Ocean Navigator

 The small cruise ship Ocean Navigator arrived today, October 14, winding up a summer season of cruises on the Great Lakes and Quebec.

Oddly the ship anchored in the lower harbour instead of tying up at its usual spot at Pier 23.

With the larger cruise ships Caribbean Princess and Seven Seas Mariner as a backdrop, the ship looked rather forlorn all alone in the anchorage. There was no sign that passengers were ferried ashore, as the ship's tenders were all stowed in their cradles. (It was a very windy day which may have been a factor.)

The Ocean Navigator (and its sister ship Ocean Mariner) have been off and on callers in Halifax over the past several years. Launched in 2001 but not completed until 2004 at Atlantic Marine in Jacksonville, FL as Cape Cod Light it has traded as Coastal Queen from 2007 to 2009 then Clipper Discoverer 2 in 2009, Sea Discoverer to 2018, and Victory II to 2022. Registered at 4954 gt, it has 110 cabins for a maximum capacity of 220 passengers and 77 crew. It flies the Bahamas flag.

Owners American Queen Voyages (part of the Hornblower Group) announced in June of this year that the sister ships would not be returning to the Great Lakes in 2024 and will be sold. The move was to allow the company to concentrate on their inland rivers cruises. So far there has been no update on that news.

There were a few passengers/people/crew? on deck when the ship approached the anchorage this afternoon, but the cool wind may have kept many "indoors".

.