MS Insignia is the lead ship of the R class of cruise ships built for Renaissance cruises. She is now owned by Oceania Cruises as part of its Regatta Class of ships, but recently sailed for Hapag-Lloyd as the Columbus 2. She was built in 1998 by the Chantiers de l'Atlantique shipyard in St. Nazaire, France for Renaissance Cruises as MS R One. On 11 December 2014, 3 crew members died in a fire that broke out in the engine room when the ship was docked in St. Lucia.

Concept and construction

Renaissance Cruises had begun operations in 1989, with a series of eight small luxury cruise ships constructed during the course of the next three years. In the mid-90s the company placed an order for eight identical 30,277 GT vessels with Chantiers de l'Atlantique shipyard in France. The first ship in the series, MS R One, was delivered in June 1998, followed by R Two in November of the same year.

MS Insignia is scheduled to undergo a significant renovation as a part of the company's $100 million OceaniaNEXT program. The refurbished cruise ship will debut in December 2018.

Lease to Hapag-Lloyd

Beginning in April 2012, MS Insignia began what was initially announced as a two-year lease to Hapag-Lloyd, which renamed the ship Columbus 2.

Reports announced that Hapag-Lloyd had decided that after 2014, they would not renew the charter of the Columbus 2, in favor of focusing their luxury product.Insignia rejoined the Oceania fleet in 31 May 2014.