Design and Construction (1959 – 1961):

The largest passenger ship built for the Portuguese merchant marine and largest passenger ship ordered from the prestigious Cockerill Shipyard at Hoboken, Belgium, the INFANTE DOM HENRIQUE was laid down on 23 March 1959. Externally, she resembled some of the finest Italian (CRISTOFORO COLOMBO) and Scandinavian (OSLOFJORD, BERGENSFJORD) liners of the day with her sharply raked bow, curved and layered superstructure, modern radio mast, streamlined centrally placed funnel, terraced afterdecks and sculpted cruiser spoon stern. Her funnel was a modified version of the Lascroux type with its forward and aft open venting (CRISTOFORO COLOMBO and the Cockerill-built BADOUINVILLE and JADOTVILLE sported similar designs).

In direct competition with the Companhia Nacional de Navegacao (CNN) newbuilding flagship PRINCIPE PERFEITO (which was simultaneously under construction at Swan Hunter, Wigham, Richardson's Neptune Works Yard at Newcastle-Upon-Tyne), Companhia Colonial de Navegacao's (CCN) INFANTE was slightly larger and perhaps more innovative.

Both CCN and CNN served the Lisbon -- Africa run, connecting Portugal with its west and east coast colonies. INFANTE sailed from Lisbon via Funchal, Luanda, Lobito, Cape Town and Lourenco Marques to Beira and back. She was launched by Maria Theresa Soares da Fonseca, the wife of the president of administration of CCN on 29 April 1960 and commenced her sea trials the following year. Initial vibration problems had to be corrected before she began her maiden voyage on 21 September 1961.

The INFANTE DOM HENRIQUE carried a total of 1,018 passengers: 156 in first class (with eight in deluxe suites), 384 in tourist class A and 478 in tourist class B. Her crew numbered 318 and she also had four holds with a combined capacity of 10, 504 cubic meters of general and refrigerated cargo. Her amenities and appointments were superior and modern for the time.

Portuguese Line era (1961 – 1976):

The INFANTE thrived throughout the 1960s, proudly carrying her complement of passengers to and from the Portuguese colonies. President Thomaz even used her for an official voyage in September of 1963, a distinction she shared with the other two principal Portuguese flagships, CNN's PRINCIPE PERFEITO and Empresa Insulana's FUNCHAL.

By the beginning of the next decade, two important factors would soon affect the entire Portuguese passenger fleet: the advent of the jumbo jet and the decolonization of Angola and Mozambique. The jumbo jet arrived in 1972, just in time to unite with the fuel crisis to drive oil-thirsty steamships to a premature death in the burgeoning Taiwanese scrap yards. In a few short years, most of the Portuguese liners sailed, glistening paint and all, to Kaohsiung for dismantling. SANTA MARIA, VERA CRUZ, MOCAMBIQUE, NIASSA, IMPERIO, etc., would never return to the Lisbon quaysides, while the three barely surviving companies, CNN (which had merged with Sociedade Geral), CCN, and Empresa Insulana (which had already merged with Companhia de Navegacao Carregadores Acorianos) were combined in 1974 to form Companhia des Transportes Maritimos (CTM).

In 1974, the colonies were granted independence, effectively closing down the African passenger ship service. The PRINCIPE PERFEITO was sold in 1975 to become an accommodation ship while FUNCHAL, UIGE, INFANTE, and the diminutive PONTA DELGADA soldiered on under the new orange, blue, and yellow funnel livery of CTM. INFANTE continued on, sailing virtually empty to Africa, only to return with refugees and military personnel. In January of 1976, she was laid up at Lisbon.

Hotel Ship era (1977 – 1986):

In 1977, she was sold to GAS (Gabinete da Area de Sines), for use as a worker's accommodation ship at the port of Sines. The former fishing village was being converted into a large industrial center and INFANTE would serve as permanent housing. After a $10 million refit that included the construction of a basin around the ship, the INFANTE would open in November of 1977 as a floating hotel. Unfortunately, the development would soon fold and the ship was left largely unattended, playing host to few visitors in the years she was moored there. As the rust streaks darkened and her paint faded and began to peel away, it looked as though the INFANTE was at the figurative end of her many mooring ropes.

The Return to Cruising (1986 – 1997):

Cruising as Vasco da Gama:

In 1986, Lisbon-based Greek shipping magnate George Potamianos stepped in to purchase and refit the neglected ship for cruising under his Panamanian registered company Trans World Cruises. She was moved from her basin at Sines to Lisbon, where she arrived in February of 1988. That March, she began a $50 million conversion into the VASCO DA GAMA at Nafsi, near Piraeus. Her engines were overhauled, cabins completely rebuilt with private facilities and redundant public rooms converted to more cabins and areas such as conference centers, boutiques, and casinos. Her attractive funnel livery remained similar to its earlier incarnations, albeit in bright yellow with blue bands.

VASCO DA GAMA entered service in April of 1999, offering a variety of cruises from Northern Europe, eventually crossing the Atlantic to New York on a world cruise, and later from the Mediterranean. While at Lisbon on December 5, she suffered an engine room fire that caused significant damage and required her to be towed to Bremerhaven where she arrived for repairs on December 17. Boiler trouble the following June put her out of service for fifteen days while repairs were made at Bremerhaven.

