Ordered 1971 Christened November 30, 1971 Length 163 m | Yard number 288 Launched 5 June 1971 | |
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Name MS Southward (1971–1995)Seawing (1995–2005)Perla (2005–2008)The Aegean Pearl (2008–2010)Rio (2010–2012)Venus (2012–2013) Operator Norwegian Cruise Line (1971–1994)Airtours (1994–2004)Louis Cruise Lines (2004–2005)Pearl Navigation, Ltd. (2008–2009)Eagles Shipholding SA (2010–2011)Mediterranean Cruises, Ltd. Port of registry 1971–1987 Oslo, Norway1987–2005 Nassau, Bahamas2005–2010 Piraeus, Greece2010–2013 Valletta, Malta2013 Lomé, Togo Builder | ||
MS Southward was a cruise ship owned by Norwegian Cruise Line, operated between 1971 and 1994, and later on to other cruise liners until she ended operation in 2013.
History
Southward was NCL's fourth cruise ship, the others being Sunward (1966), Starward (1968), and Skyward (1969). Initially, she was operated on Caribbean cruises out of Miami. In 1987 however, she was dispatched to the west coast of the United States to begin operating out of Los Angeles (San Pedro) on three and four-night cruises to Catalina Island, San Diego and Ensenada, BC, Mexico. As a result of this move Norwegian Caribbean Line changed its name to Norwegian Cruise Line (NCL) in late 1987.
By 1994, she was sold off to Sun Cruises, a cruise division of the UK-based travel company Airtours, and renamed Seawing. She cruised seven-nights through the Mediterranean during the spring/summer season and the Far East in the winter season. Seawing later on ran fourteen, sixteen, and thirty-night cruises from 2002 and 2003.
From 2004 she joined the Louis Cruise Lines fleet, under the name of Perla. In 2005 she operated cruises out of Piraeus to the Greek Islands and Turkey, after a winter in the Far East. In May 2008, she was chartered to Golden Sun Cruises (a Greece-based company) and renamed The Aegean Pearl, operating between three and four nights cruises from Piraeus. After the chartered ended with Golden Sun Cruises in 2009, she returned to Louis Cruises with her name remaining unchanged.
In 2010, she was transferred to Rio Cruises and renamed Rio and again in 2012 sold off to Venus Cruise Lines and renamed Venus. She was scrapped in 2013.
