Launch of a new era for Ocean Monarch

[Jason]

Launch of a new era for liner

By Rhodri Phillips, The Journal

ic Teesside.co.uk, UK

Aug 14 2004

A cargo ship built on Tyneside almost 50 years ago has been

re-launched as a cruise liner.

The Ocean Monarch, built as the Port Sydney in 1955 in the Swan Hunter

shipyard in Wallsend, left North Shields yesterday bound for the west

coast of Norway.

The ship is carrying 486 passengers, who will be able to enjoy its

on-board casino, theatre, swimming pool, sauna and spa during their

Scandinavian cruise.

The ship's re-launch follows a deal between the Port of Tyne and

cruise firm Page & Moy.

The Ocean Monarch is one of several cruise ships expected to sail from

the Tyne this year in a move to make the area a magnet for tourists.

The ship will dock back at the Royal Quays in North Shields next

Friday before embarking on further cruises to Scandinavia and Russia

later in the year.

Swan Hunter commercial director Norman Brownell said: "It's a tribute

to the remarkable skills of the Tyneside workers that the ship is

still sailing after all these years and still making money for her

owners. I am glad to see her coming back to the Tyne."

The 16,000-ton ship was first launched in the mid-50s when

shipbuilding in the North-East was still booming.

In the last half century she has operated under a number of names,

including Port Sydney, Therisos Express, Daphne and most recently

Switzerland.

* The Journal's readers are to get the chance to enjoy a cruise on the

Ocean Monarch in 2005.

Cruises available direct from North Shields aboard the liner include

Scandinavia and Imperial Russia, Fjords and The Midnight Sun,

Fjordland Splendour, and Spitzbergen, Fjords and North Cape.

[TheSkipper]

I'm not sure that I'd spend my cruise dollars to cruise on a former cargo ship that is 50 years old. But, to each his own. :wink:

Thanks for keeping us updated Jason.

[TheSkipper]

I'm not sure that I'd spend my cruise dollars to cruise on a former cargo ship that is 50 years old. But, to each his own. :wink:

Thanks for keeping us updated Jason.