View source for Engineering:MS Southward

{|{{Infobox ship begin |infobox caption=yes}}
{{Infobox ship image
 |Ship image= "Southward"_-_Miami,_1986.JPG
 |Ship image size=300px
 |Ship caption= MS ''Southward'' leaving the port of Miami, 1981
}}

{{Infobox ship career
|Hide header=
|Ship name=*MS ''Southward'' (1971–1995)
*''Seawing'' (1995–2005)
*''Perla'' (2005–2008)
*''The Aegean Pearl'' (2008–2010)
*''Rio'' (2010–2012)
*''Venus'' (2012–2013)
|Ship owner
*[[Company:Norwegian Cruise Line|Norwegian Cruise Line]] (1971–1994)
*Sun Cruises (1994–2004)
*Louis Cruises (2004–2005)
*Golden Star Cruises (2005–2010)
*Rio Cruises (2010–2011)
*Venus Cruise Lines (2012–2013)
|Ship operator=
*Norwegian Cruise Line (1971–1994)
*Airtours (1994–2004)
*Louis Cruise Lines (2004–2005)
*Pearl Navigation, Ltd. (2008–2009)
*Eagles Shipholding SA (2010–2011)
*Mediterranean Cruises, Ltd.
|Ship registry=
*1971–1987: [[Place:Oslo|Oslo]], {{flag|Norway}}<ref>[http://www.shipspotting.com/gallery/photo.php?lid=490260# Southward - Oslo]</ref>
*1987–2005: [[Place:Nassau, Bahamas|Nassau]], {{flag|Bahamas|civil}}
*2005–2010: Piraeus, {{flag|Greece}}
*2010–2013: [[Place:Valletta|Valletta]], {{flag|Malta|civil}}
*2013: [[Place:Lomé|Lomé]], {{flag|Togo}}
|Ship route=
|Ship ordered=1971
|Ship builder=Cantiere navale di Riva Trigoso
| Ship original cost=
| Ship yard number=288
| Ship way number=
| Ship laid down=
| Ship launched=June 5, 1971
| Ship completed=1971
| Ship christened=November 30, 1971
| Ship acquired=
| Ship commissioned=
| Ship decommissioned=
| Ship maiden voyage=November 30, 1971
| Ship in service=1971
| Ship out of service=2013
| Ship identification={{IMO|7111078}}
|Ship fate=Sold for scrap in 2013
|Ship status=
|Ship notes=
}}
{{Infobox ship characteristics
|Hide header       =
|Header caption    =
|Ship class        =
|Ship tonnage      = {{GRT|16,710}}
|Ship displacement =
|Ship length       = {{convert|536|ft|abbr=on}}
|Ship beam         = {{convert|75|ft|abbr=on}}
|Ship height       =
|Ship draught      =
|Ship draft        =
|Ship depth        =
|Ship decks        = 8
|Ship deck clearance=
|Ship ramps        =
|Ship ice class    =
|Ship sail plan    =
|Ship power        = Fyra Fiat SGM10 Diesel
|Ship propulsion   =
|Ship speed        = {{convert|22|kn|lk=in}}
|Ship capacity     = 802
|Ship crew         = 302
|Ship notes        =
}}
|}

'''MS ''Southward''''' was a [[Engineering:Cruise ship|cruise ship]] owned by [[Company:Norwegian Cruise Line|Norwegian Cruise Line]], operated between 1971 and 1994, and later on to other cruise liners until she ended operation in 2013.

==History==
Southward was NCL's fourth cruise ship, the others being Sunward (1966), Starward (1968), and Skyward (1969). Initially, she was operated on Caribbean cruises out of Miami. In 1987 however, she was dispatched to the west coast of the United States to begin operating out of {{wipe|Los Angeles}} (San Pedro) on three and four-night cruises to Catalina Island, San Diego and Ensenada, BC, Mexico. As a result of this move Norwegian Caribbean Line changed its name to Norwegian Cruise Line (NCL) in late 1987.<ref> MS Southward appeared in the TV series Baywatch Season 3 episodes 15 & 16 in 1993.{{citation|url=http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=159698&page=2|title=What Happened To MS Southward?}}</ref>

The Southward was featured on Episodes 315 and 316 of Baywatch which originally aired on January 25, 1993 and February 1, 1993, respectively. 

By 1994, she was sold off to Sun Cruises, a cruise division of the UK-based travel company Airtours, and renamed Seawing. She cruised seven-nights through the Mediterranean during the spring/summer season and the Far East in the winter season. Seawing later on ran fourteen, sixteen, and thirty-night cruises from 2002 and 2003.

From 2004 she joined the Louis Cruise Lines fleet, under the name of Perla.<ref>{{citation|url=http://www.simplonpc.co.uk/NCL_SouthwardPCs.html|title=NCL Southward}}</ref> In 2005 she operated cruises out of Piraeus to the Greek Islands and Turkey, after a winter in the Far East. In May 2008, she was chartered to Golden Sun Cruises (a Greece-based company) and renamed The Aegean Pearl, operating between three and four nights cruises from Piraeus. After the chartered ended with Golden Sun Cruises in 2009, she returned to Louis Cruises with her name remaining unchanged.

In 2010, she was transferred to Rio Cruises and renamed Rio and again in 2012 sold off to Venus Cruise Lines and renamed Venus. She was scrapped in 2013.

==References==
{{Reflist}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Southward}}
[[Category:Cruise ships]]

{{Sourceattribution|MS Southward|1}}