# Voyager



## flyer682

I heard a news item this morning reporting that the cruise ship VOYAGER was in trouble with approx. 700 pax on board. Had lost all power, was in heavy seas and had sent out a Mayday call.
I haven't heard anything since, anybody else know any more?


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## Fairfield

From BBC news:-

A cruise liner damaged by a storm near Majorca will now sail to Sardinia after the crew restored power to two of its four engines, the ship's owners say. 
A statement from V Ships of Monaco said some passengers had minor injuries and were being treated on board. The Voyager is carrying 776 people. 

Most of the 480 passengers are Spanish. The ship was sailing from Tunis to Barcelona when the storm struck. 

A giant wave smashed a bridge window, knocking out the control systems. 

Rescue mission 

V Ships said none of those injured had life-threatening conditions. 

The ship is expected to dock in Cagliari, Sardinia, early on Tuesday. 

All the Voyager's messages are being relayed via a liquefied gas tanker, the Gimmi, which had answered its distress call. 

The Voyager was hit by the storm about 100 km (60 miles) off Palma, Majorca, at about 0800 GMT on Monday. 

The distress call triggered a French-led rescue to reach the Voyager. 


Two tugs - one Spanish and one French - were despatched to the scene, along with several aircraft. 

The ship is chartered to the Barcelona cruise firm Iberojet, V Ships said. 

The ship, registered in the Bahamas and owned by Horizon Navigation, was built in 2000


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## flyer682

Thanks for that - at first I thought it may have been VOYAGER OF THE SEAS, which would have been a major shipping disaster.


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## Doug Rogers

Thanks for the info Fairfield, Voyager of the Seas would have been something else but it probably will happen one day soon with one of the big ones!!
Other Doug


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## flyer682

One can't help but wonder how they stay afloat. Take SAPPHIRE PRINCESS for example - 18 decks high and only 24 feet below the water line.


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## Doug Rogers

Well dont forget that a lot of the superstructure is still aluminium, and I have the feeling that Sapphire was Diamond in the original instant and was nearly written off after the fire while she was building in Japan, nearly complete but not quite. A little sleight of hand and the Sapphire became the Diamond and vice versa...they were very lucky that they didnt have to declare a TLC on her, a little more warping on the hull and she would have been. Putting it basically they are overdesigned, every factor is considered and the ship designed to incorporate it...but there is almost no margin of error as in design in the old days when so much was unknown that they allowed very wide margins of error.
Old is best in my opinion, besides they are too big, by the time u get to know your way around its time to leave, smaller is they way to go for me!!.


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## flyer682

Yes, you are correct in saying that SAPPHIRE PRINCESS was going to be DIAMOND until the fire. I get the opportunity to see the SAPPHIRE PRINCESS close up when it calls at Lyttelton and if one looks really hard, the letter D is discernible between the S & A on the bow.
As regards size, I find that perhaps she is a little big and have had to stop and think about which way to go to get off again. Some of the passageways in the cabin decks are incredibly long too.


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## david smith

This is the Grand Voyager - ex Olympia Voyager that was in trouble. Strange that it follows shortly after the sister ship Explorer - ex Olympia Explorer was adrift in the Pacific with University students aboard and limped to Hawaii for repairs. Both fast cruise ships built for Royal Olympic cruises of Greece for a service advertised as Three Continent cruises. Had to be renamed from thier original "Olympic" prefixes after complaints from the International Olympic Committee.


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## flyer682

I did wonder at first when I heard the news as to what ship it was. Two immediately came to mind - VOYAGER OF THE SEAS and SEVENSEAS VOYAGER, but a quick check in the Equasis ship info site soon put me right.
Nice looking ships too - insofar as modern cruise ships go.


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## Bob S

Scanned from a daily newspaper.


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