MV Discovery

Island Princess at Station Pier, Melbourne

Discovery (formerly Island Princess and Island Venture) is a cruise ship, currently in operation with Discovery Cruises

History

The ship began operation in 1972 with Flagship Cruises, under the name Island Venture. In 1974 she was sold to Princess Cruises along with sister ship Sea Venture. The pair were renamed "Island Princess" and "Pacific Princess", the latter now operating as the Pacific. The "Island Princess" operated as part of the Princess fleet until 2000, when she was sold on to Hyundai Cruises.

After several changes of ownership and a major refit between 2001- 2003, the vessel currently sails as Discovery. For part of the year she is operated under the "Voyages of Discovery" banner, the rest of the year for "Discovery World Cruises".

Statistics

The ship is 168.8m long and 24.7m beam, and originally displaced 19,910 GRT. She could carry 646 passengers, and had a top speed of 21.5 knots. The Discovery Cruises web site lists her current displacement as 20,186 tonnes, top speed as 18 knots and passenger capacity as 698. Propulsion is by four medium speed diesel engines with a combined power output of 18,000 shaft horsepower. The engines are geared in pairs to two shafts turning controllable pitch propellers.

The vessel has eight decks open to the public; Sky Deck, Sun Deck, Bridge Deck, Promenade Deck, Riviera Deck, Pacific Deck, Bali Deck and Coral Deck.

External links

• Discovery World Cruises site website
• Voyages of Discovery site website

References

• "P&O- Port Out, Starboard Home", David L. Williams, Ian Allen Publishing, 2002