u/cooldayyousay

A photo of the 1967 Chantiers de l'Atlantique of Saint-Nazaire, France built gambling ship ORIENT PRINCESS (ex YAOHUA) of Yick Fung Shipping Enterprises Ltd. (China Ocean Shipping Company), seen moored in Hong Kong in a shot taken in August 1994.

Built as ocean liner YAOHUA for the China Ocean Shipping Companies China-East Africa service to carry construction workers to Chinese projects in the region, alongside voyages to other construction sites in Asia and South America. She was installed on the China-Singapore route in 1970. From 1982 to 1987 she was chartered to Salén Lindblad Cruises, who extensively refitted her into a one class cruise ship for Far Eastern expedition cruising in 1983, with expedition cruising to the Antarctic region in the summer. She was transferred to Guangzhou Ocean Shipping Co in 1984. Despite major economic success, an order from Beijing called for the end of what was viewed as capitalist cruising operations in accordance with their communist ideology, and she was sold to the Republic of China Maritime Corporation in 1987 and renamed ORIENT PRINCESS for further Far Eastern cruising. From 1987 to 1988 she was chartered to SA Tours for cruising to Hong Kong, Malaysia, and Indonesia, including matchmaking cruises for educated professionals as part of the then Singapore government's Social Development Unit, a eugenics program.

From 1988 to 1989 she was chartered to Yip Hon for use as an overnight gambling ship (which she would operate as for the rest of her ocean going career) out of Hong Kong and Macau. The ORIENT PRINCESS was sold to Yick Fung Shipping Enterprises Ltd. (China Ocean Shipping Company) in 1989, and Xiang Huasheng and Xiang Huaqiang acquired the charter. The ORIENT PRINCESS was used as a film set for the Hong Kong action comedy film series God of Gamblers I, II, and III in 1989, 1990, and 1991. She was sold to Asphonel Services Inc. and operated by Main Fortune Limited on the Hong Kong and Macau overnight gambling run to international waters (the route she would remain on for the rest of her active career) in 1994. She was sold to Star Ocean Maritime Inc in 1996, and operated by the Pallister Group Ltd from 1997 and onwards, being sold to them in 1999 for further service. In 2000, she was arrested in Hong Kong, and later released that same year. In 2001, former Shenyang, Liaoning, China deputy mayor Ma Xiangdong was sentenced to death for gambling away $3.6 million dollars worth of public funds on the ORIENT PRINCESS in the span of 3 days in Macau in 2000. That same year (2001), the Orient Princess was arrested by the Guangzhou Maritime Court due to the Pallister Group Ltds $3.19 million Hong Kong dollars worth of debt in crew wages piling up since 1997, these wages not being paid due to a decrease in service amidst the arrival of new gambling tonnage over the years. A legal battle ensued for the ship between associates of the Pallister Group Ltd, Hua Qing Times Investment Group Ltd., Hua Qing Times International (Hong Kong) Investment Ltd., and Orient Princess Limited against the Guangzhou Ocean Shipping Co. The ORIENT PRINCESS was again arrested for further non-payments of crew wages in 2002, and auctioned off to Tianjin Dawei Group for use as a floating tourist attraction at the Haihe Bund Park, Tianjin, China in collaboration with Tianjin Tanggu State-owned Assets Investment and Operation Co., Ltd. (SIC). She opened in 2004, and was rebuilt with two restaurants between 2006 and 2008. Sometime between 2015 and 2024, partial ownership of the ORIENT PRINCESS was transferred to Shuntianzhai (Beijing) Cultural Development Co., Ltd. Recent video revealed that her lower decks and her promenade were closed off to visitors, though she reportedly remains open as of 2024. Who knows what future awaits one of the last remaining of the once ubiquitous ocean liners.

Slide from my collection, scanned and restored by me.

Dated 19 August 1971, she would be shifted to a Caribbean cruising circuit out of Port Everglades shortly afterwards. The oil crisis, high operating costs, and deterioration to the vessel's double bottom tanks led to her being laid up in 1973 and sold for scrapped at Kaohsiung, Taiwan in 1974.

Slide from my collection, scanned and restored by me.

