MV ''Kungsholm'' was built in 1964/5 by the

John Brown & Company John Brown and Company of Clydebank was a Scottish Naval architecture, marine engineering and shipbuilding firm. It built many notable and world-famous ships including , , , , , and ''Queen Elizabeth 2 (ship), Queen Elizabeth 2''. At its heig ...

shipyard in

Clydebank Clydebank () is a town in West Dunbartonshire, Scotland. Situated on the north bank of the River Clyde, it borders the village of Old Kilpatrick (with Bowling, West Dunbartonshire, Bowling and Milton, West Dunbartonshire, Milton beyond) to the w ...

, Scotland as a combined

ocean liner An ocean liner is a type of passenger ship primarily used for transportation across seas or oceans. Ocean liners may also carry cargo or mail, and may sometimes be used for other purposes (such as for pleasure cruises or as hospital ships). The ...

/ cruise ship for the

Swedish American Line Swedish American Line (, abbr. SAL) was a Swedish passenger shipping line. It was founded in December 1914 under the name Rederiaktiebolaget Sverige-Nordamerika and began ocean liner service from Gothenburg to New York City, New York in 1915. ...

. She was later rebuilt as a full-time cruise ship, sailing under the names ''Sea Princess'', ''Victoria'', ''Oceanic II'' and ''Mona Lisa''. In September 2010 she was retired from service, as she did not fulfill requirements to

SOLAS 2010 The International Convention for the Safety of Life at Sea (SOLAS) is an international maritime treaty which sets out minimum safety standards in the construction, equipment and operation of merchant ships. The International Maritime Organizat ...

, becoming the floating hotel Veronica, before being scrapped in 2016.

Design and construction

The ''Kungsholm'' was designed by the longtime Swedish American Line technical director Eric Christiansson, who had designed all Swedish American Line new-builds since 1938, and introduced the trademark double stack, streamline profile to the majority of the new ships.

Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...

was selected to construct the new ''Kungsholm'', and she was launched in 1965. She was fitted with two Swedish-built

Götaverken Götaverken was a Swedish shipbuilding company that was located on Hisingen, Gothenburg. It was founded in 1841, and ceased building ships in 1989. History The company was founded in 1841 by Scottish businessman Alexander Keiller (Gothenburg), Ale ...

nine-cylinder engines have a combined output of , which gave her a service speed of , although she achieved during her

sea trial A sea trial or trial trip is the testing phase of a watercraft (including boats, ships, and submarines). It is also referred to as a "shakedown cruise" by many naval personnel. It is usually the last phase of construction and takes place on op ...

s. The ship was equipped with Denny Brown stabilizers and was one of the handful of British-built liners to have a

bulbous bow A bulbous bow is a streamlined flaring or protruding bulb at the bow (or front) of a ship just below the waterline. The flare or bulb modifies the way the water flows around the hull, reducing drag and thus increasing speed, range, fuel effici ...

. The vessel met all updated SOLAS requirements as of the 1992 modifications. The ship was originally measured at . After rebuilding for service with P&O, her tonnage increased to 27,670. Later she was measured at . She is long with a breadth of . The ship's passenger capacity was 713 as a transatlantic liner, but only 450 as a cruise ship before the addition of extra cabins increased the number of berths to 730. She carried 438 crew members. The maximum capacity utilizing upper (passenger) and lower (crew) berths is 994 persons.

History

''Kungsholm'' - Swedish American Line

As ''Kungsholm'', the ship first entered service for the Swedish America Line in 1966 as a

transatlantic Transatlantic, Trans-Atlantic or TransAtlantic may refer to: Film * Transatlantic Pictures, a film production company from 1948 to 1950 * Transatlantic Enterprises, an American production company in the late 1970s * ''Transatlantic'' (1931 film) ...

ocean liner, the last liner built for the

Gothenburg Gothenburg ( ; ) is the List of urban areas in Sweden by population, second-largest city in Sweden, after the capital Stockholm, and the fifth-largest in the Nordic countries. Situated by the Kattegat on the west coast of Sweden, it is the gub ...

–

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

run. Although built for transatlantic service, she was also designed to spend a large proportion of the year cruising.

