MV Cunard Ambassador

Cunard Ambassador in Key West after an on-board fire, September 1974
History
Name	Cunard Ambassador
Owner	Cunard Line
Route	New York City to Bermuda San Juan to other Caribbean ports Vancouver to Alaska
Builder	Rotterdamsche Droogdok Maatschappij
Yard number	666
Launched	16 March 1972
Completed	October 1972
Identification	IMO number: 7208144
Fate	Sold to C. Clausen after an onboard fire 12 September 1974 and converted to a livestock carrier.
Name	Linda Clausen
Owner	C. Clausen D/S A/S, København
Acquired	1975
Refit	Converted to a livestock carrier in 1975
Fate	Sold to Lembu Shipping Corporation of Panama
Name	Procyon
Owner	Lembu Shipping Corporation of Panama
Acquired	1980
Fate	Sold to Qatar Transport & Marine Services of Doha
Name	Raslan
Owner	Qatar Transport & Marine Services of Doha
Acquired	1983
Fate	Sold for scrap after a fire on 3 July 1983. Arrived in Kaohsiung, Taiwan for scapping on 7 September 1984.
General characteristics
Type	Cruise ship
Tonnage	14,155 GT
Length	484 ft (148 m) long
Beam	71 ft (22 m)
Decks	7
Installed power	Diesel engines
Propulsion	Two propellers
Speed	20.5 knots (38.0 km/h; 23.6 mph)
Capacity	806 all-one-class passengers

MV Cunard Ambassador was a cruise ship planned as one of a class of eight ships for the charter airline Overseas National Airways. At the same time, the Cunard Line was moving into the cruise market because the increasing popularity of international flights meant that its transatlantic passenger services were no longer viable.

Because of the cost of the eight-ship project, Overseas National Airways soon ran into financial troubles and was forced to abandon it. Cunard saw the opportunity and quickly took the project on, soon reducing the order to two ships, which it christened Cunard Adventurer (1971) and Cunard Ambassador (1972). Both ships were intended for seven-day cruises, including New York City to Bermuda, San Juan to other Caribbean ports, and Vancouver to Alaska during the summer seasons.

The two ships were less successful than intended. Cunard Adventurer was soon sold and became Sunward II and later Triton; Cunard Ambassador was withdrawn from Cunard service on September 12, 1974 after a fire on a positioning trip. There were no passengers on board and no fatalities but, after being towed to Key West, the ship was declared a total loss.

The hulk was sold as a gutted hull and refitted to become the Danish sheep carrier, Linda Clausen later the same year. In 1980, she was sold again and became Procyon. In April 1981 she again caught fire, whilst bunkering in Singapore; the salvors Smit, SISEA and SELCO successfully fought the fire. The ship was again repaired and, in 1983, renamed Raslan. In 1983, only a year after being rechristened Raslan, she suffered another devastating fire in the Indian Ocean. The ship was deemed was beyond economic repair so after thirteen years of service the hulk was sold to Taiwanese ship breakers and scrapped.

Shortly after the sale of Cunard Adventurer and the first fire on Cunard Ambassador, Cunard planned two new ships, Cunard Countess and Cunard Conquest, later changed to Cunard Princess. The design incorporated many features of the failed Adventurer and Ambassador including a similar sleek profile and angular funnel and the white-painted hull.

• “Picture History of the Queen Mary and Queen Elizabeth”, William H. Miller Jr., Dover Publications Inc., 2004
• “Picture History of the Cunard Line 1840–1990”, Frank O. Braynard and William H. Miller Jr., Dover Publications Inc., 1990
• “Doomed Ships; Great Ocean Liner Disasters”, William H. Miller Jr., Dover Publications Inc., 2006

• "Cunard Ambassador (7208144)". Miramar Ship Index. Retrieved 2009-08-09.