Ocean Liner Marine Painting of the Orient Line Cruise Liner Oriana in the Suez Canal
The last of the Orient Lines passenger liners to enter service, Oriana was built by the Vickers-Armstrong company at Barrow and launched in November 1959. The ships maiden voyage from Southampton to Australia commenced in December 1960 and was fleetingly the largest ship on the Southampton to Australia run.
From 1966, the ship appeared in P&O's house colour of white and buff, replacing the famous corn of the Orient Line, this being as a result of the Orient line ships being fully integrated into the P&O fleet, with the ship beginning a new cruising career from 1973 onwards. By 1986, the ship at over 25 years old could no longer offer what the modern-day cruise customer was expecting and so she was sold for use as a floating hotel. The ship was badly damaged by a storm in 2004 and was broken up the following year.
Robert G. Lloyd's Marine Art Ocean Liner print shows the ship in the Suez Canal, some time before 1966.
