Cost $100 million Length 205 m Beam 27 m Propulsion Propeller | Yard number 1432 Launched 9 January 1981 Draft 7.8 m | |
 | ||
Name 1982—1988 Atlantic
1988—1997 StarShip Atlantic
1997—2013 Melody
2004—2013 Had been reported as being renamed MSC Melody but this appears never to have happened. Source gisis.imo.org
2013 onwards Qing Owner 1982—1988 Home Lines
1988—1997 Premier Cruise Line
1997—2013 MSC Cruises
2013 onwards Sahara India Pariwar Operator 1982—1988 Home Lines
1988—1997 Premier Cruise Lines
1997—2013 MSC Cruises Port of registry 1982—1997 Liberia, Monrovia
1997—2013 Panama, Panama City
2013 onwards India, Mumbai Builder Constructions industrielles de la Méditerranée | ||
MS Qing is a cruise ship, formally owned and operated by MSC Cruises. She was built in 1982 by the CNIM shipyard in La Seyne, France for Home Lines as Atlantic. Between 1988 and 1997 she sailed for Premier Cruise Line as StarShip Atlantic.
Contents
In 1997, the vessel entered service for MSC Cruises as Melody. She was renamed MSC Melody in 2004, and was retired in January 2013. She accommodated 1,076 passengers in 532 cabins. Her crew complement was approximately 535.
Pirate attack
While on a repositioning cruise from Durban, South Africa to Genoa, Italy with some 1,000 passengers and 500 crew members on board, MSC Melody was attacked by Somalian pirates on 25 April 2009 when approximately 300 km off Seychelles at around 11:25 PM local time (19:35 UTC). A speedboat with six people on board drew alongside the ship, fired at the bridge with an automatic rifle and subsequently the pirates attempted to board the ship. Media reports indicate passengers fought off pirates by throwing tables and deck chairs overboard before the ship's security personnel could be mobilized.
Later, the ship's Israeli private security detail attempted to repel the pirates by using the ship's fire hose and, when this failed, pistols. Pistol fire was successful in forcing the pirates to retreat, although after boarding their speedboat they continued to fire at the ship for another ten minutes. As a security precaution MSC Melody's original itinerary had been altered to allow her to circumvent some of the more pirate-infested waters. Additionally the Spanish auxiliary military vessel Marques de la Ensenada was scheduled to provide escort to MSC Melody through the Gulf of Aden, but she did not rendezvous with MSC Melody until the afternoon after the attack. The pirates that attacked MSC Melody were pursued and eventually captured by the Spanish frigate SPS Numancia (F83) on 27 April 2009. The suspected pirates were turned over to authorities in the Seychelles.
Disposal
In July 2012, there was speculation that MSC Melody was to be chartered to new operators in Japan. The following month, it was reported that she had been sold to a South Korean company, Lotus Mine, and that as from February 2013 she would operate a regular service between Shanghai and Jeju Island, South Korea. However, she was de-commissioned following her final voyage for MSC Cruises in September 2012.
On 7 January 2013, MSC Cruises announced that MSC Melody had been retired effective immediately, despite being scheduled to sail through the summer season, and was listed for sale. In November 2013, she was sold for an undisclosed price to Sahara India Pariwar, a multinational group involved in finance, leisure, hotels, construction, property and industrial activities. Under the new name Qing, she was to be delivered in Goa, India, and converted into floating accommodation.
On 29 June 2016, the ship partially sank while docked in Goa, India. The sinking was caused by heavy monsoon rains. Nobody was on board at the time the ship sank. However, it was repaired shortly after.