Transocean Tours

Transocean Tours
Industry Transportation
Founded 1957
Products Cruises
Website www.transocean.de

Transocean Tours is a German cruise line that operates three ocean-going cruise ships in the German and British markets and five river cruise ships in Germany. The company was formed in 1954 and first began operating cruises in 1972, using ships chartered from the Soviet Union-based Baltic Shipping Company.[1][2]

History

Astoria in Kiel in 2007.

Transocean Tours Turistik was formed in West Germany in 1954. In 1967 the company became the West German agents of the Soviet Union-based Baltic Shipping Company, marketing cruises on the MS Alexandr Pushkin and MS Estonia. In 1972 Transocean Tours chartered the Estonia for full-time German market cruising. She was subsequently followed by several ships, including river cruise ships, chartered from both the Baltic Shipping Company and the Black Sea Shipping Company. Until the 1990s the chartered ships retained their Soviet funnel colours even when in Transocean service. Following the collapse of the Soviet Union the company begun chartering ships from other companies, starting with MS Calypso in 1994. At the same ships in Transocean service started to be painted in the company's white/blue livery.[1]

Between 1997 and 2001, the company fleet consisted of just two ships, the ocean-going cruise ship MS Astor and the river cruise ship MS Moldavia. In 2001, the river cruise ship MS Ukraina re-joined the fleet, followed by the Astor's near-sister MS Astoria in 2002. Another river cruise ship joined the fleet in 2005, while MS Arielle was chartened in 2006 for British-market cruising. In 2008 the Arielle was replaced by MS Marco Polo.[1]

In 2008, Transocean Tours stated the charter of the Astoria would be terminated in 2009, and that the company are looking for another ship to replace her. She was sold to Saga Cruises operating as Saga Pearl II with a short period as "Quest for Adevnture" in 2012/13. [3] [4]

On 4 September 2010, Transocean Tours announced that the Germany-based line would be going through a restructuring. This restructuring is also known in the U.S. as Chapter 11 Bankruptcy.[5] After a period of uncertainty Transocean was sold to South Quay Travel & Leisure Ltd. in early 2014 and since then operated as the German branch of Cruise & Maritime Voyages.

In addition to their own Astor; Transocean Tours currently also offers cruises on CMV's cruise ships Magellan and Columbus and on several river cruise ships (Bellejour, Belvedere, Sans Souci).

It was announced on March 7, 2018 that CMV purchased the Pacific Eden from P&O Cruises Australia. She will sail under the Transocean brand; sailing to Northern & Western Europe during the summer and Australia during the winter replacing Astor. Astor will be embarking on a world tour.[6][7]

Current Fleet

ShipBuiltIn Service for Transocean ToursTonnageFlagNotesImage
Astor19872013 – present20,704 GT BahamasJoining the CMV fleet in November 2013, the ship is sailing for Cruise & Maritime Voyages/Transocean Tours, and will sail both northbound and southbound voyages, by way of South Africa, in addition to round-Australia.

Future Fleet

NameCurrently sailing asBuiltIn Service for Transocean ToursTonnageFlagNotesImage
TBAPacific Eden1992201955,451 GT BahamasSold to Cruise & Maritime Voyages; will sail under the Transocean Tours brand, and will sail Europe in the winter and Australia in the summer replacing Astor.[8][9]

Former Fleet

ShipBuiltIn serviceChartered fromTonnageFlagNotesImage
MS Alexandr Pushkin/MS Marco Polo19651979? - 1981/2008 - 2010Baltic Shipping Company/Far Eastern Shipping Company, Global Maritime22,080 GRTLeningrad,  Soviet Union/ BahamasCurrently sailing for Cruise & Maritime Voyages.
MS Calypso19671994 - 2000?11,162 GRT BahamasShe later became The Calypso and was owned by Louis Cruises scrapped late 2013.
MS Gripsholm19651996 - 1997Norwegian American Line24,528 GRT BahamasChartered for six months and later sold to Saga Cruises after being damaged by fire, she would become the Saga Rose and later was sold for scrap in 2009.
MS Astoria19812002—2009Club Cruise18,853 GRT BahamasEntered service in 2009 as MS Saga Pearl II with Saga Cruises.[10]
MS Arielle19702006 - 2008Louis Cruises23,149 GRT BahamasWas returned to Louis Cruises in 2008, 3 years earlier than scheduled; later sold and as of 2012, she is laid up.
MS Astor19872001-2014Astor Shipping/Premicon20,606 GRT BahamasCurrently sailing for Cruise & Maritime Voyages.

References

  1. 1 2 3 Boyle, Ian. "Transocean Tours". Simplon Postcards. Retrieved 2008-11-01.
  2. ↑ Jones, Jana (2008-08-22). "Transocean Cruises Review". Cruise Critic. The Independent Traveler, Inc. Retrieved 2008-11-01.
  3. ↑ "Astoria is new Pearl (Ships Monthly, October 2009)". Retrieved 2009-09-22.
  4. ↑ "Our Ships: Saga Pearl II". Retrieved 2017-01-07.
  5. ↑ "Marco Polo's Line Goes Bankrupt". CruiseInd. 4 September 2009. Retrieved 4 September 2009.
  6. ↑ https://www.cruiseandmaritime.com/news/new-ship-announcement
  7. ↑ https://www.cruiseindustrynews.com/cruise-news/18672-pacific-eden-sold-to-cruise-and-maritime-voyages.html
  8. ↑ https://www.cruiseandmaritime.com/news/new-ship-announcement
  9. ↑ https://www.cruiseindustrynews.com/cruise-news/18672-pacific-eden-sold-to-cruise-and-maritime-voyages.html
  10. ↑ Archer, Jane (26 October 2008). "Saga switches adventure ship Quest to mainstream fleet". travelweekly.ok-uk. Retrieved 12 November 2008.


This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.