Louis Cristal
Cristal in Istanbul, 2010
- Cristal (2007-2011)
- Opera (2006-2007)
- Silja Opera (2002-2006)
- Leeward (1995-2000)
- Sally Albatross (1986-1995)
- Viking Saga (1980-1986)
IMO no. 7827213
The Louis Cristal is a cruise ship of Louis Cruise Lines. The ship was built 1991/1992 on the hull built in 1980 as the Viking Saga Sally Albatross.
History
The ship was built in 1980 by Wärtsilä as a Viking saga Viking Line and used for ferry traffic on the Helsinki -Stockholm. In 1986 the ship was renamed Sally Albatross and used for cruises on the Baltic Sea.
In 1988, the Sally Albatross was rebuilt in the shipyard Schichau Seebeck in Bremerhaven. A fire destroyed the ship in 1990 almost completely. The hull was towed to Mäntyluoto in Finland, where the ship was partially scrapped. A largely new, longer ship was built on the remaining parts of the fuselage with the good machine, which in turn was named Sally Albatross. Then the old hull was reused, the Sally Albatross legally valid despite the extensive remodeling as the same ship and still carries the same IMO number. On March 23, 1992, the newly built ship was delivered. It was initially used for cruises on the Baltic Sea and to Tallinn .. On 4 March 1994, the Sally Albatross ran into the ice-covered sea on a background. The ship was towed into the Vuosaari shipyard where from 20 April emergency repairs were carried out. From 1994 to 2000 the ship in the Norwegian Cruise Line was chartered for cruises in the Caribbean and was named Leeward. After it until 2002 for Star Cruises in Malaysia under the name SuperStar Taurus was driven by 2000, it was 2002 on the Silja Line, where it received the name Silja Opera and in turn used for Baltic cruises and for various liner services from Helsinki and Stockholm been. After the ship was laid up in Tilbury from 2006 and under the name Opera changed hands twice, it has been used since 2007 by the Greek shipping company Louis Cruises Cristal as for Mediterranean cruises. Since 2011 is called the ship Louis Cristal.
Sister ships
Identical to the Viking Saga in its original form from 1980 were the ships Viking Sally, which sank in 1994 under the name of Estonia in the Baltic Sea and the Regina Baltica, which was built in 1980 as a Viking song.