MONTEREY in Lisbon July 1990

Ex-American passenger liner and cruise ship MONTEREY photographed in Lisbon 1n July 1990 while on her first series of cruises based in the Mediterranean after she was purchased by interests associated to the Mediterranean Shipping Company Group. She looked particularly beautiful in StarLauro funnel colours... 

Constructed in 1952 as the U.S. Maritime Commission C4-type cargo liner FREE STATE MARINER, she was purchased by Matson Lines in 1955 and rebuilt as the passenger liner MONTEREY for South Pacific service and cruising as off January 1957.

In 1971 she was sold to Pacific Far East Lines and continued operating under the US flag until January 1978. After a long spell of lay up the MONTEREY was rebuilt and modernized for full time cruising by Tacoma Boatbuilding and  Wartsila for a new US operator, Aloha Pacific Cruises and introduced in 1988 on cruises in Hawaian waters. This ventured did not last for long and in May 1989 MONTEREY was laid up again, in Honolulu until sold in March 1990 to Star Lauro and the MSC Group. In Italian hands the MONTEREY gained another spell of life cruising for 16 years mostly in the Mediterranean until sold for scrap in India in late 2006. See more LMC photos of the MONTEREY here.

Texto e imagens /Text and images copyright L.M.Correia. Favor não piratear. Respeite o meu trabalho / No piracy, please. For other posts and images, check our archive at the right column of the main page. Click on the photos to see them enlarged. Thanks for your visit and comments. Luís Miguel Correia