Victory I

Victory I is a small cruise ship, carrying about 200 passengers.[1] First launched in 2001, she has been operated by four different owners, and was formerly known as Saint Laurent, Sea Voyager and Cape May Light, the ship was built in the United States and entered service in 2001.[2]

Cruise ship Saint Laurent, moored at Toronto's International Marine Passenger Terminal, on 16 May 2015.
History
Name:	Cape May Light (2001) Sea Voyager (2010) Saint Laurent (2015) Victory I (2016)
Owner:	Victory Cruise Lines
Operator:	Victory Cruise Lines
Builder:	Atlantic Marine, Jacksonville, Florida
Yard number:	4242
Laid down:	August 1999
Launched:	June 2000
Completed:	9 April 2001
In service:	2001
Identification:	IMO number: 9213129
Status:	in active service
General characteristics
Type:	Cruise ship
Tonnage:	4,954 GRT
Length:	91.4 m (300 ft) oa 90.2 m (296 ft) pp
Beam:	15.2 m (50 ft)
Draught:	8.4 m (28 ft)
Propulsion:	2 shaft diesel engine
Speed:	13 knots (24 km/h; 15 mph)
Capacity:	210 passengers
Crew:	81

She was renamed Victory I in June 2016.

Design and description

The ship has a gross register tonnage of 4,954 tons and a deadweight tonnage of 200 tons. The ship is 91.4 metres (300 ft) long overall and 90.2 metres (296 ft) long between perpendiculars. The cruise ship has a beam of 15.2 metres (50 ft) and draught of 8.4 metres (28 ft).[3][4]

The ship is powered by a two-shaft diesel engine that gives the ship a maximum speed of 13 knots (24 km/h; 15 mph).[3] Characterized by her owners as a "luxury" vessel, she has a capacity of 210 passengers that are bunked in 105 double staterooms, and are said to have available all the amenities offered on larger vessels.[5]

Construction and career

The vessel was laid down in August 1999 by Atlantic Marine at their Jacksonville, Florida shipyard. The ship was constructed under the yard number 4242 and was launched in June 2000. Cape May Light was completed on 9 April 2001.

Career as Cape May Light

Initially named Cape May Light, in 2010 she was renamed Sea Voyager[3] and registered in the United States. In 2011, her registry was changed to Nassau, Bahamas and later that year and in 2015 her named was changed to Saint Laurent.[2]

Career as Saint Laurent

When she was named Saint Laurent she was owned by the Clipper Group AS, of Copenhagen, Denmark and operated by the Haimark Line.[4][6]

On 18 June 2015, on the first season she toured the Great Lakes, Saint Laurent collided with the Eisenhower Lock, a canal lock in the Saint Lawrence Seaway.[6] The vessel has a capacity for 210 passengers, and, on the day of the collision, she was carrying 192 passengers, 81 crew, and a local pilot.[7] Twenty-two members of the ship's complement, nineteen passengers and three crew members were slightly injured, and were evacuated.[8]

After the collision the vessel took on water, so the lock was completely drained.[8] The collision caused the seaway to be out of commission for 42 hours, and delayed 13 other vessels. Nine hours after the seaway was reopened another vessel, Tundra, ran aground.[9]

Career as Victory I

The ship was the first vessel of a new line, currently known as Victory Cruise Lines, was acquired in 2016. She underwent a refit, repurposing four of her double cabins, reducing her passenger capacity to 202 from 210. Her sister ship, formerly Cape Cod Light was acquired in 2017, similarly refit, and recommissioned as Victory II.

See also

• Pearl Mist

References

1. "M/V VICTORY I: An elegant small ship, perfectly suited to coastal cruising". Great Lakes Cruising. Archived from the original on 2017-02-09. Retrieved 2018-08-02. The indisputable joy of sailing is brought to life on the M/V Victory I, an agile small ship that easily navigates canals and locks, tranquil bays, and hidden ports where larger ships dare not go.
2. "Saint Laurent - Passenger Ship". marinetraffic.com. Retrieved 28 March 2016.
3. "Cape May Light (9213129)". Miramar Ship Index. Retrieved 28 March 2016.
4. "Foreign Ship Data & Photo Gallery: 2015 Season". Boatnerd. Archived from the original on June 22, 2015. Retrieved 22 June 2015.
5. Boughner, Bob (23 January 2015). "New cruise ship will sail Great Lakes waters". Toronto Sun. Retrieved 23 July 2015. A sister ship, the Pearl Mist, which cruised past our condo on the St. Clair River a few times last summer, attracting a great deal of attention from shore onlookers, also has a busy scheduled again this summer. In fact, the July 18 to 28 Great Lakes and Georgian Bay sailing is already sold out.
6. Norton Masek, Theresa (22 June 2015). "Haimark Cancels June 26 Saint Laurent Departure". Travel Pulse News. Retrieved 22 June 2015. Haimark Line is operating the 210-passenger Saint Laurent on a long-term charter from FleetPro, the ship’s management company. It is now operating its inaugural season in New England, the Great Lakes and Maritime Canada through the fall foliage season. From late fall to early spring 2016, the Saint Laurent is scheduled to operate in the Caribbean, Central and South America.
7. "Lock traffic on track". Trade Wind News. Retrieved 22 June 2015.
8. "Montreal's Saint Laurent cruise ship hits lock en route to Toronto". CBC News. 19 June 2015. Retrieved 22 June 2015. Nineteen injured passengers and three injured crew members had to be removed from the ship with the help of fire officials late last night. All of the injuries appeared to be minor, according to FleetPro Passenger Ship Management, the company that manages the ship.
9. Lakshmi, Aiswarya (22 June 2015). "Tundra Aground in St. Lawrence Seaway". Marine Link. Retrieved 22 June 2015. The 185 meter long drybulk vessel MV Tundra (30,892dwt, built 2009) owned by Canfornav, part of the Canadian Forest Navigation Group, has run aground overnight on the St. Lawrence Seaway at Lancaster, Ontario in Canada.