Cruising as Seawind Crown:

In 1991, VASCO DA GAMA embarked on a series of Brazilian cruises, then took on the second name SEAWIND CROWN for a charter to US-owned Seawind Cruise Lines for seven day Aruba-based cruising.

While under the Seawind Cruise Line banner, her new funnel livery was all white with a blue circle surrounding a stylized image of a modern ship's (insiders would recognize that vessel as the never completed SEA VENTURE -- ex TAYGETOS -- which was to have been the original SEAWIND CROWN) bow and blue wave. Far less intriguing and traditional, it nonetheless served its market well and gave the SEAWIND CROWN an appearance that conformed with the liveries of the countless white and blue ships sailing from the US.

Seawind Cruise Line and the SEAWIND CROWN did well in the Aruba market on her set seven night itinerary with calls at Curacao, Caracas, Grenada, Barbados, St. Lucia, and a day at sea. Her clientele hailed from the U.S., Europe, and South America and the ship's old world ambiance and southern circuit became a popular alternative to the mega-ships and the overtrod eastern and western Caribbean offerings. In 1995, she was bought outright by Seawind Cruise Line, officially dropping the VASCO DA GAMA name from her bows. At the same time, a second itinerary was added, alternating with the original and offering the following ports: Antigua, Barbados, Guadeloupe, and Dominica with two days at sea. Both could be combined for a fortnight of Caribbean cruising on the classic SEAWIND CROWN.

The Final Years (1997 – 2004):

In early 1997, Seawind and Dolphin Cruise Lines merged, forming Cruise Holdings, Ltd, initially keeping their fleet identities separate. Soon, Cruise Holdings acquired the one ship Premier Cruise Lines operation, merging the three companies under the new banner of Premier Cruises, Inc. SEAWIND CROWN was sent for a major refit at the end of the year to conform with new SOLAS (Safety of Life At Sea) regulations and was given further modifications that saw the replacement of her forward dining room and conference room with shops and cabins, more cabins carved from crew areas on forward Atlantic Deck and an expansion of the Tavern area into a Lido Restaurant that claimed the Nightclub. Her passenger capacity increased from 624 to 728 and she donned Premier Cruises' livery with deep blue funnel bearing a white stylized ocean liner logo and medium blue hull topped with a gold band.

Premier's concept of operating classic ships was every ocean liner lover's fantasy, however, their constant directional shift and itinerary scrubbing played havoc with their travel industry support. Furthermore, the collapse of similarly classic Regency Cruises in 1995 was not a confidence booster, and the newly formed company almost immediately began to operate in the red. Management changes, mechanical breakdowns, and an overcrowded market would ultimately spell the end of Premier. In late 1998, the ship was given a new funnel livery consisting of a black banded top, white base, and stylized red "P".

In what must be seen as an unwise move, SEAWIND CROWN was transferred from her successful Aruba base to Puerto Vallarta in late 1999, offering weekly cruises along the Mexican Riviera. The results were catastrophic and the ship was withdrawn after only a handful of sailings. A last minute charter to Spanish-based Pullmantur Cruises came through rather suddenly, and she next sailed to Barcelona for a program of weekly Mediterranean cruises.

The ship and itinerary worked quite splendidly, and Pullmantur was keen on keeping her in operation when the bottom fell out for Premier in September of 2000 and all of its assets, including its ships, were seized for payment of debt. SEAWIND CROWN was stranded at Barcelona on 17 September with 260 crew members on board.

Unable to acquire their back pay from the ship's liquidators (Price Waterhouse Coopers), technical operation company (International Shipping Partners), or Pullmantur, the crew lived on board the ship for nearly six months, depending on the kindness of charitable people and organizations that brought them food and the funding to ultimately return home. As the ship was tangled in legal red tape, a sale could not be secured, so SEAWIND CROWN was moved from the World Trade Centre terminal in Barcelona harbour to a lonely berth near the outer breakwater.

In March of 2002, the ship was shut down completely and laid up in "dead" condition. The funnel was covered, weather doors secured, hatch covers secured, pool drained, dampers secured and sealed, chain lockers sealed on the top and anchors secured, fire line drained, shell doors closed, fan rooms closed, watertight and fire screen doors closed, fresh water tanks maintained full, and sprinkler stations drained. The engine bilges were drained, boilers, tailshaft, and rudders sealed, overboard and inlet valves closed, a/c units sealed, remote control valves closed, emergency power batteries disconnected, stabilizers sealed, and refrigerator doors sealed. The Barcelona Port Authority took control of the ship, and with the berth space needed for an oil tanker facility, opted to put the ship up for auction.

28^th December 2003 the now Batumi-registered BARCELONA (ex INFANTE DOM HENRIQUE, VASCO DA GAMA, SEAWIND CROWN) left Barcelona today after three years layup for Indian breakers in either Mumbai (Bombay) or Alang. 12^th January 2004 the BARCELONA passed through Suez today on her way from Barcelona, Spain to Alang, India for scrapping. By the end of 2004 the once fine former Infante dom Henrique was no more.