Fred. Olsen Cruise Lines

Fred. Olsen Cruise Lines Ltd.
Subsidiary
Industry Shipping
Founded 1848
Headquarters Ipswich, United Kingdom
Products Cruise ships
Parent Bonheur
Website www.fredolsencruises.com

Fred. Olsen Cruise Lines is a UK-based, Norwegian-owned cruise shipping line with four cruise ships. The company headquarters are in Ipswich, Suffolk, in the United Kingdom, and is owned by Bonheur and Ganger Rolf. The company is part of the Fred. Olsen Group.

History

The company originated in Hvitsten, a small town on Oslofjord in Norway, in 1848 by three Olsen brothers, Fredrik Christian, Petter and Andras, who bought their first ships and began an international shipping company. The company is now into the fifth generation of the family and operates various companies skilled within the cruise and passenger shipping trade, as well as aviation, ships' crewing, ship building and offshore industries. The Fred. Olsen group also has business interests in the luxury hotel sector, estate management,[1] property development and electronics companies.

Fleet

Current fleet

Ship Built Entered service
with Fred. Olsen 		Gross tonnage Flag Notes Image
Black Watch 1972 1996 28,613 GT  Bahamas
Boudicca 1972 2005 28,388 GT  Bahamas
Braemar 1993 2001 24,344 GT  Bahamas
Balmoral 1988 2007 43,537 GT  Bahamas

Former ships

Ship Built Years in service Tonnage Notes Status as of 2010 Image
Black Prince 1966 1966–2009 9,499 GRT
11,209 GT 		Built as a combination ferry/cruise ship/reefer ship. Rebuilt into a cruise ship in 1987. Scrapped in November 2011 as Ola Esmeralda.

Destinations & cruise holidays

For most of the year, the ships are based in Britain, with cruises departing from Southampton, Dover, Rosyth (for Edinburgh), Greenock (for Glasgow), Liverpool, Portsmouth and Newcastle. A winter Caribbean fly-cruise programme on Braemar operates from Barbados, with connecting flights from London Gatwick and Manchester.

Itineraries range from popular areas, such as the Mediterranean, Canaries, Baltic, Norway and the Caribbean, to the longer, cruise voyage routes – ‘Around South America’ and ‘Around the World’.

Operations

Fred. Olsen Cruise Lines operates a fleet of four cruise ships to destinations in Northern Europe, the Baltic, the Mediterranean, the Adriatic, the Canary Islands, the Caribbean, Africa, Canada, the United States and South America. The company operates smaller scale cruise ships, ranging in size from 11,000 to 43,000 GRT (approx). The ambience on board is traditionally British.

In May 2006 Fred. Olsen Cruise Lines announced the purchase of a new vessel, Norwegian Crown, from Norwegian Cruise Line. Following delivery of the vessel in November 2007, she was dry-docked for refurbishment and lengthening, with a pre-built 30 metre centre section added. She was renamed Balmoral and entered service early in 2008. This was followed by the extension of Braemar in summer 2008. A new centre section was added, with new cabins and public rooms, increasing the size from 19,000 GRT to 24,000 GRT (approx).

In January 2008 it was reported that the company was considering ordering a newbuild of unspecified dimensions from a Korean shipyard.[2] If realised, the ship will be the first ever newbuild ordered for Fred. Olsen's cruise operations. However, no new ship was ever ordered (the fleet remained unchanged in 2015).

References

  1. ↑ http://www.fredolsen.co.uk/
  2. ↑ "Saga and Fred. Olsen said to consider ordering newbuildings in Korea". Cruise Business Review. 2008-01-25. Archived from the original on January 15, 2009. Retrieved 2008-01-25.
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