M/S Meloodia in Helsinki in Tallink colours
Career
Name:	1979: Diana II av Slite 1979—1994: Diana II 1994: Vironia 1994—1996: Mare Balticum 1996—2007: Meloodia 2007—present: ARV 1
Owner:	1979—1989: Rederi AB Slite 1989—1994: PK Finans 1994—2002: Nordström & Thulin 2002—2007: Tallink 2007—present: Equinox Offshore Accommodation
Operator:	1979—1992: Rederi AB Slite 1992—1994: TR-Line 1994—1996: EstLine 1996—2006: Tallink 2006—2007: Balearia
Builder:	Meyer Werft, Papenburg, Germany
Yard number:	592
Launched:	1979-03-31
Acquired:	1979-06-09
In service:	1979-06-14
Homeport:	1979—1992: Slite,  Sweden 1992—1994: Rostock,  Germany, 1994—2007: Tallinn,  Estonia 2008—present: Nassau,  Bahamas
Status:	In service
General characteristics (as built)[1]
Tonnage:	11 671 GRT
Displacement:	2,400 metric tons of deadweight (DWT)
Length:	137. Rederi AB Slite was a Swedish Shipping company, founded in 1947 Tallink is an Estonian Shipping company currently operating cruiseferries and Ropax ships from Estonia to Finland, Estonia to Estline (sometimes spelled EstLine) was a Swedish - Estonian Shipping company, owned jointly by Nordström & Thulin and the Estonian The Meyer Werft is one of the remaining large German Shipyards headquartered in Papenburg. Papenburg is a city in the district of Emsland in Lower Saxony, Germany, situated at the river Ems. Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany ( ˈbʊndəsʁepuˌbliːk ˈdɔʏtʃlant is a Country in Central Europe. Slite is a town on the east coast of the Swedish island of Gotland. "Sverige" redirects here For other uses see Sweden (disambiguation and Sverige (disambiguation. Rostock (ˈʁɔstɔk from Polabian Roz toc, literally "to flow apart" is the largest City in the north German state Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany ( ˈbʊndəsʁepuˌbliːk ˈdɔʏtʃlant is a Country in Central Europe. Tallinn (historically known by the German, Swedish and Danish name Reval or the Polish name Rewal, among other names Estonia, officially the Republic of Estonia ( Eesti or Eesti Vabariik) is a Country in Northern Europe in the Baltic region Nassau is the Capital, largest city and commercial centre of the Commonwealth of The Bahamas. The Bahamas, officially the Commonwealth of The Bahamas, is an independent sovereign English -speaking country consisting of two thousand Cays and Deadweight tonnage (also known as deadweight and variously abbreviated as DWT, D 01 meters
Beam:	24. The metre or meter is a unit of Length. It is the basic unit of Length in the Metric system and in the International 21 meters
Draught:	5. 50 meters
Installed power:	4 × MAN 8L40/45 diesels combined 17650 kW
Speed:	21 knots
Capacity:	1 900 passengers 867 berths 555 cars
General characteristics (as Meloodia)[1]
Tonnage:	17 955 GT
Length:	138. Diesel or Diesel fuel (ˈdiːzəl in general is any Fuel used in Diesel engines The most common is a specific fractional distillate of petroleum The watt (symbol W) is the SI derived unit of power, equal to one Joule of energy per Second. 90 meters[2]
Capacity:	1 700 passengers 826 berths 480 cars

M/S ARV 1 is a car/passenger ferry owned by the Singapore-based oil service company Equinox Offshore Accommodation, under conversion into an accommodation and repair vessel. A ship prefix is a combination of letters usually abbreviations used in front of the name of a civilian or naval Ship. See also Merchant ship A ferry is a form of transport usually a Boat or Ship, used to carry (or ferry) passengers and Singapore She was built in 1979 by Meyer Werft, Papenburg, Germany as M/S Diana II av Slite for Rederi AB Slite for use in Viking Line's traffic. Year 1979 ( MCMLXXIX) was a Common year starting on Monday (link displays the 1979 Gregorian calendar) The Meyer Werft is one of the remaining large German Shipyards headquartered in Papenburg. Papenburg is a city in the district of Emsland in Lower Saxony, Germany, situated at the river Ems. Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany ( ˈbʊndəsʁepuˌbliːk ˈdɔʏtʃlant is a Country in Central Europe. Rederi AB Slite was a Swedish Shipping company, founded in 1947 Viking Line is a Finnish shipping company that operates a fleet of ferries and cruiseferries between Finland, the Åland Islands She has also sailed under the names M/S Diana II, M/S Mare Balticum and M/S Meloodia.

