| MS Mona Lisa, From Ocean Liner to a Luxury Cruise Ship |
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As most of the people now rely on air travel, the older ocean liners have found a new 'port of calling'. They have been converted into luxury cruise ships on which people take pleasure voyages.
One such ship which has undergone this transition is the MS Mona Lisa. The ship is an old one. It was built in 1966 by John Brown and Company. The ship was made as a hybrid ocean liner/cruise ship though its first owner, the Swedish American Line operated it as the ocean liner MS Kungsholm. The ship was finally retired in September 2010 because of its failure to meet the requirements laid down in SOLAS 2010. The last owner of the ship was Leonardo Shipping. There is a possibility that the ship might be preserved to keep alive its rich heritage. The most easily identifiable feature of the ship is a picture of Mona Lisa by Leonardo da Vinci painted on its fin. As the ship was built, its tonnage was rated at 26678 gross tons. Through upgrades, the ship had reached a tonnage of 28891 by the year 2008. The overall length of the ship is 201.33 m and its beam length is 26.57 m with a draught length of 8.56 m. MS Mona Lisa has an installed power of 25200 SHP. Propelling the ship are two direct drive, Götaverken 9 cylinder slow speed two stroke diesel engines each of which drives one propeller. MS Mona Lisa has a service speed of 20 knots and a top speed of 25 knots. During its transatlantic service, the ship had a capacity to carry 713 passengers. By the time, the ship went out of active service it could carry 782 passengers. This is excluding the ship's own crew of 417 people. Following the retirement of the ship because of its failure to meet the requirements of SOLAS 2010, the fate of the ship seemed uncertain. This was until Swedish entrepreneur Lars Hallgren signed a letter of intent with the ship's owners to use it as a floating hotel. As it turned out however, the City of Gothenberg played spoilsport by not leasing dock space for more than five years. The fate of the ship again went into doldrums but this time the city of Stockholm came to its rescue. The ship should be first used as a student accommodation and will then be given a permanent berthing place for use as a luxury hotel. As of now the ship will head to Oman where it will be used as an accommodation ship. MS Mona Lisa has been and remains a sparkling example of what human shipbuilding capability can achieve and how far it has come! Related Articles
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