Sky Wonder
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| The Sky Wonder | |
Pacific Sky (former name) berthed at Pinkenba Wharf | |
| Entered Service: | March 1984 |
| Re-entered service: | November 2000 |
| Status: | Operating as Sky Wonder (Pullmantur, March 2006 -) |
| General Characteristics | |
|---|---|
| Tonnage: | 46,000 gross tons |
| Length: | 240 metres (787 feet) |
| Beam: | 27.8 m (91 ft) |
| Draft: | 8 m (26 ft) |
| Height: | Includes 11 passenger decks |
| Propulsion: | Powered by steam turbines |
| Speed: | Approximately 21 knots (38 km/h/24 mph) |
| Complement: | 1550 passengers – more than 55,000 Australians a year, 600 crew – one crew member per 2.5 passengers |
| Cost: | CNIM France at a cost of AUD$300 million |
The Sky Wonder (formerly Pacific Sky and Sky Princess) was launched in 1984, and as of May 2006 operates in the Pullmantur Cruises fleet.
Contents |
[edit] History
In 1982, construction began on the vessel for Sitmar Cruises, who named the cruise ship "Fairsky". She entered service in 1984. When Sitmar was bought by Princess Cruises in 1988, the ship was renamed "Sky Princess" and remained with Princess until 2000, when she transferred to P&O Cruises Australia under the name "Pacific Sky". She is the last major passenger ship built with steam engines.
Replacing the 1957-built Fair Princess, Pacific Sky's modernised facilities made her popular with Australian cruise passengers. Her popularity prompted the expansion of the P&O Australia fleet to include Pacific Sun (2004), Pacific Star (2005). Between 2000 and 2006, Pacific Sky carried 275,000 passengers on 200 cruises.
However, the vessel has been involved in several incidents during her career in Australia, including an outbreak of Norwalk Virus during a cruise at the end of 2003 [1] and the death of Dianne Brimble in September 2002. Only now, almost four years later, has a coronial inquiry started to investigate her death. Recently, P&O Cruises announced plans to implement a number of improvements to their security procedures. The latter installation was scheduled for June, 2006. [2]
Claims were made by Kasmira Sewpershad [3], a woman from Auckland, New Zealand that she "was the victim of drink-spiking aboard the ... cruise ship." Ms Sewpershad told Brisbane's Sunday Mail newspaper that she was left "sick and disoriented" after something was slipped into her glass during a 12-day cruise on Pacific Sky in December 2005.
In May 2006, the transfer from P&O Cruises Australia to Pullmantur Cruises in Spain was made, after a series of 33 7-day cruises based out of Singapore. The vessel will be replaced in the P&O Cruises fleet by the US-built Regal Princess in mid-2007,
[edit] Incidents
"Trouble prone" Pacific Sky has been involved in many incidents during her career, some are listed below in chronological order.
- September 23, 2002 - Dianne Brimble, a 42 year-old Australian mother of three, died within 24 hours of boarding Pacific Sky on September 23, 2002. Dianne Brimble died apparently of an overdose of the drug "gamma-hydroxybutyrate", otherwise known as "GHB" or "fantasy". Eight men, Mark Robin Wilhelm, Matthew Graham Slade, Dragan Losic, Petar Vladimir Pantic, Ryan Kym Kuchel, Letterio Silvestri, Luigi Vitale and Sakelaros "Charlie" Kambouris, have been named as persons of interest in the case.<ref name="newscom24mar06">King, David (2006). Dead mother called 'a bitch'. News.com.au. Retrieved on 2006-06-17.</ref> Her semi-naked body was found on the floor of cabin #D182, which belonged to four of the men whom she had met at the ship's disco the previous night.<ref name="Brimble1">Dianne Brimble - Sexually Assaulted Murdered - P & O Cruise Lines - September 23, 2002. Cruise Bruise (2002). Retrieved on 2006-06-17.</ref>
- January ?, 2005: Pacific Sky was due to begin a scheduled cruise off the Queensland coast, but could not sail after a swarm of jellyfish blocked a cooling water intake. The engines had automatically shut down, leaving the vessel stuck fast at its Brisbane River berth. The shutdown also triggered the automatic dumping of vast quantities of distilled water used by the ship's boilers - and a fresh supply had to be trucked. [4].
- January 08, 2005 - A major air and sea search failed to find any trace of a 24-year-old man who jumped overboard off the Queensland Sunshine Coast. The man jumped despite passengers attempts to persuade him not to. Witnesses said he had been drinking heavily on the last night of a 10-night cruise as the ship headed for Brisbane. Police later boarded the ship on its arrival in Brisbane to interview passengers and crew. [5]
- April 01, 2005 - P&O Cruises was forced to cancel another two Pacific Sky cruises to allow extended work on the ship’s troublesome starboard gearbox. P&O Cruises said the two-month layoff would lead to the cancellation of five cruises but was confident problems would have been fixed in time for its scheduled June 4 cruise. [6]
- August 23, 2005 - A man jumped overboard after an intoxicated argument with his wife. The 52 year old male was rescued in a three hour effort in treacherous seas west of Noumea. [7]
- March 07, 2006 - Hundreds of passengers on a seven night cruise were left stranded for about 30 hours after the vessel broke down in the Malacca Strait near Singapore. About five hours after leaving Singapore the ship experienced problems with its starboard engine and came to a halt with more than 1300 passengers on board. Crew tried to fix the problem but were unsuccessful. [8]
[edit] References
<references />
- "Statement from P&O Cruises Australia on Safety and Security", pocruises.com.au, 13 January, 2006.
- "Sniffer dogs for Cruise liners", The Advertiser, April 2, 2006.
- "Drugs and death in cramped cabin", The Sunday Mail, 22 March, 2006.