Contents 1 Background 1.1 Tonnage war in the Baltic 1.2 Design and Order 2 Operational career 2.1 Entry into service 2.2 Sale and charter contracts 2.3 Estonian operations 2.4 New charter contracts and sale 3 Rebuildings 4 References

Background

Tonnage war in the Baltic

Rederi AB Slite had great success with their first generation of car and passenger ferries servicing between Sweden and Finland and by the late 1970s the growing market demanded larger ships. Slite's first route within the Viking Line marketing company had been that between Kapellskär and Naantali but this route had since been clogged with Viking Line ships and received competition from Silja Line's similar service between Norrtälje and Turku. Kapellskär is a Port about 60 km north of Stockholm, in Sweden. Naantali (ˈnɑːntɑli (Swedish Nådendal) is a city in south-western Finland, known as one of the most important tourist centres of the Silja Line ( Tallink Silja Oy) is a Finnish ferry company owned by the Estonian Ferry operator Tallink. Norrtälje is a town in the Swedish traditional province of Uppland and the seat of Norrtälje Municipality, Stockholm Turku, in Swedish Åbo ( pronounced,) is a city and the original capital of Finland on the southwest coast of Finland at the

As a first step to find new markets, Rederi AB Slite had sold their merely six years old M/S Apollo in 1976 and replaced her with the older S/S Apollo III, making 24 hour cruises between Stockholm and Mariehamn. Year 1976 ( MCMLXXVI) was a Leap year starting on Thursday (link will display full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. ('stɔkhɔlm is Sweden 's Capital and its largest City. It is the site of the national Swedish government, the parliament, and the Demographics A chart on population growth Sister cities Mariehamn is twinned with Visby, Sweden Kópavogur The company still served the Kapellskär—Naantali route with their other ship, the 1972-built M/S Diana. Year 1972 ( MCMLXXII) was a Leap year starting on Saturday (link will display full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. History Viking Line service M/S Diana was the fourth in a series of six near-identical sisters built between 1970 and 1974 for Rederi Ab Sally and But with four other Viking Line ships competing for the same cars and passengers on that route, Slite still needed to break new grounds to keep themselves profitable.

In 1974, the two other Viking Line parters started operating the Stockholm—Turku route which proved to be quite profitable. Year 1974 ( MCMLXXIV) was a Common year starting on Tuesday (link will display full calendar of the 1974 Gregorian calendar. In preparation for the new ten year agreement of collaboration^[3] between the Viking Line partners to be settled in 1980, Slite made the decision to try to push out Rederi Ab Sally from the Stockholm—Turku route with a newbuilding that would outmatch their current ship there, the M/S Viking 4. Rederi Ab Sally was a Finnish shipping company founded in the 1937 by Algot Johansson

Design and Order

The newbuilding was planned together with her contracted builders, Meyer Werft, Papenburg in West Germany. The Meyer Werft is one of the remaining large German Shipyards headquartered in Papenburg. Papenburg is a city in the district of Emsland in Lower Saxony, Germany, situated at the river Ems. West Germany ( Inf German: Westdeutschland or West-Deutschland) was the common English name for the Federal Republic of Germany ( This shipyard had built the Apollo and the Diana for Slite as well as four sister vessels for Rederi Ab Sally. ^{[4][5][6][7][8][9]} The design greatly resembled the former ships but the newbuilding was larger in every respect. ^[10] Among the distinguishing differences were the addition of a second car deck as well as a larger number of berths. The new ship was named M/S Diana II af Slite and launching took place on March 31st, 1979. Year 1979 ( MCMLXXIX) was a Common year starting on Monday (link displays the 1979 Gregorian calendar)

Operational career

Entry into service

Less than three months after her launch, the ship was delivered to Rederi AB Slite. On June 14, 1979 she was put into Viking Line service between Stockholm and Turku with daytime callings at Mariehamn, replacing the Viking 4. Events 1276 - While taking exile in Fuzhou in southern China, away from the advancing Mongol invaders, the remnants of the Year 1979 ( MCMLXXIX) was a Common year starting on Monday (link displays the 1979 Gregorian calendar) Demographics A chart on population growth Sister cities Mariehamn is twinned with Visby, Sweden Kópavogur In September the same year, her registered name was shortened to Diana II, although this had been her marketing name since her delivery. ^[1]