''Kungsholm'' - Flagship Cruises

In 1975, the Swedish America Line closed its passenger services and ''Kungsholm'' was sold to Flagship Cruises, who retained her name and used her for cruising from the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

. She was re-registered in Liberia.

''Sea Princess'' - P&O Princess Cruises

In 1978 she was purchased by P&O and was sent to Vegesack for rebuilding by Bremer Vulkan. She had her appearance dramatically altered by the removal of the dummy forward funnel, reshaping of the remaining funnel, and the addition of extra cabins. Under UK registry her tonnage increased to 27,670 GRT, and she had accommodation for 750 passengers. She was renamed ''Sea Princess'' and initially based in Australia. From 1981 ''Sea Princess'' alternated between deployments with P&O's UK fleet and the subsidiary

Princess Cruises Princess Cruises is an American cruise line owned by Carnival Corporation & plc. The company headquarters are in Santa Clarita, California and is incorporated in Bermuda. As of 2025, it is the List of cruise lines#List of cruise lines by size, s ...

fleet. Multiple episodes of ''

The Love Boat ''The Love Boat'' is an American romantic comedy-drama television series created by Wilford Lloyd Baumes that originally aired on ABC from September 24, 1977, to May 24, 1986. In addition, three TV movies aired before the regular series pre ...

'' were filmed on board when deployed in Australia. As her deployments changed, so did the colour of her funnel; buff (yellow) for P&O, white with the Sea Witch logo for

''Victoria'' - P&O Cruises

In 1995 she was renamed ''Victoria'' and for the rest of her career with

P&O Cruises P&O Cruises is a British cruise line based at Carnival House in Southampton, England, operated by Carnival Corporation & plc#Carnival UK, Carnival UK and owned by Carnival Corporation & plc. It was originally a subsidiary of the freight transp ...

operated out of

Southampton Southampton is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and unitary authority in Hampshire, England. It is located approximately southwest of London, west of Portsmouth, and southeast of Salisbury. Southampton had a population of 253, ...

. The name change was to allow a new addition to the

fleet to be named ''

Sea Princess MS ''Dream'' is a cruise ship owned by Tianjin Orient International Cruise Line from 2023. She was built in Italy in 1998 as the ''Sea Princess'' for Princess Cruises, which operated her until 2020, except for a short period (2003–2005) with ...

''. In 1999/2000 ''Victoria'' was chartered for the

Union-Castle Line The Union-Castle Line was a British shipping line that operated a fleet of passenger liners and cargo ships between Europe and Africa from 1900 to 1977. It was formed from the merger of the Union Line and Castle Shipping Line. It merged with ...

centenary voyage and had her funnel repainted in that company's livery.

''Mona Lisa'' - Holiday Kreuzfahrten

In 2002 she was sold by P&O and sailed for Holiday Kreuzfahrten of

Düsseldorf Düsseldorf is the capital city of North Rhine-Westphalia, the most populous state of Germany. It is the second-largest city in the state after Cologne and the List of cities in Germany with more than 100,000 inhabitants, seventh-largest city ...

as ''Mona Lisa'' until 2006, bearing a large image of

the painting ''The Painting'' () is a 2011 French animated film directed by Jean-François Laguionie. Plot For mysterious reasons, a painter has left a work incomplete, causing conflict between the Toupins (Allduns), who are entirely painted, the Pafinis ( ...

of the same name on her funnel. On 12 May 2004, in heavy fog, the ''Mona Lisa'' got stuck in the San Marco basin in

Venice Venice ( ; ; , formerly ) is a city in northeastern Italy and the capital of the Veneto Regions of Italy, region. It is built on a group of 118 islands that are separated by expanses of open water and by canals; portions of the city are li ...

, in front of St Mark's Square. Holiday Kreuzfahrten declared bankruptcy in September 2006. Following the bankruptcy of Holiday Kreuzfahrten, ''Mona Lisa'' was briefly laid up at

Piraeus Piraeus ( ; ; , Ancient: , Katharevousa: ) is a port city within the Athens urban area ("Greater Athens"), in the Attica region of Greece. It is located southwest of Athens city centre along the east coast of the Saronic Gulf in the Ath ...

, but in November 2006 she was chartered for use as a hotel ship in

Doha Doha ( ) is the capital city and main financial hub of Qatar. Located on the Persian Gulf coast in the east of the country, north of Al Wakrah and south of Al Khor (city), Al Khor and Lusail, it is home to most of the country's population. It ...

