IMO 8201480
Name history: Royal Princess, Artemis, Artania
Built 1984, Wärtsilä Helsinki, Finland
Tonnage 44 500 GT
Length 230,61 m
Width 29,60 m
Draught 7,80 m
1 260 passengers
4 Wärtsilä diesels, combined 23 200 kW
2 propellers
2 bow thrusters
Speed 22 knots
It's been a while since I've featured a new ship here. The Artania had been on my to-photo list for some time (already since she was the Artemis of P&O Cruises), but for whatever reason I only photographer her for the last time last summer. But since this is the first time this ship has been featured here, it's time for a short history.
The Artania was originally built in 1984 by Wärtsilä's Helsinki shipyard as the Royal Princess for Princess Cruises. She was the first newbuilt ship ever to be delivered to Princess Cruises, and a rather innovative at that: not only did she feature cabins with balconies on an unprecedented scale, she was the first modern cruise ship to offer all-outside accommodation. It tells something about the cruise business 30 years ago that the Royal Princess was a one-off design; no sister ship was ever built and it was well over a decade before cabins with balconies truly caught on.
The Royal Princess was never the less clearly a popular ship and she stayed with Princess Cruises for over 20 years, until in 2005 she was transferred to the fleet of P&O Cruises and renamed Artemis. She was one of the company's increasingly popular child-free ships. In 2009 the ship was sold to Artania Shipping (who I presume are related to Phoenix Reisen), but chartered back to P&O Cruises until 2011. At the end her charter to P&O the ship joined the fleet of Phoenix Reisen and was renamed Artania. Interestingly, her place in the P&O fleet was taken over by the second Royal Princess (ex-R Eight, Minerva II), which was renamed Adonia. The Artania remains in the Phoenix Reisen fleet at the time of writing and is used on worldwide cruising.
The photographs below show the Artania departing from the Helsinki West Harbour in the afternoon of 3 August 2013. Photographed from Sisä-Hattu. Click on the images to see them in larger size.
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| She does look a wee bit retro, the bridge design and funnel-mounted observation lounge in particular. |
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| Water levels were low, so interesting foreground crap presented itself. |
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| Innocent bystanders (or bysitters, more accurately) featured in ship photos: the Bruce Peter school of photography. |
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| This shot would be better without the yellow-hulled sailing boat. But I can't be bothered to photoshop it out. |
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