What Happened to the Cruise Ship Oriana?

By Alice Nichols

The Oriana was a cruise ship owned by the P&O Cruises Line. It was launched in 1995, and operated on popular routes in Europe, the Caribbean, and South America.

The Oriana was a beautiful ship, with a length of 880 feet and a width of 106 feet. It had 14 decks, and could accommodate up to 1,800 passengers. The Oriana boasted three restaurants, six bars, five swimming pools and two show lounges.

The Final Voyage of the Oriana

In August 2019, the Oriana set sail from Southampton on its final voyage. The ship made stops in Liverpool, Dublin and Cork before heading to La Coruña in Spain for its final port of call before heading back to Southampton.

On the return journey from La Coruña to Southampton, disaster struck when a fire broke out in one of the engine rooms. The fire quickly spread throughout the lower decks and caused extensive damage to the ship’s infrastructure.

The crew managed to contain the blaze with help from local fire services but not before it had caused serious damage to both the interior and exterior of the vessel. In total it took almost three days for firefighters to contain the blaze completely; by this time much of the lower decks were destroyed or badly damaged by smoke and water damage.

What Happened To The Oriana?

Due to extensive damage caused by the fire onboard, P&O Cruises announced that they would be retiring the once glorious liner from service with immediate effect; it would never sail again. After assessing the damages sustained during her final voyage, P&O decided that it would be too costly for them to repair her and so she was officially taken out of service in September 2019 after 24 years at sea.

Conclusion:

The Oriana’s final voyage ended abruptly when a fire broke out onboard in August 2019. Despite efforts by firefighters and crew members to contain it quickly, much of the lower decks were destroyed or badly damaged by smoke and water damage making it too expensive for P&O Cruises to repair her . As such she was taken out of service permanently at end of September 2019 after 24 years sailing across Europe , Caribbean & South America .