Saga Sapphire in Helsinki, 27 July 2012

Before we proceed to today's entry with the Saga Sapphire, it is time to do the same advertisement we do every two months: the latest issue of the Finnish-language Ulkomatala web magazine is out again. This time it includes two articles by yours truly, one detailing the 50 years of ferry traffic between Finland and Germany and the other dealing with past ships named Finlandia in honour of Eckerö Line's upcoming ship with that name. You may access the latest issue of the magazine here.

Also, in case you have missed it, I have recently also been active as MaritimeMatters' Helsinki correspondent with a trip report from Eckerö Line's Nordlandia. You can read that piece here. Now, onwards to the point.

Saga Sapphire

IMO 7822457
Name history: Europa, SuperStar Europe, SuperStar Aries, Holiday Dream, Bleu de France
Built 1981, Bremer Vulkan, Germany
Tonnage 37 301 GT
Length 199,63 m
Width 28,55 m
Draught 8,30 m
706 passengers
2 MAN-Bremer Vulkan diesels, combined 21 270 kW
2 propellers
1 bow thruster
Speed 21 knots

The Saga Sapphire started life as Hapag-Lloyd Cruises' Europa of 1981. According to Philip Dawson's delightful book The Liner, the ship was designed to be usable in liner traffic in addition to cruise service, though she has never been used as a liner. The Europa sailed with Hapag-Lloyd until the late 1990s, when the company decided to build a new, much more luxurious Europa. In preparation for the delivery of the new Europa, the old Europa was sold to Star Cruises in 1998, but chartered back to Hapag-Lloyd until the delivery of the new Europa in 1999.

In 1999 the Europa became Star Cruises' SuperStar Europe, with the name modified to SuperStar Aries the following year. In 2004 the ship changed owners and reappeared as Pullmantur Cruises' Holiday Dream. Four years later Pullmantur's new owners Royal Caribbean Cruises International decided to refit the Holiday Dream for the French cruise market under the banner of RCCL's new CdF Croisieres de France brand as the Bleu de France. CdF became a success and it was soon clear a larger ship would be needed. In 2010 the Bleu de France was sold to Saga Cruises for delivery in 2012. Saga Cruises decided to rename the ship Saga Sapphire and she entered service following a refit in 2012.

The photographs below show the Saga Sapphire departing from Helsinki on the afternoon of 27 July 2012, photographed from Kustaanmiekka. Click on the images to see them in larger size.

With the new ship Saga Cruises decided to alter their funnel colours from the very traditional yellow and black... and the new ones look terrible. The other side, with a "Saga" text looks slightly better.

Due to having just one bow thruster, the Saga Sapphire needed tug assistance to depart and she was trailed by the tugs out of Kustaanmiekka. The first tug is the Artemis and the second probably the Hector (I didn't write their names down so not 100% certain about the identification of the latter).

Nice summer lighting and even a little sailboat in the background. And the ship doesn't look too shabby either.

When they cut out the new balconies below the boat deck, they might have done something to the previously added protruding balconies below the bridge as well. The ship would look much better without those.

Traditional crowd of on-lookers.

A little bit of tree and fortifications in the foreground.

Next time: Delphin

Saga Ruby in Helsinki, 9 September 2011

Saga Ruby

IMO 7214715
Former names: Vistafjord, Caronia
Built 1973, Swan Hunter Shipbuilders Wallsend, United Kingdom
Tonnage 24 492 GT
Length 191,09 m
Width 25,05 m
Draugth 8,23 m
655 passengers
655 berths
2 Sulzer diesels, combined 17 650 kW
2 propellers
1 bow thruster
Speed 20 knots

For a history of the classic Saga Ruby, alongside some very attractive images (if I may say so myself) from 2008, see the first entry on the ship. The photographs below show the Saga Ruby departing Helsinki West Harbour (Länsisatama) on 9 September 2011. Normally a ship her size would use the south Harbour, but it seems the Port of Helsinki routinely routes all cruise ships to the West Harbour during the low season. Photographed from Hernesaari. Click on the individual images to see in larger size.

Reversing from the quay, noticably without the help of a tug. It was lucky for me she had berthed bow towards the city, giving good view of the bow even from Hernesaari.

Dynamic panoramic.

The enchanced colours were made with some help from the computer, but it really was quite beautiful in real life as well.

Look at that bow, and the way the shadows - play, almost - on it.

Going bow first and heavily backlit.

Last call in Helsinki for 2011 (if I remember correctly). 2012 will see her calling at Helsinki twice, and there will be several visits by her upcoming fleetmate Saga Sapphire.