A photo of the 1940 John Brown & Company of Clydebank, Scotland built ocean liner QUEEN ELIZABETH of Cunard Line, seen in New York City Harbor in a shot taken on 27 March 1962. At the time of her construction, she was the world's largest passenger ship by gross tonnage, succeeding the 1936 John Brown & Company of Clydebank, Scotland built ocean liner QUEEN MARY of Cunard-White Star Line, but she herself was succeeded by that of the 1996 Fincantieri S.p.A. of Monfalcone, Friuli-Venezia Giulia, Italy built cruise ship CARNIVAL DESTINY of Carnival Cruise Line, an impressive 56 years later.

This image also shows closest to the bow of the QUEEN ELIZABETH the 1953 Euskalduna of Bilbao, Basque Country, Spain built Monasterios class cargo liner COVADONGA (IMO 5081475) of Trasatlántica Española.

Picture by Herbert Frank Jr., slide scanned and restored by me.

A photo of the 1939 Chantiers de Penhoët of Brittany, Saint-Nazaire, France built ocean liner/cruise ship BREMEN (ex PASTEUR) of Norddeutscher Lloyd, seen near New York City in a shot taken presumably in September 1959. A car can be seen on the ship's promenade deck.

Slide from my collection, scanned and restored by me.

Laid down and launched as Admiral F.B. Upham as a troopship for the United States Navy in 1947, she was completed as PRESIDENT WILSON for the U.S. Maritime Administration as an ocean liner and bareboat chartered to American President Lines for use on the San Francisco-Honolulu-Yokohama-Hong Kong-Manila route. She was purchased by American President Lines in 1954, and her passenger accommodation was modernized in 1960. On February 3rd, 1964, the PRESIDENT WILSON helped rescue the crew of the sinking cargo ship AGIA ERINI L (ex Richard J. Hopkins, ATLANTIC WATER, KOUMIOTISSA) in heavy weather in the Pacific Ocean, 691 nautical miles southeast of Chiba Prefecture, Japan, after the vessel suffered hull cracks on February 1st, whilst carrying 26 crew and scrap iron on a voyage from Portland to Kawasaki. Several crew abandoned the ship by a motorized lifeboat, while others jumped overboard. 18 crew members were rescued by the PRESIDENT WILSON, with an additional eight being rescued by the ROLV JARL (IMO 5299022), no lives were lost. The PRESIDENT WILSON and her crew were awarded the Merchant Marine Gallant Ship Citation in 1965 for their effort in the rescue. By 1971, she was converted into a single class cruise ship for predominantly Far East and North American cruising. Falling passenger numbers due to the rise of air travel and the end of her twenty year United States government subsidies led to her sale to Orient Overseas Line (C. Y. Tung) in 1973, who renamed her ORIENTAL EMPRESS and refurbished her for worldwide cruising. In 1975 she was chartered to and refitted by Japan Overseas for the Japanese cruising market, but her charter was canceled after Japan Overseas was unable to meet payments. The companies owner would later attempt suicide over his financial losses. Limited traffic and the oil crisis led to her being ultimately laid up in 1975. She was transferred to Oceanic Cruises Development Inc. (C. Y. Tung) in 1976, and would spend the next near decade in limbo until she arrived at Kaohsiung, Taiwan to be scrapped by Loy Kee Shipbreaker & Tptn Co in September 1984.

To the portside of the PRESIDENT WILSON can be seen either the 1956 3. Maj of Rijeka built Silvaplana class general cargo ship SILVAPLANA (IMO 5328067) of Oceana Shipping S.A. (Suisse-Atlantique Soc. d'Arm. Maritime S.A.), or her sister ship CORCOVADO of the same year, builder, and owner. To the left of the image is one of three C2 type general cargo ships of Pacific Far East Line, either the 1942 Federal Shipbuilding & Dry Dock Company of Kearny, New Jersey built PACIFIC BEAR (IMO 5087716), 1944 North Carolina Shipbuilding Company of Wilmington, North Carolina INDIA BEAR (IMO 5160233), or the 1945 Federal Shipbuilding & Dry Dock Company of Kearny built AMERICA BEAR (IMO 5137676).

Slides from my collection, scanned and restored by me.