The loss of the prestigious Stockholm—Turku route made Rederi AB Sally to take action. Only three months after the Diana II's entry into service, Sally ordered an even bigger ship at Meyer Werft. This ship was designed from the same plans as the Diana II, but with several changes made, the final result was almost entirely different from her. After a record building time of 8 and a half months,^[11] the newbuilding M/S Viking Sally was delivered and replaced the Diana II on the Stockholm-Turku route. Construction The ship was originally ordered from Meyer Werft by a Norwegian shipping company led by Parley Augustsen with intended traffic between Slite had to withdraw their ship and moved her to the Kapellskär-Naantali route. Although she returned on the Stockholm-Turku during the summer of 1982, the Diana II remained on the Kapellskär-Naantali route for the rest of her Viking Line career. Year 1982 ( MCMLXXXII) was a Common year starting on Friday (link displays the 1982 Gregorian calendar)

During her time in Viking Line service, the Diana II encountered one serious incident. On February 5th 1989 she touched ground near Kapellskär and started taking in water. Events 1576 - Henry of Navarre converts to Roman Catholicism in order to ensure his right to the throne of France. Year 1989 ( MCMLXXXIX) was a Common year starting on Sunday (link displays 1989 Gregorian calendar) Due to her pumping system at the time only operated at half of its capacity, the ship took in a substantial amount of water and partially sunk in the shallow harbour of Kapellskär. She was soon refloated however and was docked for repairs. ^[1]

Sale and charter contracts

In order to finance their newbuilding M/S Kalypso which had been a victim of the bankruptcy of Wärtsilä Marine, Rederi AB Slite had to sell the Diana II to PK-banken in 1989. M/S Star Pisces is a Cruise ship, owned by Star Cruises and currently does short cruises from Hong Kong. Bankruptcy is a legally declared inability or impairment of ability of an individual or organization to pay their Creditors Creditors may file a bankruptcy petition against Wärtsilä is a Finnish manufacturer of large ( Diesel) engines and Power plants The core business of Wärtsilä is marine diesel engines Year 1989 ( MCMLXXXIX) was a Common year starting on Sunday (link displays 1989 Gregorian calendar) The ship was chartered back to Slite and route remained unaltered.

As Slite's finances got worse during 1992 the company was forced to give the ship up altogether and by December 24 that year, the Diana II made her last sailing for Rederi AB Slite and Viking Line. Year 1992 ( MCMXCII) was a Leap year starting on Wednesday (link will display full 1992 Gregorian calendar) Events 563 - The Byzantine church Hagia Sophia in Constantinople is dedicated for the second time after being destroyed by Earthquakes PK-banken chartered her to TT-Line and she started operating under their brand TR-Line's route Trelleborg—Rostock on December 30th. TT-Line is a shipping company based in Lübeck, Germany, which has been providing a ferry service between Travemünde in Schleswig-Holstein and Trelleborg is the southernmost city in Sweden and the seat of Trelleborg Municipality in Skåne County. Rostock (ˈʁɔstɔk from Polabian Roz toc, literally "to flow apart" is the largest City in the north German state Events 1460 - Wars of the Roses: Battle of Wakefield. 1816 - The Treaty of St

The Diana II operated on her new route until September 1994 when she was sold to Nordström & Thulin who renamed her Vironia with the intention of putting her into service within the EstLine service between Stockholm and Tallinn together with her former Viking Line fleet mate Viking Sally, by now known as M/S Estonia. Year 1994 ( MCMXCIV) was a Common year starting on Saturday (link will display full 1994 Gregorian calendar) Estline (sometimes spelled EstLine) was a Swedish - Estonian Shipping company, owned jointly by Nordström & Thulin and the Estonian Tallinn (historically known by the German, Swedish and Danish name Reval or the Polish name Rewal, among other names Construction The ship was originally ordered from Meyer Werft by a Norwegian shipping company led by Parley Augustsen with intended traffic between

