SS Principe Perfeito was passenger ship

Passenger ship

A passenger ship is a ship whose primary function is to carry passengers. The category does not include cargo vessels which have accommodations for limited numbers of passengers, such as the ubiquitous twelve-passenger freighters once common on the seas in which the transport of passengers is...

 built in 1961 by Swan Hunter

Swan Hunter

Swan Hunter, formerly known as "Swan Hunter & Wigham Richardson", was one of the best known shipbuilding companies in the world. Based in Wallsend, Tyne and Wear, the company was responsible for some of the greatest ships of the early 20th century — most famously, the RMS Mauretania which...

 on the River Tyne

River Tyne

The River Tyne is a river in North East England in Great Britain. It is formed by the confluence of two rivers: the North Tyne and the South Tyne. These two rivers converge at Warden Rock near Hexham in Northumberland at a place dubbed 'The Meeting of the Waters'.The North Tyne rises on the...

. She first entered service for the Companhia Nacional de Navegacao, often abbreviated as CNN.

The first voyage of Principe Perfeito, which began in Lisbon

Lisbon

Lisbon is the capital city and largest city of Portugal with a population of 545,245 within its administrative limits on a land area of . The urban area of Lisbon extends beyond the administrative city limits with a population of 3 million on an area of , making it the 9th most populous urban...

 to Africa

Africa

Africa is the world's second largest and second most populous continent, after Asia. At about 30.2 million km² including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of the Earth's total surface area and 20.4% of the total land area...

 with calls at nine different ports and then ended at Beira

Beira, Mozambique

Beira is the second largest city in Mozambique. It lies in the central region of the country in Sofala Province, where the Pungue River meets the Indian Ocean. Beira had a population of 412,588 in 1997, which grew to an estimated 546,000 in 2006...

 Harbour, was a run that would become her usual voyage.

In July, 6 1964 the Príncipe Perfeito transported the president of the Portuguese Republic, Americo Tomas in an official trip to Mozambique.

During her service years with her original owners the Principe Perfeito was generally used for passenger service, Troop transport, making cruises only occasionally.

In 1974 the CNN merged with three other major shipping companies, Companhia de Navegação dos Carregadores Acoreanos, Companhia Colonial de Navegação and Empresa Insulana de Navegação to form the Companhia Portuguesa de Transportes Marítimos, or CTM. This move was made in order to streamline operations during the 1973 oil crisis

1973 oil crisis

The 1973 oil crisis started in October 1973, when the members of Organization of Arab Petroleum Exporting Countries or the OAPEC proclaimed an oil embargo. This was "in response to the U.S. decision to re-supply the Israeli military" during the Yom Kippur war. It lasted until March 1974. With the...

 and due to severe competition from airlines. Despite this major change she continued her original route. Due to political instability in the Portuguese African colonies Principe Perfeito was laid up at Lisbon in 1976.

That April she was sold to the Panamanian company Global Transportation Incorporated, who sent her back to her builders with the intention of converting Principe Perfeito into the accommodation ship Al Hasa.

These plans never materialized and ownership of the vessel was passed on to the Sitmar Line, who renamed Fairsky with the intent of rebuilding her into a cruise ship, as they did with the SS Fairwind

RMS Sylvania

RMS Sylvania was an ocean liner built in 1957 by John Brown & Co , Glasgow, Scotland for the United Kingdom-based shipping company Cunard Line. She was the last Cunard Line vessel built specifically for transatlantic crossings...

. However the company decided to build an entirely new ship (resulting in the Fairsky of 1984). With this decision Sitmar renamed her Vera in 1981. She was sold to the John Latsis company Bilinder Marine Corporation in 1982, who renamed her Marianna IX after one of his daughters. She entered a new role as an accommodation ship at Jeddah

Jeddah

Jeddah, Jiddah, Jidda, or Jedda is a city located on the coast of the Red Sea and is the major urban center of western Saudi Arabia. It is the largest city in Makkah Province, the largest sea port on the Red Sea, and the second largest city in Saudi Arabia after the capital city, Riyadh. The...

 and then Rabigh

Rabigh

Rabigh is an ancient town on the western coast of Saudi Arabia . It is in Makkah Province. It used to be named "Al-Johfa" until the early years of the 17th century. In some ancient stories the town had been completely destroyed through a sea water...

. In 1984 her name was changed to Marianna 9. She was sent to Kalamata

Kalamata

Kalamata is the second-largest city of the Peloponnese in southern Greece. The capital and chief port of the Messenia prefecture, it lies along the Nedon River at the head of the Messenian Gulf...

 to house earthquake victims in 1986, but was later returned to Rabigh. In 1992 she was laid up at Eleusis alongside the . She remained there until 2001 when she was sent to the scrapyards at Alang, India.