Owner Teal Shipping S.A. Laid down 1 January 1967 Construction started 1 January 1967 Builder AG Weser | Yard number 935 Length 160 m Draft 6.7 m | |
 | ||
Name 1968 - 1995 Starward
1995 - 2006 Bolero
2006 - 2013 Orient Queen
2013 - onwards Louis Aura Operator 1968 - 1995 Norwegian Cruise Line
1995 - 2006 Festival Cruises
2006 - onwards Louis Cruises Port of registry 1968–2007 Panama City, Panama
2007–2009 Piraeus, Greece
2009–2011 Majuro, Marshall Islands
2011–2014 Valletta, Malta | ||
Louis aura arriving in st petersburg russia 06 07 2014
Louis Aura is a 16,000-ton cruise ship built in 1968 at the AG Weser shipyard in Bremerhaven, West Germany. The ship has twelve decks, eight of which are accessible to passengers. As currently configured she can accommodate 876 passengers in 349 cabins, of which 336 are staterooms and 56 are suites. She is currently operating cruises in the eastern Mediterranean.
Contents
- Louis aura arriving in st petersburg russia 06 07 2014
- M v orient queen louis aura sail away 2012
- References
From 1968 until 1995, the Louis Aura was operated by Norwegian Cruise Lines as the Starward, and was their first purpose-built ship along with her near identical sister, the Skyward. The M/S Starward was featured in the 1975 movie Peeper starring Natalie Wood and Michael Caine. After 1995, she was operated as the Bolero by Greek line Festival Cruises until the company's collapse in 2004 when she was purchased for $9.5 million by Abou Merhi Lines and received a $10–$15 million renovation.
In November 2005 the ship was repositioned in Dubai to begin what was an unsuccessful Persian Gulf cruise program, providing the first luxury cruise line service between Dubai and Gulf Cooperation Council countries. The ship was then positioned in Beirut and scheduled to begin a 2006 cruise season in the Mediterranean Sea. In November 2006, she was supposed to begin service from Port Canaveral, Florida, operated by Paradise Caribbean Cruise Line.
In July 2006, the Louis Aura was used to help evacuate United States citizens from Lebanon because of the ongoing conflict with Israel. The Louis Aura was escorted by the USS Gonzalez (DDG-66), a U.S. Navy guided missile destroyer, and the USS Barry (DDG-52). It took the evacuees to the port of Larnaca in Cyprus.
In August 2006, the Louis Aura was sold to Louis Cruise Lines of Cyprus and operated cruises under the name of Orient Queen.
In 2012 and 2013 the Louis Aura, named as Orient Quen, has sailed to the Greek Isles from Limassol, Cyprus and Piraeus, Greece. Under the flag of Malta, the ship was owned and operated by the Cyprus-based company Louis Cruises.
For the summer season of 2014, the ship executed 3/4/5/6 & 7 day cruises to the Greek isles departing from Limassol, Cyprus.
M v orient queen louis aura sail away 2012
