MS ''Nautica'' is a cruise ship, built for Renaissance Cruises as part of their . ''Nautica'' is now owned and operated by Oceania Cruises, where she is part of their Regatta Class. She was built in 2000 by the

Chantiers de l'Atlantique Chantiers de l'Atlantique is a shipyard in Saint-Nazaire, France. It is one of the world's largest shipyards, constructing a wide range of commercial, naval, and passenger ships. It is located near Nantes, at the mouth of the Loire river and ...

shipyard in

Saint-Nazaire Saint-Nazaire (; ; Gallo: ''Saint-Nazère/Saint-Nazaer'') is a commune in the Loire-Atlantique department in western France, in traditional Brittany. The town has a major harbour on the right bank of the Loire estuary, near the Atlantic Ocean ...

, France, for Renaissance Cruises as MS ''R Five''. Between 2002 and 2004 she sailed for Pullmantur Cruises before entering service with her current owners in 2005. On 30 November 2008 while sailing on the

Gulf of Aden The Gulf of Aden ( ar, خليج عدن, so, Gacanka Cadmeed 𐒅𐒖𐒐𐒕𐒌 𐒋𐒖𐒆𐒗𐒒) is a deepwater gulf of the Indian Ocean between Yemen to the north, the Arabian Sea to the east, Djibouti to the west, and the Guardafui Channe ...

the ''Nautica'' came under attack by Somali pirates, but was able to escape without any injuries to passenger or crew. On 20 September 2018, during

Storm Ali A storm is any disturbed state of the natural environment or the atmosphere of an astronomical body. It may be marked by significant disruptions to normal conditions such as strong wind, tornadoes, hail, thunder and lightning (a thunderstorm), ...

, the ''Nautica'' broke free from her moorings at

Greenock Greenock (; sco, Greenock; gd, Grianaig, ) is a town and administrative centre in the Inverclyde council areas of Scotland, council area in Scotland, United Kingdom and a former burgh of barony, burgh within the Counties of Scotland, historic ...

in Scotland at the height of the tempest leaving holidaymakers stranded.

Concept and construction

''R Five'' was the fifth ship in a series of eight identical cruise ships built between 1998 and 2001 by

, France, for Renaissance Cruises. Her keel was laid on 22 March 1999 and she was launched from drydock on 31 July 1999. Following fitting out, the ''R Five'' was delivered to Renaissance Cruises on 29 January 2000.

Service history

On 1 February 2000 the ''R Five'' entered service with Renaissance Cruises on cruises in the Mediterranean. She stayed in service until 25 September 2001, when Renaissance Cruises was declared bankrupt due to financial difficulties caused by the September 11 attacks. Alongside six of her sister ships the ''R Five'' was laid up at

Gibraltar ) , anthem = " God Save the King" , song = " Gibraltar Anthem" , image_map = Gibraltar location in Europe.svg , map_alt = Location of Gibraltar in Europe , map_caption = United Kingdom shown in pale green , mapsize = , image_map2 = Gib ...

. In December 2001 she was sold to the France-based Cruiseinvest and alongside her sisters was moved to Marseille, France, for a further lay-up. From June 2002 the ''R Five'' was chartered to the Spain-based Pullmantur Cruises for cruising for the Spanish market. In service with Pullmantur she was marketed under the name "Blue Dream", but her registered name remained unchanged. During the

northern hemisphere The Northern Hemisphere is the half of Earth that is north of the Equator. For other planets in the Solar System, north is defined as being in the same celestial hemisphere relative to the invariable plane of the solar system as Earth's Nort ...

winter seasons she sailed out of Brazilian port as a part of Pullmantur's joint service with CVC. ''R Five'' left service with Pullmantur in 2004. Nauticaship

In November 2005 the ''R Five'' re-entered service when she was chartered to Oceania Cruises and renamed ''Nautica''. On 30 November 2008 the ''Nautica'' was sailing from Safaga, Egypt, to Salah, Oman, on the

Maritime Safety Protection Area Maritime may refer to: Geography * Maritime Alps, a mountain range in the southwestern part of the Alps * Maritime Region, a region in Togo * Maritime Southeast Asia * The Maritimes, the Canadian provinces of Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, and Princ ...

established in the

due to persistent pirate attacks on the area, when at approximately 9:28 AM UTC+3 the ship encountered two

Somali pirate Piracy off the coast of Somalia occurs in the Gulf of Aden, Guardafui Channel and Somali Sea, in Somali territorial waters and other surrounding areas and has a long and troubled history with different perspectives from different communities. I ...

skiffs. Captain Jurica Brajcic ordered the ship to take evasive manoeuvres and to sail away at flank speed. The ''Nautica'' was able to outrun her attackers, although the ship was fired at eight times. None of the 684 passengers or 401 crew on board were injured in the attack. Following the attack the ''Nautica'' proceeded normally to her next scheduled port of call. ''Nautica'' is scheduled to undergo a significant renovation in June 2020 as a part of the company's $100 million OceaniaNEXT program.

References

External links

Official website
{{DEFAULTSORT:Nautica Cruise ships Ships built in France Piracy in Somalia 1999 ships