 | |
| Company type | Subsidiary |
|---|---|
| Industry | Shipping |
| Founded | 1848 |
| Headquarters | Ipswich, United Kingdom |
| Products | Cruise ships |
| Parent | Bonheur |
| Website | www.fredolsencruises.com |
Fred. Olsen Cruise Lines is a UK-based, Norwegian-owned cruise shipping line with four cruise ships. The company is owned by Bonheur and Ganger Rolf and is headquartered in Ipswich, Suffolk, in the United Kingdom. The company is part of the Fred. Olsen Group.
The company originated in Hvitsten, a small town on Oslofjord in Norway, in 1848 by three Olsen brothers, Fredrik Christian, Petter and Andras, who bought their first ships and began an international shipping company. The company is now into the fifth generation of the family and operates various companies skilled within the cruise and passenger shipping trade, as well as aviation, ships' crewing, ship building and offshore industries. The Fred. Olsen group also has business interests in the luxury hotel sector, estate management,[1] property development and electronics companies.[2]
In May 2006 Fred. Olsen Cruise Lines announced the purchase of a new vessel, Norwegian Crown, from Norwegian Cruise Line. Following delivery of the vessel in November 2007, she was dry-docked for refurbishment and lengthening, with a pre-built 30 metre centre section added. She was renamed Balmoral and entered service early in 2008. This was followed by the extension of Braemar in summer 2008. A new centre section was added, with new cabins and public rooms, increasing the size from 19,000 GT to 24,000 GT (approx).
In 2018 Fred. Olsen announced that a series of 600-passenger-newbuilts is planned and they are in negotiatings with shipyards, but those newbuilts were never ordered.[3]
In July 2020, Fred. Olsen bought the former Holland America Line ships Amsterdam and Rotterdam for $37m[4] and renamed them Bolette and Borealis respectively, they will be delivered in September 2020. They will replace the Boudicca and the Black Watch, which were retired in August 2020.[5][6]
| Ship | Built | Entered service with Fred. Olsen |
Gross tonnage | Flag | Notes | Image |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Balmoral | 1988 | 2007 | 43,537 GT |  Bahamas |
former Odyssey;Royal Cruise Line | .jpg)
|
| Brabant | 2006 | 2018 |  Germany |
First river cruise for Fred Olsen | _at_Niehl_I-1210373.jpg)
| |
| Borealis | 1997 | 2020 | 61,849 GT | Bahamas |
former Rotterdam; Holland America Line | 
|
| Bolette | 2000 | 2020 | 62,735 GT | Bahamas |
former Amsterdam; Holland America Line |  |
| Ship | Built | Years in service | Tonnage | Notes | Fate | Image |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Black Prince | 1966 | 1966–2009 | 9,499 GRT 11,209 GT |
Built as a combination ferry/cruise ship/reefer ship. Rebuilt into a cruise ship in 1987. | Scrapped in October 2013 as Ola Esmeralda. | .jpg)
|
| Blenheim | 1970 Upper Clyde Shipbuilders Ltd | 1970–1981 | 10,427 GRT 12,244 GT |
Built as a larger version of Black Prince and Black Watch combination ferry/cruise ships. Sold to Scandinavia World Cruises 1981. Burnt out 1984. Rebuilt and continued as Discovery 1. | Scrapped in 1997. | |
| Black Watch | 1972 | 1996–2020 | 28,613 GT | Retired in 2020, after Fred. Olsen bought the former Amsterdam and Rotterdam. | Scrapped in Alang, India in 2022. | .jpg)
|
| Boudicca | 1973 | 2005–2020 | 28,388 GT | Scrapped in Aliağa, Turkey in 2021. | .jpg)
| |
| Braemar | 1993 | 2001–2022 | 24,344 GT | Retired in 2022 [7] | To be sold to new owners | .jpg)
|
For most of the year, the ships are based in UK ports. A winter Caribbean fly-cruise programme on Braemar operates from Barbados.
Destinations include Northern Europe, the Baltic, the Mediterranean, the Adriatic, the Canary Islands, the Caribbean, Africa, Canada, the United States and South America[citation needed]
Fred. Olsen Cruise Lines operates smaller scale cruise ships, ranging in size from 24,000 to 62,000 GT (approx), currently a fleet of five cruise ships, the ambience on board is traditionally British.