Estonian operations

Only weeks before the Vironia was due to enter service on her new route, the Estonia sank in a Baltic storm with terrific loss of life. The bow visor construction of Estonia, which caused her sinking, was of the same type as that of the Vironia. As a result of the disaster, the Vironia was renamed Mare Balticum to avoid association with the sunken ship due to the similar name. She was docked and rebuilt in Naantali and her bow visor was welded shut. She eventually entered service on Stockholm-Tallinn on November 11, 1994. Events 308 - The Congress of Carnuntum: Attempting to keep peace within the Roman Empire, the leaders of the Tetrarchy declare ^[1]

Two years later, Nordström & Thulin acquired another former Viking Line vessel, M/S Anna K. History Viking Line and Fred Olsen service Delivered in August 1980 M/S Viking Song was the last newbuilding delivered to Rederi Ab Sally for use on She was renamed Regina Baltica and replaced the Mare Balticum in August 1996. The Mare Balticum was chartered to Hansatee shipping OY and was renamed Meloodia. Tallink is an Estonian Shipping company currently operating cruiseferries and Ropax ships from Estonia to Finland, Estonia to The ship's bow was rebuilt with bow gates and she was put into Tallink service on the Tallinn—Helsinki route on September 20th, 1996. Helsinki (in Finnish;) or Helsingfors (in Swedish;) is the Capital and largest city of Finland. Events 451 - The Battle of Chalons takes place in North Eastern France. The Meloodia's ownership changed to Tallink's in February 2002 but she remained on the same service until new years eve 2006.

New charter contracts and sale

From January to December 2007, the Meloodia was on charter to the Spanish shipping company Balearia on service between the Balearic Islands and Spanish mainland. Year 2007 ( MMVII) was a Common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar in the 21st century. Spain () or the Kingdom of Spain (Reino de España is a country located mostly in southwestern Europe on the Iberian Peninsula. The Balearic Islands ( Catalan and official Illes Balears; Spanish: Islas Baleares) are an Archipelago in the western Mediterranean She operated diffent routes between Barcelona, Mahón and Palma de Mallorca. Barcelona ( Catalan bəɾsəˈlonə Spanish baɾθeˈlona is the capital and most populous city of the Autonomous Community of Catalonia Mahón (alternately Maó in Catalan) is a Municipality and the capital city of the Balearic Island of Minorca (the Balearic Islands Palma is the major City and port on the island of Majorca and capital city of the autonomous community of the Balearic Islands in Spain

In November 2007 Tallink entered a memorandum agreement to sell the Meloodia, with delivery in December 2007. ^[12] When the ship was delivered on 7 December 2007, the buyer was revealed to be Equinox Offshore Accommodation Ltd,^[13] a Singapore-based company controlled by Norwegian interests. Events 43 BC - Marcus Tullius Cicero assassinated 1696 - Connecticut Route 108, one of the oldest highways Year 2007 ( MMVII) was a Common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar in the 21st century. Singapore Norway ( Norwegian: Norge ( Bokmål) or Noreg ( Nynorsk) officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Constitutional ^[14] Subsequently the Meloodia was renamed ARV 1. In January 2008 the ARV 1 arrived at SembCorp Marine shipyards, Singapore for conversion into an accommodation and repair vessel, with the planned delivery in the third quarter of 2008. SembCorp Marine Limited is part of SembCorp Industries, an Asian company based in Singapore. Singapore ^[1][15][14]

Rebuildings

A number of alterations to the original design of the Diana II has been made during the years. Already during her first year of Viking Line service, her decks were heavily polluted by soot from the funnel. The funnel received extended smoke pipes but as the problem persisted, the screen on the rear top of the funnel was removed. After another extension of the smoke pipes, the problem was eventually solved but made the ship's exterior appearance rather odd.

The Diana II's large car deck on deck 4 was during the 1980s deemed to be larger than necessary and of its port side was rebuilt with additional cabins. In preparations of her entry into EstLine service in 1994, the ship received it's most extensive modification to date. Apart from the sealing of the bow visor a "duck tail" was added at the stern. A bow visor is a feature of some ships in particular ferries and ROROs that allows the bow to articulate up and down providing access to the cargo ramp and storage Also, the ship's funnel was once again rebuilt to sport a more solid look. The bow remained inaccesable until it's complete rebuilding prior to the ships entry into the Tallinn—Helsinki service in 1996.

References

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