MV Funchal is a Portuguese ocean liner owned by Brock Pierce as a floating hotel.
Construction and configuration
The ship was built in 1961, under the guidance of the Portuguese naval engineer Rogério d'Oliveira. Funchal is an ocean liner with a classic profile and interiors.
The ship's features include stabilisation, air-conditioning, three lifts, a main show lounge (Ilha Verde), piano bar (Porto Bar), club room, library, card room, lido bar, shop, photo shop, medical centre, excursion office, and reception with exchange facilities.
Early service
In the late 1950s, Portuguese shipping company Empresa Insulana de Navegação began the process of planning a running mate for their popular, but aging 1907-built ship Lima on the Lisbon-Madiera route. The new ship's keel was laid during July of 1960, and she was launched as SS Funchal (after the capital of Madeira) on February 10, 1961, being delivered to Insulana de Navegação in October, in order to begin her maiden voyage from Lisbon to Madiera via Porta Delgada, Azores on November 4.
From 1961 to 1972, Funchal worked the Lisbon-Azores-Madeira service consistently, aside from periodic charters by the Portuguese government to act as the country's presidential yacht for both recreational and official functions, including state visits to Brazil in 1968 and 1972 (on the latter trip, repatriating the ashes of Brazil's first Emperor, Pedro I).
However, the ship's boilers had been problematic since her launch, with frequent breakdowns and unplanned maintenance periods, and on a 1972 trip from Lisbon to Rio de Janeiro carrying President Américo Tomás, Funchal broke down in the mid-Atlantic and limped into Rio two days late, following emergency repairs.
In the aftermath of the boiler failure, Empresa Insulana de Navegação sent Funchal to Nederlandsche Dok en Scheepsbouw Maatschappij NV in Amsterdam, Netherlands in late 1972, where her original boilers and Parsons turbines were removed and replaced with a pair of 9-cylinder Werkspoor diesel engines, making a total of 10,000 hp. The company took the opportunity to also rebuild Funchal as a single-class cruise ship. Tourist A and B cabins were mostly rebuilt, to enable a greater share of rooms with private bathrooms, and cargo hold space was converted into additional cabins. Upon re-delivery in May of 1973, Funchal now carried 465 passengers in one class, and had a top speed of just 18 knots, 16 knots cruising, slower, but more reliable and efficient.
After making a few cruises with her original black hull, Funchal was repainted white in the spring of 1973. From 1973 to 1974, her routes varied, sailing from Dover, United Kingdom and Zeebrugge, Belgium down to the Azores, Madeira, the Canary Islands, and Cape Verde during the summer months, shifting to Rio de Janeiro for cruises along the South American coast during the winter. By this point, Funchal's owners were struggling financially, and, in early 1974, merged with their larger counterpart, Companhia Colonial de Navegação, to create Companhia Portuguesa de Transportes Marítimos (CPTM), with Funchal becoming part of the combined fleet. Later in 1974, following the revolution that toppled the Estado Novo regime, CPTM was nationalized by the new government.
During 1976, CPTM placed Funchal under long-term charter to Greek businessman Georgios Potamianos, a member of the family that also controlled Epirotiki Lines (later known as Royal Olympic / Olympia Cruise Lines). Potamianos formed Arcalia Shipping Company to manage and market the ship, basing Funchal in Harwich, United Kingdom during the summer, running cruises around the Baltic Sea and Norwegian fjords, moving to Rio de Janeiro in the winter.
Service with Classic International Cruises
Funchal was the first vessel to join the Classic International Cruises fleet in 1984, and under that flag successfully served the British cruise market for over 20 years, carrying thousands of passengers.
Having undergone extensive work in 2010, to comply with SOLAS 2010, Funchal went back to a Lisbon Shipyard in February 2011 for a lengthy refit, which would include changes to its power plant as well as passenger and crew cabins and public lounges. The idea was to make the ship fit for service for at least another ten years. In November 2011, she completed 50 years of service, always under the same name. However, in 2012, work stopped towards April with only 20% of the required work completed. Following Classic International Cruises' liquidation, in December 2012, the ship faced the threat of being sold for scrap.