Saga Pearl II in Helsinki, 11 June 2011

Saga Pearl II

IMO 8000214
Former names: Astor, Arkona, Astoria
Built 1981, Howaldtswerke-Deutsche Werft (HDW) Hamburg, West Germany
Tonnage 18 591 GT
Length 164,34 m
Width 22,89 m
Draugth 6,11 m
618 passengers
618 berths
4 MAN diesels, combined 9 400 kW
2 propellers
1 bow thruster
Speed 18 knots

For a full account on the history of the Saga Pearl II, see the previous entry on her. Since that entry was written, new information has become available regarding the future of the ship. In May 2012, when the new Saga Sapphire joins the Saga Cruises fleet, the Saga Pearl II will be transferred to Saga's sub-brand Spirit of Adventure Cruises. The Saga Pearl II will be renamed Quest for Adventure and she will replace Spirit of Adventure's current ship, the aptly-named Spirit of Adventure. Reportedly at the same time Spirit of Adventure Cruises will adapt the same age restrictions as Saga Cruises, in other words you have to be at least 50 years old to sail on the Quest for Adventure. Personally I'm very disappointed at this change, as I was hoping to sail on the Quest one day.

The photographs below show the Saga Pearl II in the Kustaanmiekka strait on 11 June 2011, shortly after departing Helsinki South Harbour. Click on the individual images to see larger size.

Not the most flattering view for the ship I think. Despite the fact she's quite nice-looking, here she manages to look like a low box.

I've often wondered if the same people were responsible for designing the Astor and the 1981 Europa (soon to be the Saga Pearl II's fleetmate Saga Sapphire) as there are several similarities in the ship's exterior design. Though admittedly the Astor/Pearl is notably smaller and sleeker.

Compared to the Silja Serenade and Gabriella that had just passed the same way, the Saga Pearl II must have seemed like a small and old ship to the people taking the sun on the ramparts.

The ship maybe looks better seen from the aft with the attractively tiered lido area.

You can't have too many panoramic shots. Ever.

Saga Ruby, 9 July 2008

Saga Ruby

IMO 7214715
Built 1973, Swan Hunter Shipbuilders Wallsend, United Kingdom
Tonnage 24 492 GT
Length 191,09 m
Width 25,05 m
Draught 8,23 m
655 passengers
655 berths
2 Sulzer diesels, combined 17 650 kW
2 propellers
1 bow thruster
Speed 20 knots

Saga Ruby originally started life as the Vistafjord of Den Norske Amerikalinje (Norwegian America Line, NAL). She was largely based on NAL's 1965-built Sagafjord. Although the Vistafjord was never used on transatlantic services, she was built with separate first class accommodation (the North Atlantic conference of passenger shipping demanded all transatlantic liners to have two accommodation classes). The Vistafjord's main use was to be cruising. During the 1970s Norwegian America Line was, alongside the Royal Viking Line, the most luxurious cruise line around. In rankings of the time the Vistafjord and her sister were always amongst the top five cruise ships of their time (the other three in the top five being Royal Viking Line's Royal Viking Star, Royal Viking Sea and Royal Viking Sky).

Despite their high prestige (or perhaps because of maintaining it) Norwegian America Line's cruise ships were not very profitable. In 1983 Trafalgar House purchased NAL's operations and their two ships. The Vistafjord and Sagafjord now came to be marketed under the brand Cunard Line, which was at the time owner by Trafalgar House. However, the two ex-NAL ships retained their original names and NAL's grey hull colour, the only visible change being Cunard's red funnel colours. (During 1983 Cunard's flagship QE2 had also been painted in a similar colour scheme with a grey hull, but by the time of the Cunard-NAL merger she had reverted to a black hull). At the same time the ships were also re-registered from Norwegian to Bahamian registry.

The Vistafjord continued sailing for Cunard for several years. During the 1990s she was rebuilt with additional structures on the top deck, though I could not find the exact date for this change. The Sagafjord was sold by Cunard to the new Saga Cruises in 1997, becoming the Saga Rose, but the Vistafjord stayed with Cunard into the Carnival era. In 1999 the Vistafjord was renamed Caronia, after Cunard's famous cruise ships of the 1940s-1960s era, repainted with a black hull and re-registred in Southampton, presumably as a part of the attempt by Cunard's new owners to emphasize the line's long history.

