MS Melody

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MSC Melody
MSC Melody photographed in April 2008.
History
Name:
  • 1982—1988: Atlantic
  • 1988—1997: StarShip Atlantic
  • 1997—2013: Melody[1]
  • 2004—2013: Had been reported as being renamed MSC Melody[2] but this appears never to have happened. Source: gisis.imo.org
  • 2013 onwards: Qing
Owner:
Operator:
  • 1982—1988: Home Lines
  • 1988—1997: Premier Cruise Lines
  • 1997—2013: MSC Cruises[1]
Port of registry:
Builder: CNIM, La Seyne, France[3]
Cost: $100 million[4]
Yard number: 1432[1]
Launched: 9 January 1981[1]
Acquired: 2 April 1982[1]
Maiden voyage: 14 April 1982[1]
In service: 14 April 1982[1]
Out of service: 2013
Identification: IMO number: 7902295[1]
Status: Retired January 2013
General characteristics [1]
Type: Cruise ship
Tonnage:
Length: 204.81 m (671 ft 11 in)
Beam: 27.36 m (89 ft 9 in)
Draught: 7.80 m (25 ft 7 in)
Decks: 9 (passenger accessible)[4]
Installed power:
Propulsion: 2 propellers[4]
Speed:
  • 23 knots (43 km/h; 26 mph) (maximum)
  • 19 knots (35 km/h; 22 mph) (service)[5]
Capacity:
  • 1,062 (double occupancy)[5]
  • 1,600 (all berths)[4]
Crew: 535[5]
File:MSC Melody, La Goulette, 2009 bow.jpg
MSC Melody at La Goulette (Tunisi) in Tunisia

MS Qing is a cruise ship, formally owned and operated by MSC Cruises. She was built in 1982 by the CNIM shipyard in La Seyne, France for Home Lines as Atlantic. Between 1988 and 1997 she sailed for Premier Cruise Line as StarShip Atlantic.

In 1997, the vessel entered service for MSC Cruises as Melody.[1][4] She was renamed MSC Melody in 2004, and was retired in January 2013.[2] She accommodated 1,076 passengers in 532 cabins. Her crew complement was approximately 535.[5]

Pirate attack[6]

While on a repositioning cruise from Durban, South Africa to Genoa, Italy with some 1,000 passengers and 500 crew members[7] on board, MSC Melody was attacked by Somalian pirates on 25 April 2009 when approximately 300 km off Seychelles at around 11:25 PM local time (19:35 UTC). A speedboat with six people on board drew alongside the ship, fired at the bridge with an automatic rifle and subsequently the pirates attempted to board the ship. Media reports indicate passengers fought off pirates by throwing tables and deck chairs overboard before the ship's security personnel could be mobilized. [1]

Later, the ship's Israeli private security detail attempted to repel the pirates by using the ship's fire hose and, when this failed, pistols. Pistol fire was successful in forcing the pirates to retreat, although after boarding their speedboat they continued to fire at the ship for another ten minutes.[8][9][10][11] As a security precaution MSC Melody's original itinerary had been altered to allow her to circumvent some of the more pirate-infested waters.[12] Additionally the Spanish auxiliary military vessel Marques de la Ensenada was scheduled to provide escort to MSC Melody through the Gulf of Aden, but she did not rendezvous with MSC Melody until the afternoon after the attack.[8][11] The pirates that attacked MSC Melody were pursued and eventually captured by the Spanish frigate SPS Numancia (F83) on 27 April 2009.[13] The suspected pirates were turned over to authorities in the Seychelles.[14]

Disposal

In July 2012, there was speculation that MSC Melody was to be chartered to new operators in Japan.[15] The following month, it was reported that she had been sold to a South Korean company, Lotus Mine, and that as from February 2013 she would operate a regular service between Shanghai and Jeju Island, South Korea.[16] However, she was de-commissioned following her final voyage for MSC Cruises in September 2012.[17]

On 7 January 2013, MSC Cruises announced that MSC Melody had been retired effective immediately, despite being scheduled to sail through the summer season, and was listed for sale.[18] In November 2013, she was sold for an undisclosed price to Sahara India Pariwar, a multinational group involved in finance, leisure, hotels, construction, property and industrial activities. Under the new name Qing, she was to be delivered in Goa, India, and converted into floating accommodation.[19][20]

References

  1. ↑ 1.00 1.01 1.02 1.03 1.04 1.05 1.06 1.07 1.08 1.09 1.10 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  2. ↑ 2.0 2.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  3. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 4.4 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  5. ↑ 5.0 5.1 5.2 5.3 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  6. ↑ Incidents
  7. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  8. ↑ 8.0 8.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  9. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  10. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  11. ↑ 11.0 11.1 Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  12. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  13. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  14. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  15. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  16. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  17. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  18. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  19. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.
  20. ↑ Lua error in package.lua at line 80: module 'strict' not found.

External links

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