, Qatar for the duration of the

Asian Games The Asian Games, also known as Asiad, is a continental multi-sport event held every four years for athletes of Asia. The Games were regulated by Asian Games Federation from the 1951 Asian Games, first Games in New Delhi, India in 1951, until ...

. The charter to Qatar ended on 1 January 2007.

''Oceanic II''

In 2007, the ship was chartered by Royal Caribbean Cruises (RCC) and was renamed ''Oceanic II''. From 30 April to 28 May 2007, Louis Hellenic Cruises sub-chartered the ship as a temporary replacement for ''Sea Diamond'', which went aground off the coast of

Santorini Santorini (, ), officially Thira (, ) or Thera, is a Greek island in the southern Aegean Sea, about southeast from the mainland. It is the largest island of a small, circular archipelago formed by the Santorini caldera. It is the southern ...

, Greece and sank earlier in April. Following this she was operated by

Pullmantur Cruises Pullmantur Cruises was a cruise line headquartered in Madrid, Spain. It began operations in the late 1990s as an offshoot of the Madrid-based travel agency Pullmantur. In 2006, Pullmantur Cruises, through its parent company, was purchased by U ...

(a subsidiary of RCC) for the 2007

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 by humans as being in the same celestial sphere, celestial hemisphere relative to the invariable plane of the Solar ...

summer season.

The Scholar Ship

The ship was refitted to become an educational vessel for The Scholar Ship international education program, a cooperative venture between seven major world universities and RCC. The Scholar Ship offered undergraduate and graduate semester programs during four-month voyages. The inaugural voyage embarked in September 2007, with a second voyage in early 2008. In June 2008 the discontinuation of the program was announced.

''Mona Lisa'' - Lord Nelson Seereisen

''Oceanic II'' reverted to the name ''Mona Lisa'' prior to her charter to German tour operator

Lord Nelson-Seereisen Lord is an appellation for a person or deity who has authority, control, or power over others, acting as a master, chief, or ruler. The appellation can also denote certain persons who hold a title of the peerage in the United Kingdom, or are e ...

Erkelenz Erkelenz (, ) is a town in the Rhineland in western Germany that lies southwest of Mönchengladbach on the northern edge of the Cologne Lowland, halfway between the Lower Rhine region and the Lower Meuse. It is a medium-sized town (over 44,000) ...

, Germany, which ran from 28 April to 31 August 2008. On 4 May 2008 ''Mona Lisa'' grounded in the

Irbe Strait Irbe Strait, also known as Irben Strait (, , ), forms the main exit out of the Gulf of Riga to the Baltic Sea, between the Sõrve Peninsula forming the southern end of the island Saaremaa in Estonia and Courland Peninsula in Latvia. It is wide ...

while leaving

Riga Riga ( ) is the capital, Primate city, primate, and List of cities and towns in Latvia, largest city of Latvia. Home to 591,882 inhabitants (as of 2025), the city accounts for a third of Latvia's total population. The population of Riga Planni ...

. She suffered no major damage, but the passengers were evacuated from the ship on 5 May after unsuccessful efforts to free the ship from the sandbank. ''Mona Lisa'' was eventually pulled free on 7 May 2008. She subsequently sailed to a drydock in

Ventspils Ventspils () is a state city in northwestern Latvia in the historical Courland region of Latvia, and is the sixth largest city in the country. At the beginning of 2020, Ventspils had a population of 33,906. It is situated on the Venta River and ...

, Latvia for inspection and returned to normal cruise traffic on 8 May 2008.

Peace Boat

Following the completion of her charter to Lord Nelson-Seereisen, ''Mona Lisa'' was chartered to

Peace Boat is a global non-government organization headquartered in Japan established for the purpose of raising awareness and building connections internationally among groups that work for peace, human rights, environmental protection and sustainable de ...

for the duration of the 2008/2009

winter season. For the 2009 northern summer season she again returned to Lord Nelson-Seereisen's program.

Vancouver Winter Olympics

From 26 January to 23 March 2010, ''Mona Lisa'' was used as floating accommodation at Squamish,

British Columbia British Columbia is the westernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Situated in the Pacific Northwest between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains, the province has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that ...

