SS The Emerald
Encyclopedia
SS The Emerald is a cruise ship owned by the Cyprus-based shipping company Louis Cruise Lines
Louis Cruise Lines
Louis Cruises is a Cyprus-based cruise line that operates cruises from Cyprus, France, Italy, India and Greece . The company also charters several ships to Thomson Cruises...

. She was built in 1958 by the Northrop Grumman Shipyard in Gulfport, Mississipi, USA
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

 for Grace Lines as SS Santa Rosa. Between 1992 and 1995, she sailed for Regency Cruises as SS Regent Rainbow and between 1997 and 2008, she sailed for Thomson Cruises under its present name. As of 2007 she is the only passenger liner built at a U.S. shipyard (passenger liners having not been built there since 1958) that is still in service.

Santa Rosa and time laid up

The ship was originally launched in 1958 as Santa Rosa, displacing 20,000 gross registered tons. She sailed under this name alongside her sister the SS Santa Paula
SS Santa Paula
The SS Santa Paula was a passenger/cargo ship built for the Grace Line South American service in 1958, later sailing on Caribbean cruises out of New York...

 for 13 years before she was laid up in 1971. She was sold to Vintoro Corp of New York
New York
New York is a state in the Northeastern region of the United States. It is the nation's third most populous state. New York is bordered by New Jersey and Pennsylvania to the south, and by Connecticut, Massachusetts and Vermont to the east...

 in 1976 and was renamed Samos Sky, to operate South American service once again, but this venture did not eventuate and the ship remained idle. In 1989, she was sold to Coral Cruise Lines and towed to Greece that December.

Modernisation

In March 1990, the Samos Sky arrived in Chalkis, Greece to be modernised and Coral Cruises renamed her Pacific Sun, then Diamond Island before selling her to the also Greek Lelakis Group later that year, who substantially rebuilt her at the cost of $70 million. She emerged in 1991, with a brand new superstructure above her unaltered hull, and was barely recognisable, although unusually she kept her steam turbine engines.

Regent Rainbow

Now measuring 26,431 gross tonnes, the ship entered service under Regency Cruises as the popular Regent Rainbow from 1992, until Regency Cruises suffered extensive losses and was declared bankrupt in 1995. The Regent Rainbow was placed under arrest on 27 November of that year and, in December 1996, was sold to the Cyprus
Cyprus
Cyprus , officially the Republic of Cyprus , is a Eurasian island country, member of the European Union, in the Eastern Mediterranean, east of Greece, south of Turkey, west of Syria and north of Egypt. It is the third largest island in the Mediterranean Sea.The earliest known human activity on the...

-based Louis Cruise Lines
Louis Cruise Lines
Louis Cruises is a Cyprus-based cruise line that operates cruises from Cyprus, France, Italy, India and Greece . The company also charters several ships to Thomson Cruises...

 and renamed Emerald.

The Emerald

In 1997, the Emerald was chartered to Thomson Cruises (where The was added before her name) to operate cruises for the British market. She soon became the company's most popular ship, and stayed with them until November 2008, when she was dropped in favor of a larger, more modern vessel. She was in danger of being withdrawn from service due to new SOLAS
International Convention for the Safety of Life at Sea
The International Convention for the Safety of Life at Sea is an international maritime safety treaty. The SOLAS Convention in its successive forms is generally regarded as the most important of all international treaties concerning the safety of merchant ships.- History :The first version of the...

 regulations coming into effect that would no longer allow her to be operated. She had been renamed Emerald according to the Louis Cruises website. http://www.louiscruises.com/en/cruise-ships/emerald.html?layout=item Louis Cruise Lines has said that Emerald is currently laid up and most likely will not sail again. The Emerald was retired and laid up in September 2009.

The Future

Minor interest has been shown in mooring the ship as a hotel in California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...

 for a period of time, after which she could be rebuilt into her original form as Santa Rosa. Louis is looking for owners who will operate The Emerald for further use (as she has been upgraded to meet SOLAS 2010 standards) while she is laid up at Eleusis alongside the MS Sapphire
MS Sapphire
MS Sapphire is a 1967 Italian built cruise ship that most recently operated for Louis Cruise Lines, now laid up at Eleusis Bay awaiting sale.-Construction:...

. As of 2011, both ships are being inspected by scrappers.

Decks

The Emerald has ten decks, all ten of which are accessible to passengers.
  1. Gym
    Gym
    The word γυμνάσιον was used in Ancient Greece, that mean a locality for both physical and intellectual education of young men...

    , hospital, Kidzone, massage room, sauna, engine room
    Engine room
    On a ship, the engine room, or ER, commonly refers to the machinery spaces of a vessel. To increase the safety and damage survivability of a vessel, the machinery necessary for operations may be segregated into various spaces, the engine room is one of these spaces, and is generally the largest...

    , crew spaces
  2. Outside and inside cabins, engine room, crew spaces
  3. Outside and inside cabins, crew spaces
  4. Outside and inside cabins, beauty salon
  5. Outside and inside cabins, reception
  6. Yacht club bar, Royale lounge, casino, shops, library, Monte Carlo court, Chanterelle dining room, Regency showlounge
  7. Outside and inside cabins
  8. Outside and inside cabins, Le Bistro buffet, swimming pool
    Swimming pool
    A swimming pool, swimming bath, wading pool, or simply a pool, is a container filled with water intended for swimming or water-based recreation. There are many standard sizes; the largest is the Olympic-size swimming pool...

    , lido bar
  9. Starlight lounge, disco, whirlpools
  10. Sun deck (exists in the forward part of the ship only)

External links

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