succesfull in the Far Eastern trade, she lacked the class and looks that she had under Hapag. For what it is worth, I believe that the lack of the two color line made her look bulkier than she actually was. Addition of balconies also added to that bulk. I am glad that she is returning to the European waters under the colors of the Orient Lines, that succesfully operated M.S. Marco Polo (ex. M.S. Alexandr Pushkin (1965) of Baltic Shipping Line of the Soviet Union) over the years. I do not know what changes will be made on her hull and colors but seeing her will be a joy in any case.

Links:


- M.S. Europa postcards from Simplon Postcards.
- Aleksi Lindstrom's M.S. Europa / Superstar Aries page
- M.S Europa at German Passenger Ships website..
- M.S. Superstar Aries page from the Chris Brindle Web World Maritime Group ..
- M.S. Superstar Aries page from Cruiseserver.net..
- Hapag-Lloyd..
- Star Cruises..
- Orient Lines..

Line Drawings: From Steinhagen-Modelltechnik.

Other Pictures:

EUROPA
europa1.jpg ()
EUROPA
europa3.jpg ()
EUROPA
europa2.jpg ()
EUROPA
europa_bw0.jpg()
EUROPA
europa_bw3.jpg()
 Docked at Karakoy.
Istanbul, 1986.
 Docked at Karakoy.
Istanbul, 1986.
  Docked at Karakoy.
Istanbul, 1986.
  Docked at Karakoy.
Istanbul, 1982.
  Leaving the Karakoy docks.
Istanbul, 1982.

Pictures from Mike:

SUPERSTAR ARIES
superstararies_mike1.jpg ()
SUPERSTAR ARIES
superstararies_mike2.jpg ()
 Docking at Keelung, Taiwan.
August 23, 2002.
  Docking at Keelung, Taiwan.
August 23, 2002.

Postcards from My Collection:

EUROPA
europa_pc0.jpg ()
EUROPA
 europa_pc2.jpg ()
EUROPA
 europa_pc.jpg()
EUROPA
europa_pc3.jpg()
EUROPA
europa_pc4.jpg()
 World Ships postcard.
Maritime World, Germany.
No date.
  Chantry Classics postcard.
Photo by Paul Morgan at Genova.
No date.
  Hapag-Lloyd issued postcard.
No date.
 Hapag-Lloyd issued postcard.
No Date.
  Hapag-Lloyd issued postcard.
No date.
EUROPA
europa_pc5.jpg ()
EUROPA
europa_dwg.jpg ()
EUROPA
europa_bw1.jpg ()
EUROPA
europa_bw4.jpg ()
EUROPA
 europa_bw2.jpg ()
 Bild-Druck & Verlag postcard.
St. Pauli Landungbrucken, Hamburg.
No date.
 Hapag-Lloyd issued.
Early drawing before service.
1980-1981.
 Hapag-Lloyd issued.
B&W photograph.
No date.
 Hapag-Lloyd issued.
B&W photograph at Genova.
No date.
  Hapag-Lloyd issued.
B&W photograph.
No date.
EUROPA
europa_multi.jpg ()
 Offical Hapag-Lloyd card to celebrate
100 years of Hapag history.
Mid Eighties.



WebCounter Visitor No: