page_title: MS Marco Polo
section_title: Service as Marco Polo
hierarchical_section_title: MS Marco Polo / Service history / Service as Marco Polo
caption_attribution_description: English: Transocean Tours cruise ship MS Marco Polo in Helsinki West Harbour. Suomi: Transocean Tours -varustamon risteilyalus MS Marco Polo Helsingin länsisatamassa.
context_page_description: MS Marco Polo, a cruise ship owned by the Global Maritime Group under charter to UK-based Cruise & Maritime Voyages, formerly sailed for the German company Transocean Tours. She was built as an ocean liner in 1965 by Mathias-Thesen-Werft, East Germany as Aleksandr Pushkin for the Soviet Union's Baltic Shipping Company. After major alterations and additions, the ship sailed as Marco Polo for Orient Lines from 1993 to 2008.
context_section_description: Following the purchase by Orient Lines,  Marco Polo sailed to Neorion Shipyard, Greece, where her engines were reconditioned by Sulzer Diesels. Following this she was moved to Perama Shipyard, Greece, where a near-total reconstruction of the ship commenced. Externally this resulted in notable extension of the rear superstructure and heightening of the funnel to maintain the proportions of the ship. Internally the ship was almost entirely rebuilt under the guidance of naval architect Knud Hansen and interior designers Michael and Agni Katzourakis. In addition to the more visual changes, the ship was fitted with Denny Brown stabilizers, additional diesel engines and brought up to the latest IMO and SOLAS standards. The refit took 2½ years; various sources estimate the cost as between $US20m and $60m.
  In 1993, following completions of the conversion, Marco Polo began a varying itinerary of cruises all over the world, including more unusual destinations such as South-East Asia, Africa, and Antarctica. In 1998, Orient Lines was sold to Norwegian Cruise Lines. Marco Polo's cruises continued as before, but as a result of the NCL deal MS Crown Odyssey joined her in the Orient Lines fleet in 2000, turning the company into a two-ship brand. However, Crown Odyssey left the Orient fleet in 2003, and Marco Polo became again the sole ship of the brand. Since 2005 she has also been the sole surviving Ivan Franko-class vessel, the other sisters having sunk or been scrapped.
  On June 4, 2007, Norwegian Cruise Line announced sale of Marco Polo, effective March 23, 2008. The buyer was later revealed to be the Greece-based Global Maritime Group, who chartered the ship to the Germany-based Transocean Tours. Marco Polo replaced MS Arielle in Transocean Tours fleet, operating cruises out of the United Kingdom as well as Germany. The sale of Marco Polo also meant the end of the Orient Lines brand. Transocean Tours said that they planned to operate the ship until 2012 at least.
  On 6 July 2009 Marco Polo called at Invergordon, Easter Ross, Scotland on a cruise outbound from Tilbury in Essex. During a health inspection by the local port health officials up to 150 passengers were discovered to have been infected with what was presumed to be norovirus; the number of infected passengers and crew subsequently rose to 400. Also on 6 July a 74-year-old passenger died of a heart attack on board the ship. According to reports from the local health officials he had serious underlying health problems and it was not known if a norovirus infection contributed to his death. On 7 July Transocean Tours decided to cancel the remainder of Marco Polo's ten-day cruise after consulting NHS Highland. Reportedly the company gave the passengers an option to either stay with the ship until she returned to Tilbury on 11 July or to return to their homes earlier by a specially arranged charter train. On 8 July three infected people remained in Raigmore Hospital in Inverness.
  Some reports indicate that passengers on board Marco Polo's previous cruise, which terminated in Tilbury on 4 July, might also have been infected with norovirus. However, according to Transocean Tours the ship was inspected upon return to Tilbury and no infections were found, although some passengers during the cruise did suffer from gastroenteritis. The London Port Health Authority stated that they were not informed of illness on board the ship when it docked at Tilbury, and Transocean Tours could consequently face legal action.
  Despite Transocean Tours' intention of keeping the ship in its fleet until 2012, reports emerged in August 2009 that Marco Polo would be chartered to the newly founded, UK-based Cruise & Maritime Voyages for five years from 2 January 2010. Her planned itineraries included cruises from the UK to South America during the northern hemisphere winter months, and from the UK to Northern Europe and the Mediterranean during the summer months.
  On 13 March 2013 Cruise & Maritime voyages announced that Marco Polo would be terminating one of her northern lights cruises and go into dry dock 
caption: Marco Polo departing Helsinki in 2008 during her service with Transocean Tours.
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