The ship was much unlucky. We have some parts of that ship in our own ship. E.g. metal handrailings from a Sallys nightclub. Railings have been colored by the fire.😅
Recently, Celestyal Cruises posted an official statement that the Crystal had (after all) not been sold to the Japanese - although they haven't put the ship back on active duty and have not answered questions regarding what is now happening to her.
I remember going on it in 2002 and because it looked so striking compared to other ferries I just assumed it was brand new, even though at that point it hardly was. Shame I can't remember much else.
A few corrections to the story: M/S Viking Saga - along with her sister M/S Viking Song (today M/S Regina Baltica of Balearia) - were ordered by Rederi Ab Sally, which was one of 3 owners of Viking Line at the time. In mid-1980`s Rederi Ab Sally ran into financial troubles due to their side businesses in the English Channel & Caribbean - and eventually landed in the ownership of the rival company Silja Line. Even before the change of the ownership the other owners of Viking Line - SF-Line (the current Viking Line) & Rederi Ab Slite - were getting fed up with RAB Sally and threw them out of Helsinki-Stockholm -line by bringing two new vessels to the route: ”Mariella” of SF-Line in 1985 (replacing ”Viking Song”) and her sister ”Olympia” of RAB Slite in 1986 (replacing ”Viking Saga”). ”Viking Song” was sold to Fred Olsen, but ”Viking Saga” _remained_ in the ownership of Sally and was converted to ”Sally Albatross”. By the time the ship was rebuilt after the fire, Sally was no more than subsidiary of Silja Line but kept the own brand - until the Porkkala accident. After that the ship again _remained_ in the ownership of Silja Line but was leased out to first sail in the Caribbean as ”Leeward” and later in Far East as ”Superstar Taurus”. In 2002 the ship _returned_ to Silja Line after the lease with Star Cruises ended and was renamed ”Silja Opera”. Sidenote: one of my favourite ships (the 1992 version), though I only made one Helsinki-Tallinn -cruise with my parents onboard her as ”Sally Albatross” in 1993 and two Helsinki-Visby -cruises as ”Silja Opera” (2002 & 2003).
I remember seeing Sally Albatross after she got the more streamlined shape and I was amazed at how good she looked compared to before. The redesign of the front and the addition of black lines on her structure really made a big difference. Unfortunately, it didn't last long.
That fire It reminds me of the stern of the scandinavian star. The way the doors were open & the ventilation pulled the fire around. It was insurance fraud on a large scale.
I understand you, but, try to also remember, that knowledge is all after the fact. Many ro/ro’s operated safely like that back then. And Estonia did have a camera on the ramp so the Deck Officers quite possibly would have been aware of what had happened down there.
@@alannewman85 Yeah, but the cameras were inside, and the intact drive ramp covered what took place with the vizor outside, until it was too late. The small leak that occured was not taken seriously enough, which is one of the human errors. Wondered the stupid superstruckture and bridge positioning already when I traveled aboard Viking Sally some 1987ish...