, Canada. During the

2010 Winter Olympics The 2010 Winter Olympics, officially known as the XXI Olympic Winter Games () and also known as Vancouver 2010 (), were an international winter multi-sport event held from February 12 to 28, 2010 in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, with ...

and

Paralympics The Paralympic Games or Paralympics is a periodic series of international multisport events involving athletes with a range of disabilities. There are Winter and Summer Paralympic Games, which since the 1988 Summer Olympics in Seoul, South Kore ...

Vancouver Vancouver is a major city in Western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the List of cities in British Columbia, most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the cit ...

and Whistler, approximately 1,400 crew, volunteers and paid staff were housed aboard.

Final sailing years

She resumed her voyages with Lord Nelson-Seereisen during 2010 from May until August, when her charter ended. Her future was then uncertain as she did not comply with the new SOLAS passenger safety regulations coming into effect in October 2010.

Retirement

Potential return to Sweden

A letter of intent was signed between the ship's owners and Swedish entrepreneur Lars Hallgren for the acquisition of the ship in 2010. Hallgren planned to use the ship as a floating hotel in

. Had his plans been realized, certain features of the ''Kungsholm''s original appearance, such as her two funnels, would have been restored. Hallgren withdrew his offer to purchase ''Mona Lisa'', because the City of Gothenburg would only lease dock space for the ship to be berthed in Gothenburg for five years, and scrap buyers inspected her in the following weeks. However, the city of

Stockholm Stockholm (; ) is the Capital city, capital and List of urban areas in Sweden by population, most populous city of Sweden, as well as the List of urban areas in the Nordic countries, largest urban area in the Nordic countries. Approximately ...

expressed a sudden interest in letting Lars Hallgren berth and preserve ''Mona Lisa'' there, first for use as a student accommodation ship and then for use a permanently berthed hotel and museum. These plans ultimately fell through.

''Veronica'' - floating hotel

After the failed attempt to return the ship to Sweden, she was bought by the Korean

Daewoo Daewoo ( ; ; ; ; literally "great universe" and a portmanteau of "''dae''" meaning great, and the given name of founder and chairman Kim Woo-choong) also known as the Daewoo Group, was a major South Korean chaebol (type of conglomerate) and aut ...

company and moved to

Duqm Duqm () is a port town on the coastal strip of the Arabian Sea open to the Indian Ocean. It is about 550 km from Muscat. As of 2017, the population was approximately 12,000. History Duqm was a small fishing settlement on the coast of souther ...

Oman Oman, officially the Sultanate of Oman, is a country located on the southeastern coast of the Arabian Peninsula in West Asia and the Middle East. It shares land borders with Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, and Yemen. Oman’s coastline ...

to become a floating hotel.''Mona Lisa'' made her way from

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

, in September, 2010. ''Mona Lisa'' left Piraeus on October 11, bound for the

Suez Canal The Suez Canal (; , ') is an artificial sea-level waterway in Egypt, Indo-Mediterranean, connecting the Mediterranean Sea to the Red Sea through the Isthmus of Suez and dividing Africa and Asia (and by extension, the Sinai Peninsula from the rest ...

and for use as an accommodation ship in

. She then arrived to Oman on October 26, 2010, where she was renamed ''Veronica'', and spent the next three years until October 2013, as a luxury floating hotel in the wilayat of Duqm. She was then laid up for two years.

Scrapping

In November 2015 it was reported that although it was still hoped to take her back to Sweden as a hotel ship she had in fact already been sold for scrap and was being towed by the tug ''Kamarina'' to the ship breaking yard in

Alang Alang is a census town in Bhavnagar district in the Indian state of Gujarat. Because it is home to the Alang Ship Breaking Yard, Alang beaches are considered the world's largest ship graveyard. Demographics As of the 2001 Indian census, Al ...

, India. She arrived in Alang in November and, after waiting for a high tide and permission to run aground, was scrapped in May 2016.

References

External links

Swedish American Line HistoryFilm: Sea Princess Tour 1979Ship Spotting - Kungsholm - Sea Princess - Victoria

Veronica Duqm floating hotel to spur tourism
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kungsholm (1965) 1965 ships Ships built on the River Clyde Ocean liners Ships of P&O Cruises Ships of Princess Cruises Ships of Swedish American Line