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Louis Cruise Lines is a Cyprus-based shipping company that operates cruises from Cyprus, France, Italy and Greece (the operations from Greece were previously marketed under the name Louis Hellenic Cruise Lines, but as of 2008 there is no mention of the brand on Louis' website)[2]. The company also charters several ships to Thomson Cruises. Louis Cruise Lines was established in 1987 as a daughter company of Louis plc. Louis Cruise Lines shares are quoted in the Cyprus Stock Exchange. The Louis Cruise Lines fleet consist mainly of older second- or third-hand ships. One of them, the SS The Emerald, is the last ocean liner built in the United States still in service. Louis Cruise Lines is the fifth largest cruise operator in the world.[3] Louis Cruise Lines is a subsidiary of the Cyprus-based travel and tourism group Louis plc, that was founded in 1935 as the first travel agency in Cyprus. During the 1970s the company began chartering ferries for short cruises Cyprus, which eventually led to the purchase of the cruiseferry MV Prinsessan from the Finland-based Birka Line for $4 million in 1987. Renamed MV Princesa Marissa, the ship started making cruises from Limassol to the Greek Islaes, Egypt and Israel under the newly-established Louis Cruise Lines band.[3][4] By 1994 the company had acquired three more ships, all of which were used in the short cruise market from Cyprus.[3] During the early 2000s Louis further modernised their fleet by acquiring MV Calypso in 2000, and chartering MV Nieuw Amsterdam from Holland America Line in 2003, immediately sub-chartering her to Thomson as MV Thomson Spirit. In 2004 Louis acquired MV Aquamarine from the fleet of the UK-based Sun Cruises (which had gone out of business).[3] Another former Sun Cruises ship, MV Thomson Destiny, was chartered from a Norway-based investment company and sub-chartered to Thomson Cruises.[8] The new acquisitions also made possible the sale of three of Louis' older vessels. Also in 2004, following the collapse of Royal Olympic Cruises, Louis Cruise Lines purchased two of their former ships at bargain prices and established their own Louis Hellenic Cruises brand for the Greek cruise market.[3] Further espansion came in 2006 with the purchase of MV Orient Queen and MV Sea Diamond, another former Baltic Sea cruiseferry ppurchased from Birka Line, while Calypso was chartered to Thomson and Aquamarine (renamed Arielle) to Transocean Tours. Additionally Louis entered a franchise agreement with easyCruise to operate ships in the Eastern Mediterranean on behalf of easyCruise in the future. Disaster stroke in April 2007 when the Sea Diamond sunk off Santorini, Greece. All but two of the ship's passengers were safely evacuated, but the sinking resulted in a flurry of negative publicity for Louis.[3] MV Oceanic II and MV Ruby were chartered as temporary replacements for the Sea Diamond, until MV Cristal - former Silja Line cruise ship MV Silja Opera - entered service in July 2007.[3][9] In 2008 the Arielle was returned from her charter to Transocean Tours, reverted to her earlier name Aquamarine and entered service under the Louis Hellenic Cruises brand.[10] By early 2008 the Louis Hellenic Cruises brand appeared to have been abandoned.[2] In April 2008 Louis Cruise Lines agreed to purchase MV Norwegian Dream and MV Norwegian Majesty from Star Cruises. The agreement at the time was to charter the ships back to Star Cruises/Norwegian Cruise Line until November 2008 and December 2009, respectively.[11] However, in September 2008 Louis cancelled the purchase of the Norwegian Dream due to "technical issues relating to the vessel".[12] In May 2008 Louis Cruise Lines purchased Thomson Destiny and Thomson Spirit that had previously been operated under charter. At the same time Princesa Marissa and Serenade were sold for scrap.[8] Fleet * MV Aquamarine - Operates cruises from Greece. Previously chartered to Transocean Tours as Arielle.[13] Chartered ships Former ships * MV Princesa Marissa (1986-2008) - Sold for scrap 2008.[8] References 1. ^ "About Louis Cruise Lines". Louis Cruise Lines. Retrieved on 2008-03-22.
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