Diamond Princess

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Static Passenger Ships

Former Hurtigrute (Norwegian coastal express service) vessel Hakon Jarl. Later became hotel and restaurant ship in the port of Oslo. Presently, she fulfils this role in Antwerp. Although she still has her former name Hakon Jarl on her bows, she is marketed under the name of Diamond Princess.

DIAMOND PRINCESS / HAKON JARL

In 1882, Captain Richard With started a coastal express service along the Norwegian coastline, which still exists today. Today two companies own and operate this service with subsidy from the Norwegian Government. Norway lacks an infrastrucure along most if it’s coast and especially the northern part, so this express service is an important means of transportation for the Norwegians.

In the 1940's, the shipowners which operated the vessels of the coastal express service, realized that their diverse fleet of vessels, which differed in age, speed, size and comfort, made operations very unefficient.

The slowest ship determined the schedule, and with relation to the maximum capacity in terms of passengers and freight, this depended on which vessel entered port…..

So it was decided to start a newbuilding programme and 13 ship yards tendered for the contracts of four new vessels.

After lenghty negotiations, each of the four ship owners of the Huritgrute fleet oredered a new vessel form the Italian yard of Cantieri Navale Riuniti at Ancona, Italy. This yard could deliver fairly cheap: 6 milion kroner per vessel, but also quickly, in 1948 already. Two companies, Nordenfeldske and Bergenske needed an extra vessel, as they each owned several outdated vessels they wanted to dispose of. So they ordered a second newbuilding each at the Italian yard.

However, when finalising the negotiations concerning financing these additional new ships, problems arose and both shipowners decided to move their orders to another yard, Danish Aalborg werft.
The first of the Danish vessels to be delivered was the Bergenske’s Nordlys in 1951. Hakon Jarl of Nordenfeldske followed in February 1952. She featured some interesting design elements, like a bridge which was raised one full deck to enable extra space for officers quarters. Also noteworthy was her machinery, two 8 cylinder Atlas diesels coupled to one screw. It gave her an impressing top speed of 17 knots.

Hakon Jarl during her second career, hotel/ restaurant ship in Oslo.

Replacing the Alta, a chartered vessel, Hakon Jarl started out on her maiden voyage in Hurtigrute service on February 26th.

Hakon Jarl proved to be a reliable vessel and she sailed on quite uneventfully until in 1980, when her owners wanted to sell several of their ships sailing in Hurtigrute service. Ofotens paid 8 million kroner for Hakon Jarl, and took over the ship.
Soon, in december 1982, Ofotens took Hakon Jarl out of service, and her place was taken over by newbuilding Narvik (built at Trondhjems). Shortly afterwards, Hakon Jarl was sold again and she started in a new static role: restaurant and hotel ship in Pipervika, Oslo. She was refurbished in 1986.

Brochure of hotel/ restaurant/ disco Diamond Princess
A few years later, she was sold to fulfil the same role in Antwerp, where she remains today near the city center as the “Floatel Diamond Princess” at the St. Laureiskai. Her new owner rebuilt this classic vessel by placing an enourmous superstructure, a disco on her top deck. It spoiled her great looks.

Luckily, her interiors are still largely intact, and most of the beautifull acres of wood panneling have been retained. Her wheel house has been rebuilt into a luxury cabin while her navigation equipment has been placed in a hallway elsewhere on the vessel. She also features double deluxe cabins, meaning that two of the original cabins were combined into one. These cabins offer everything double, two showers, two toilets etc.

For more information: www.diamondprincess.be