NEW YORK -- The Maxim Gorkiy will be transformed into the Marco Polo II to launch the rebirth of Orient Lines in April 2009.
Speaking here Wednesday, Orient President and CEO Wayne Heller said that the 25,000-ton, 650-passenger ship would have 20% fewer passengers than the Orient's original ship, the Marco Polo, but 20% more space. Heller, who purchased the Orient Lines brand from Star Cruises in June, would not disclose what Orient had paid for the ship.
The vessel was built as the Hamburg in 1969 for Hanseatic Cruise Lines and later called the Hanseatic. It is best known for being the vessel that was used to host an international summit in 1989 between former President George H.W. Bush and Mikhail Gorbachev, the former head of the Soviet Union.
The ship's ice-strengthened hull will enable it to sail to Antarctica, as Orient's former ship the Marco Polo did, and which Heller said was one of the most important characteristics the line's flagship ship would have to have.
"The most important thing is she can go anywhere in the world," Heller said.
The Maxim Gorkiy currently operates under a long-term charter for German company Phoenix Reisen. The vessel is owned by Sovcomflot, a Russian company that will turn the vessel over to Orient in April after it goes through two-month drydock to be brought up to Safety of Life at Sea (SOLAS) 2010 standards and be given the same Orient livery as its former ship.
Being "a traditional liner," Heller said, 65% of the ship's cabins are outside, but none have balconies.
"There is a lot of open deck space," he said. "And people will meet each other."