Orient Lines
 |
|
| Subsidiary | |
| Industry | Cruise line |
| Founded | 1991 |
| Founder | Gerry Herrod |
| Defunct | 2008 |
|
Key people
|
Wayne Heller |
| Parent |
Norwegian Cruise Line (1998—2000) Star Cruises (2000—2008) Origin Cruise Group (2008—present) |
| Website | www.orientlines.com |
Orient Lines was a cruise line specialising in exotic destinations that was in operation 1993–2008. The brand was founded in 1993 by Gerry Herrod, who had previously owned Ocean Cruise Lines. Orient Lines was sold to Norwegian Cruise Line in 1998, and ceased operations in March 2008.
The brand was sold to new owners in June 2008, and was planned to restart operations in April 2009. However, due to the economic downturn in 2008 the re-launch of the Orient Lines brand has been delayed indefinitely.
The history of Orient Lines began in 1991 when Shipping & General Ltd, owned by Gerry Herrod, acquired the cruise ship Alexandr Pushkin from Far Eastern Shipping Company. Herrod had previously operated Ocean Cruise Lines, but had sold that venture in 1990 to Paquet Lines. During the next two and a half years the Alexandr Pushkin was almost entirely rebuilt and emerged in 1993 as the Marco Polo for the new Orient Lines brand, embarking on a varied program with cruises all around the world.
In 1998, Norwegian Cruise Line acquired the successful brand. In 1999, NCL itself was acquired by Star Cruises. Following this NCL's Norwegian Crown joined the Orient Lines fleet in May 2000 under the name Crown Odyssey. In March 2001 Star Cruises announced that their SuperStar Aries would be joining the Orient Lines fleet in mid-2002 as the Ocean Voyager. This plan was shelved however, and in 2003 Orient Lines reverted to operating with just one ship when the Crown Odyssey returned to the NCL fleet.
On 4 June 2007, NCL announced that the Marco Polo had been sold to the Greece-based Global Maritime, with a delivery date on 31 March 2008. This meant the end of the Orient Line brand, as no ship was brought in to replace the Marco Polo. Global Maritime in turn chartered the Marco Polo to the Germany-based Transocean Tours.
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