The Caronia's long Cunard career finally ended in 2004, after the delivery of the new Queen Mary 2. Like her elder sister Sagafjord/Saga Rose, the Caronia was sold to Saga Cruises and became their Saga Ruby. Initially she was registred in London, but in 2010 this was changed to Valletta, Malta. To this day the Saga Ruby remains in service with Saga Cruises. She has outlived her elder semi-sister Saga Rose, which was sold for scrap in 2009.

The photographs below show the Saga Ruby departing Helsinki on 9 July 2008, photographed from Kustaanmiekka. Click on the individual images to view full size.

Entering the Kustaanmiekka strait. Ships still in service don't get much more classic than this, even though the Saga Ruby is still far from the oldest ship in service.

In the strait displaying her fine sheer.

Still in the strait, camouflaged in part by vegetation.

...and passing on to the relatively open water of the gulf of Finland.

Saga Pearl II, 13 September 2010

Saga Pearl II

IMO 8000214
Built 1981, Howaldtswerke-Deutsche Werft Hamburg, West Germany
Tonnage 18 591 GT
Length 164,834 m
Width 22,89 m
Draugth 6,11 m
618 passengers
4 MAN diesels, combined 9 400 kW
2 propellers
1 bow thruster
Speed 18 knots

Although she is externally a somewhat unimposing small cruise ship, the Saga Pearl II has a fascinating past. She was built in 1981 for West Germany's HADAG Cruise Line as the Astor, the company's first and last deep-sea cruise ship. According to William H. Miller's book The Last Blue Water Liners HADAG (which was owned by the city of Hamburg) ordered the ship mainly in order to ensure employment for the HDW shipyard in Hamburg. Originally HADAG planned on pairing the Astor (which was originally to be named Hammonia) with Hapag-Lloyd's then-new Europa (now the Bleu de France), completed some months later than the Astor, but nothing came of this. In service the Astor usually sailed half-empty (despite being one the stars in Das Traumschiff, the German version of The Love Boat) and HADAG were soon looking to rid themselves of the ship.

In January 1984 the Astor was sold to the South Africa -based Safmarine. Safmarine had previously operated passenger liners on a route connecting South Africa to the UK, but this has been closed down in 1977. Now the company were looking to re-establish this link with the Astor, that was planned to spend part of the year cruising and a part making crossings, much like Cunard's QE2 at the time. However, in practice the Astor was found to be underpowered for long-haul service between Southampton and Durban. Resultingly Safmarine ordered a new ship, of a similar but larger (and more powerful) design from HDW Kiel in 1985. In preparation for the delivery of the new ship (also to be named Astor) and in part in order to pay for the construction of the new ship, the old Astor was sold to East Germany's VEB Deutsche Seereederei in 1985 (via a West German intermediary) and she was renamed Arkona. (The new Astor was completed in 1987, but by this time Safmarine had decided to again abandon passenger services and the ship was instead completed for the Marlan Corporation).

The Arkona sailed for her East German (and soon of course, unified German) owners until 2002, when Deutsche Seereederei gave up their cruise operations (their better-known AIDA Cruises brand having been sold to P&O the previous year). The Arkona was sold to the Russian Sovcomflot, but she was chartered to another German company, Transocean Tours, who were already operating her near-sister, the second Astor. Paired with her near-sister the Arkona was renamed Astoria. In 2007 the Astoria's ownership paased to Club Cruise, but she remained in service with Transocean Tours. In 2008 Club Cruise were experiencing financial difficulties and resulting agreed to sell the Astoria to Saga Cruises after the end of her Transocean charter in April 2009.

Before the Astoria's sale could be affected however, Club Cruise went bankrupt. She was laid up at Barcelona, awaiting auction. In the end she found a buyer in Saga Cruises, who took delivery of the ship August 2009. Originally Saga had planned to rename the ship Quest for Adventure and place her in service under their Spirit of Adventure -brand. However, this was never realised and instead the Astoria was placed under Saga Cruises' own brand as the Saga Pearl II, replacing the Saga Rose that had to be withdrawn from service due to the new SOLAS regulations. Saga Pearl II finally entered service with Saga Cruises in March 2010.

Photographs below are of the Saga Pearl II in Helsinki on 13 September 2010. Click on the image(s) to view full size.

At Katajanokka cruise quay, photographed from onboard MS Suomenlinna II.

Entering Kustaanmiekka strait, with beautiful examples of 1970s Finnish brutalist architecture visible over the trees in the background. This one and the photos below are taken from the ramparts at Kustaanmiekka.

At Kustaamiekka strait, with the top of the King's gate at visible at the bottom of the picture.

Clearing the strait...

...and onwards to the busy waters of the Bay of Finland.