Vasco da Gama is a cruise ship of Cruise & Maritime Voyages (CMV). Built for the Holland America Line in 1993 as the Statendam, in November 2015 it was transferred to P&O Cruises Australia and renamed Pacific Eden. In April 2019 it was transferred to Cruise & Maritime Voyages.

History

Vasco da Gama was ordered as the fifth Statendam along with her sisters Maasdam and Ryndam (now Pacific Aria) in 1989 from Fincantieri shipyards. The hull design was initially based on MS Costa Classica (1991) but was extensively changed due to changes to upper works that affected buoyancy. She entered service in 1993. Cruising from the west coast of the United States, with Australia and New Zealand as the common destination in the Northern Hemisphere winter and Alaska in the Northern Hemisphere summer, she was the fifth Holland America Line ship to bear the name Statendam. Although Statendam II was ordered and mostly completed, she never sailed for Holland America due to the outbreak of World War I, and was used by the British as a troopship under the name SS Justicia.

Concept and Construction

During the design of her class there was concern over her ability to meet the strict new SOLAS 90 International Convention for the Safety of Life at Sea stability requirements which would go into effect in 2010. She proved to meet these requirements beyond expectations and the additional ballast tanks fitted to the class to provide added stability usually travel void for weight reduction and hence, fuel savings. Her hull design is based largely on that of MS Costa Classica with changes to make it more buoyant as the superstructure of Statendam and her sisters is much heavier than that of Costa Classica. Statendam and her sisters have articulated "Hinze" flap rudders, basically a rudder with a small portion of its aft that can be steered in addition to the main rudder, for exceptional maneuverability. When launched her class proved to be one of the most technically advanced and optimised cruise ships in the world during sea trials.

Baranof Wind rescue

In August 2013 Statendam was informed by the Glacier Bay National Park ranger station that the nearby Baranof Wind was stranded in the ice of Hopkins Glacier and unable to continue to Glacier Bay National Park. Statendam, upon arrival, lowered lifeboats 8 and 10 to take on the approximately 105 passengers and crew aboard her. They were given safety instructions and dinner before disembarking at Glacier Bay National Park ranger station three hours later.

P&O Cruises Australia

In the 2015 northern summer, the Statendam sailed Alaskan cruises out of Vancouver and Homer before being dry-docked in October in Singapore for a refit by SembCorp Marine before being transferred to P&O Australia. Renamed the Pacific Eden, she departed Fremantle on her maiden cruise on 15 November 2015. She was officially renamed in Sydney by Kate Ritchie on 25 November 2015. The naming was reportedly the first done via Twitter She sailed under the P&O Australia brand out of Australian ports year round.

Cruise & Maritime Voyages

In March 2018 it was announced by P&O Australia that Pacific Eden will depart on 16 March 2019 before being transferred to Cruise & Maritime Voyages (CMV) in early April 2019. In April 2019, Pacific Eden was transferred into the Cruise & Maritime Voyages fleet and renamed Vasco da Gama.