| Star Cruises |
Star Cruises History |
 Malaysian owned Star Cruises entered the Asian market in September 1993 using 2 former Baltic car ferries the ATHENA and KALYPSO which were renamed STAR AQUARIUS and STAR PISCES. The ships were built for Baltic car ferry / cruise service for operators Rederi AB Slite who were part of the Viking Line consortium. Registered under the ownership of Manx owners Gelting International they swapped their red hulls for blue and sailed on cruises for the Asian market out of Singapore. It is the funnels of these ships which are used for the companies logo. The MEGASTAR TAURUS
and MEGASTAR ARIES were previously known as Aurora I and Aurora II
respectively, and constructed in 1991 at Flender Werft, Germany. After
being purchased by Star Cruises, the 3,264 gross tonnes ships were further
renovated with the latest safety features and launched in December 1994
and January 1995 respectively. In July 1995 the company introduced their first genuine Cruise Ship the former CROWN JEWEL again from Scandinavian interests and renamed her SUPERSTAR GEMINI. The ship was to be marketed at the international market, principally Australian and European clientele. She was and still is very successful. It was 1998 before the company really took the plunge by announcing 2 new buildings. SUPERSTAR LEO and SUPERSTAR VIRGO would be 74,500 grt and capable of carrying up to 3,500 passengers. Built by Meyer Werft at their outstanding Papenburg yard, the company would order further ships from the same builder. In the same year the company acquired the former ROYAL VIKING SKY which was renamed SUPERSTAR CAPRICORN. Second hand tonnage was also acquired In 1999. Star introduced the former LEEWARD from NCL as the SUPERSTAR TAURUS on a 3 year charter from the same owners as their SUPERSTAR GEMINI the Finnish company EFFJOHN Intl. Also in 1999 the company took delivery of one of the highest rated ships in the world the EUROPA which was originally named MEGASTAR EUROPE but later renamed SUPERSTAR ARIES. Finally from Royal Caribbean came the SUPERSTAR SAGITTARIUS ex. SUN VIKING which was allowed to keep her trademark Viking Crown lounge. The biggest time of growth for the company was 2000 when it acquired initially 50% but later 100% of NCL. The acquisition of this company gave Star the opportunity to have a fast track entry into the important US market. They also acquired the specialist operator Orient Lines too. At the same time Stat sold the SUPERSTAR SAGITTARIUS to Hyundai Merchant Marine for cruises between North and South Korea. The same company also chartered the SUPERSTAR CAPRICORN. Through NCL the company planned to enter the Hawaii cruise market by transferring the SUPERSTAR LEO to NCL. It was later decided that due to the high cost of rebuilding the new ship for the Hawaii trade she would remain with Star and insteas the company would divert the 2 new buildings it had ordered from Meyer Werft. Originally to ave been named SUPERSTAR LIBRA and SUPERSTAR SCORPIO the ships would become the NORWEGIAN STAR and NORWEGIAN DAWN. Coming the other way from NCL would be the NORWEGIAN STAR from Norwegian Capricorn Line the short lived Australian operation of NCL. Also intended to join Star from NCL was the NORWAY the former SS FRANCE. This decision was altered and the ship remains with NCL. It was also planned that the SUPERSTAR ARIES would transfer to Orient Lines as the OCEAN VOYAGER, but again this has been changed, although it does show that Star is not afraid to move its ships about to maximise revenue and improve existing services. 2 113,000 tonne ships were planned for the future, but at the time of writing it is unclear whether or not they would be built
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