The former flagship of Holland America the Rotterdam was renamed by Fred Borealis. Olsen and he arrived in the Scottish port of Rosyth today, September 4. Sailing under the iconic Forth and Queensferry bridges in Scotland, the ship went to the Rosyth facilities in Babcock. The vessel was still in colors of Holland America.

The plan is to start a ship refit and repaint her to Fred. Olsen 's exterior color scheme and interior repairs to create a more traditional British feel for the ship.

After debarking the Holland America crew, the former Rotterdam had made an extended trip from Manila to make a final call in her namesake city of Rotterdam. She then underwent an inspection at the Damen Rotterdam shipyard before making the trip to Scotland.

The second cruise ship also acquired by Fred Olsen was the other former flagship of Holland America, the Amsterdam, which is a close sister ship in design to the former Rotterdam. The Amsterdam had been on their annual world cruise when the pandemic struck in March 2020.

Fred Olsen took the opportunity during Carnival Corporation's efforts to downsize its fleet by accelerating the departure of older ships to upgrade its cruise operations. Fred Olsen, although a Norwegian company, operated four cruise ships that focused on the UK market. Holland America's acquisition of the larger ships is being used as an opportunity to retire two vintage cruise ships from the 1970s.

Maritime Business World