Fred Olsen retires Black Prince

Fred. Olsen’s Black Prince will be leaving the Fred. Olsen fleet this autumn to join SAVECA which is a company that buys up old ships and vessels and rebuilds them for different uses. The suggestion is that Black Prince will be used as a cruise shop in Venezuala’s coastal waters, which will allow the vessel to avoid the expensive work which would have been necessary if it continued to cruise internationally. Black Prince would have required extensive upgrades to meet the standards of the revised International Convention for the Safety of Life at Sea which comes into effect on 1st October 2010.

This means that Black Prince’s stalwart travellers, of whom there are many, will have a little while to take a farewell cruise, the first of which takes place on 9th September 2009. Fans of the old chap can chose from ten nights spent sailing around Britain or an alternative ten night Historic Home Ports trip, a three night cruise from Liverpool to Southampton or the final fourteen night Canary Islands cruise which will sail round-trip from Southampton.