One of the classic cruise liners built in early eighties that changed few hands was the 1982 French built MELODY.
She was built by the Constructions Industrielles De La Mediterranee Du Havre at Le Havre in France as the ATLANTIC for Home Lines, an Italian Passenger Shipping Company that operated both ocean liners and cruise ships trading from 1982 to 1988. from 1988 to 1997 she sailed for Premier Cruise Line a subsidiary of Premier Cruises, USA as STARSHIP ATLANTIC .
In 1997, the vessel entered service for MSC Cruises as MELODY. She was remarketed as MSC Melody in 2004, but her official registered name remained Melody throughout her MSC career. She was retired in January 2013. She accommodated 1,076 passengers in 532 cabins with her crew complement was approximately 535.
On 7 January 2013, MSC Cruises announced that MELODY had been retired effective immediately, despite being scheduled to sail through the summer season, and was listed for sale. During November 2013, she was sold for an undisclosed price to Sahara India Pariwar, a multinational group involved in finance, leisure, hotels, construction, property and industrial activities. Under the new name QING, she was to be delivered in Goa, India, and converted into floating accommodation.
On 29 June 2016, the ship partially sank whilst berthed at Goa in India. The sinking was caused by heavy monsoon rains. Nobody was on board at the time the ship sank. The ship was eventually re-floated by a salvage company in June 2018 and she was soon sold for demolition and scrapping.
Photos by Capt. Lawrence Dalli. Do not use these images without my permission. © All rights reserved. Malta Ship Photos & Action Photos – www.maltashipphotos.com
