MS Kungsholm

On Saturday March 13th, while driving up to Whistler for a day of skiing with my son, I was pleasantly surprised to catch a glimpse of an elegant cruise ship docked at the marine terminal in Squamish, B.C. I was travelling on Highway 99 and traffic was very heavy, so I didn’t have an opportunity to closely view the liner or to take a picture across the Straight. Despite the short glimpse, there was no mistaking that this was an older ship, with the profile of a classic ocean liner. Two years previous I had experienced a similar circumstance while driving around Stanley Park with my wife when I saw in the distance a classic ocean liner docked at Canada Place. I couldn’t stop, nor did I have my camera with me at the time. When I got home I confirmed that the identity of the ship was the MS Topaz, originally the RMS Empress of Britain, a ship that I had sailed on with my family in 1960. Before I could gather up my camera and head back downtown, the Topaz had already set sail in a continuation of her last round the world voyage with the Peaceboat organization. That beautiful ship, the last surviving passenger liner of the once mighty Canadian Pacific Steamship Company, is now just a memory having been scrapped on the beach in Alang, India in late 2009. This time, I wasn’t going to allow whatever ship was docked in Squamish to escape under similar circumstances. A quick picture on the way home from across the Straight and some cursory internet research confirmed that this was indeed a classic liner, the MV Mona Lisa, originally christened the MS Kungsholm in 1965 for the Swedish American Line. Moored in Squamish to house workers and volunteers for the Vancouver 2010 Olympic and Paralympic games, she is scheduled to be in Squamish until Friday, March 23. Perfect! My son and his friends wanted to go skiing again on Monday, and this was an ideal excuse for me to take a day of vacation and head to Squamish with my camera.

Few in Squamish are likely aware or even care that the MS Kungsholm was one of the last great liners built by John Brown & Company on the River Clyde. This famous shipyard was responsible for the construction of countless other magnificent liners such as the Lusitania, Queen Mary, Queen Elizabeth, and Caronia, to name just a few. This Kungsholm, the fourth to carry the name for the Swedish American Line, was built as a transatlantic ocean liner but also designed to work as a cruise ship. She was one of the most elegant vessels of the day graced with a white hull, two stepped funnels, stylish lines, and a beautiful stern, all contributing to a stunning outward appearance. Her interiors were rich in woodwork and stylish fittings.

She was certainly the most luxurious of the Swedish American Line fleet and sailed between Gothenburg to New York in transatlantic service. This went on until 1975 when the Swedish American Line finally made a decision to abandon their passenger services. The Kungsholm was sold to Flagship Cruises in the latter half of 1975, and then subsequently sold to P&O in 1978. At that time she underwent an extensive refit that saw her outward appearance changed considerably for service with the P&O subsidiary, Princess Cruises. The dummy forward funnel was removed, the rear funnel was reshaped, additional cabins were added, and she was renamed the Sea Princess. Many in the maritime community considered the change in appearance a disappointing failure, a transformation of one of the most beautiful liners to grace the oceans of the world into a common looking cruise ship.

After dropping my son and his friends off at Whistler on Monday morning, I headed back to Squamish for a visit with this lovely ship. Though I wasn’t able to get anywhere near the dock due to Olympic security, I was able to get some nice shots from the spit of land across from the Squamish terminal. The forward funnel may be absent, but she is still a stunning ship and I am glad to have had a few moments to admire her as I sat on a beach log enjoying a Tim Horton’s sandwich. Like most remaining ships of her age, her future is uncertain. She does not comply with the new SOLAS regulations that come into effect in October 2010 (International Convention for the Safety of Life at Sea). It is reported that a Swedish businessman has signed a letter of intent to acquire the ship for purposes of establishing a floating hotel in Gothenburg. Hopefully this plan will come to fruition as the likely alternative is one final long journey to the beach in Alang to face the same fate as so many liners of her vintage.