Veteran cruise ship starts new life in China

NOVEMBER 28, 2012 — A cruise ship originally built in 1986 by Kockums Varv, Malmö, Sweden, for Carnival Cruise Lines as MS Jubilee, is now operating as MS Henna for China’s HNA Tourism Cruise and Yacht Management Co., Ltd. and has become the mainland’s largest luxury cruise ship.

On January 26, 2013, the ship will make its debut cruise for HNA on the Sanya-Ha Long Bay to Da Nang route.

Mr. Zhang Hao, President of HNA Tourism Cruise and Yacht Management, said, “The cruise industry has great potential while the market is anticipated to be quite large. It is just starting out but is developing at a rapid speed in mainland China, including ancillary facilities and port construction.”

HNA says that Chinese cruise routes are mainly based on short-term needs and short distance tours, with Sanya and Tianjin serving as home ports and Vietnam and South Korea as destinations. So far, HNA has maintained a mainly localized operation with the main focus on Chinese customers.

Henna has a length of 223 m, a width of 31 m and 739 cabins for 1,965 passengers, as well as a complete range of facilities for living and entertainment.

Prior to joining HNA, the ship had operated since 2004 as P&O Cruises Australia’s as Pacific Sun and received a multi-million dollar makeover.

According to the Equasis data base, the Henna now flies the Maltese flag is managed by Star Cruises, Malaysia, while the registered owner is shown as Triton International, whose address is given as “Care of Princess Cruise Lines Ltd , Suite 200, 24305, Town Center Drive, Valencia CA 91355-4999, USA.”