![]() Pacific Princess off the US West Coast in 1987
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History | |
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Name |
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Owner |
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Operator |
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Port of registry | |
Builder | Nordseewerke, Emden, West Germany |
Cost | US$25 million[3] |
Yard number | 411[1] |
Launched | 9 May 1970[1] |
Christened | 14 May 1971[1] |
Completed | 1971 |
Acquired | 14 May 1971[1] |
Maiden voyage | 8 May 1971[1] |
In service | June 1971[1] |
Out of service | August 2013[1] |
Identification |
|
Fate | Scrapped at Aliağa, Turkey in 2013[2] |
General characteristics (as built)[1] | |
Class and type | Cruise ship |
Tonnage | |
Length | 167.74 m (550 ft 4 in) |
Beam | 24.59 m (80 ft 8 in) |
Draught | 7.40 m (24 ft 3 in) |
Installed power |
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Propulsion | 2 propellers[4] |
Speed |
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Capacity | 626 passengers |
General characteristics (as Pacific)[3] | |
Class and type | Cruise ship |
Tonnage | 20,636 GT |
Decks | 8 |
Capacity |
|
Crew | 350 |
MS Pacific was a cruise ship owned and operated by the Brazil-based Viagens CVC from 2002 to 2013. She was built for Flagship Cruises in 1971 by the company Nordseewerke in Emden, West Germany, and named Sea Venture. Between 1975 and 2002 she was owned by Princess Cruises named Pacific Princess.
Pacific Princess became famous as the setting for the TV series The Love Boat, airing from 1977 to 1986.[5] Much of the 1980 book More Tales of the City by Armistead Maupin took place on board,[6] and was later made into a miniseries, aired in 1998.
In 2008, Pacific was chartered by the newly-established Quail Cruises to operate cruises out of Valencia, Spain,[7] but was retired from service when renovation work proved more expensive than had been anticipated, and was sold in 2012 to a ship breaking company. After that sale fell through, she remained laid up in Genoa for an extended period before being towed to Aliağa where she arrived on 6 August 2013 for demolition. Before she was dismantled, on 10 August 2013, there was a fatal accident in which there was a flood in the compartment below the engines. While electrical pumps were operating, two men were killed and nine injured by toxic exhaust gases.[8]