The Sky Wonder
Pacific Sky (former name) berthed at Pinkenba Wharf
Entered Service:	March 1984
Re-entered service:	November 2000
Status:	Operating as Sky Wonder (Pullmantur, March 2006 -)
General Characteristics
Tonnage:	46,000 gross tons
Length:	240 metres (787 feet)
Beam:	27.8 m (91 ft)
Draft:	8 m (26 ft)
Height:	Includes 11 passenger decks
Propulsion:	Powered by steam turbines
Speed:	Approximately 21 knots (38 km/h/24 mph)
Complement:	1550 passengers – more than 55,000 Australians a year, 600 crew – one crew member per 2.5 passengers
Cost:	CNIM France at a cost of AUD$300 million

The Sky Wonder (formerly Pacific Sky and Sky Princess) first entered service in 1984, and as of May 2006 operates in the Pullmantur Cruises fleet. Image File history File links PacificSkyBrisbane. ... Pinkenba Wharf is an Australian wharf, located in within the Port of Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. ... 1984 (MCMLXXXIV) was a leap year starting on Sunday of the Gregorian calendar. ... 2000 (MM) was a leap year starting on Saturday of the Gregorian calendar. ... For the Manfred Mann album, see 2006 (album). ... A rotor of a modern steam turbine, used in a power plant A steam turbine is a mechanical device that extracts thermal energy from pressurized steam, and converts it into useful mechanical work. ... Au. ... {!expand} Pullmantur Cruises is a cruise liner operator in Spain. ...

History

In 1982, construction began on the vessel for Sitmar Cruises, who named the cruise ship "Fairsky". She entered service in 1984. When Sitmar was bought by Princess Cruises in 1988, the ship was renamed "Sky Princess" and remained with Princess until 2000, when she transferred to P&O Cruises Australia under the name "Pacific Sky". She is the last major passenger ship built with steam engines. Princess Cruises logo Princess Cruises is an American cruise line, based out of Santa Clarita, California, that operates cruise ships also shares the same building with Cunard Lines headquarters. ... P&O Cruises is the worlds third biggest cruise line with more than 20 superliners and megaliners in the fleet, with another seven new ships beginning service from late 2002 to 2004. ...

Replacing the 1957-built Fair Princess, Pacific Sky's modernised facilities made her popular with Australian cruise passengers. Her popularity prompted the expansion of the P&O Australia fleet to include Pacific Sun (2004), Pacific Star (2005). Between 2000 and 2006, Pacific Sky carried 275,000 passengers on 200 cruises. Pacific Sun (formerly Jubilee) is a Holiday class cruise ship built in 1986. ... Pacific Star seen in the P&O Cruises livery The Pacific Star (formerly Tropicale / Costa Tropicale) is a cruise ship, first laid down in 1981. ...

However, the vessel has been involved in several incidents during her career in Australia, including an outbreak of Norwalk Virus during a cruise at the end of 2003 [1] and the death of Dianne Brimble in September 2002. Only now, almost four years later, has a coronial inquiry started to investigate her death. Recently, P&O Cruises announced plans to implement a number of improvements to their security procedures. The latter installation was scheduled for June, 2006. [2] Norwalk virus is a virus, the prototype of the Norwalk virus family or the noroviruses. ... Dianne Brimble Dianne Elizabeth Brimble (April 10, 1960–September 24, 2002) was a 42-year-old mother of three from Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. ...

Claims were made by Kasmira Sewpershad [3], a woman from Auckland, New Zealand that she "was the victim of drink-spiking aboard the ... cruise ship." Ms Sewpershad told Brisbane's Sunday Mail newspaper that she was left "sick and disoriented" after something was slipped into her glass during a 12-day cruise on Pacific Sky in December 2005. Schematic map of Auckland. ... Date rape drugs are substances added to a drink to render a victim unconscious or compliant and able to be easily raped or sexually assaulted, perhaps adding to the effect of an alcoholic drink, generally unknown to the person drinking it. ... To meet Wikipedias quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup. ...

In May 2006, the transfer from P&O Cruises Australia to Pullmantur Cruises in Spain was made, after a series of 33 7-day cruises based out of Singapore. The vessel will be replaced in the P&O Cruises fleet by the US-built Regal Princess in mid-2007, Regal Princess will be moved to Australia under a new name in October 2007 - see Pacific Dawn. ...

Incidents

"Trouble prone" Pacific Sky has been involved in many incidents during her career, some are listed below in chronological order. Chronology is the science of locating events in time. ...

• September 23, 2002 - Dianne Brimble, a 42 year-old Australian mother of three, died within 24 hours of boarding Pacific Sky on September 23, 2002. Dianne Brimble died apparently of an overdose of the drug "gamma-hydroxybutyrate", otherwise known as "GHB" or "fantasy". Eight men, Mark Robin Wilhelm, Matthew Graham Slade, Dragan Losic, Petar Vladimir Pantic, Ryan Kym Kuchel, Letterio Silvestri, Luigi Vitale and Sakelaros "Charlie" Kambouris, have been named as persons of interest in the case.^[1] Her semi-naked body was found on the floor of cabin #D182, which belonged to four of the men whom she had met at the ship's disco the previous night.^[2]

• January ?, 2005: Pacific Sky was due to begin a scheduled cruise off the Queensland coast, but could not sail after a swarm of jellyfish blocked a cooling water intake. The engines had automatically shut down, leaving the vessel stuck fast at its Brisbane River berth. The shutdown also triggered the automatic dumping of vast quantities of distilled water used by the ship's boilers - and a fresh supply had to be trucked. [4].

• January 08, 2005 - A major air and sea search failed to find any trace of a 24-year-old man who jumped overboard off the Queensland Sunshine Coast. The man jumped despite passengers attempts to persuade him not to. Witnesses said he had been drinking heavily on the last night of a 10-night cruise as the ship headed for Brisbane. Police later boarded the ship on its arrival in Brisbane to interview passengers and crew. [5]

• April 01, 2005 - P&O Cruises was forced to cancel another two Pacific Sky cruises to allow extended work on the ship’s troublesome starboard gearbox. P&O Cruises said the two-month layoff would lead to the cancellation of five cruises but was confident problems would have been fixed in time for its scheduled June 4 cruise. [6]

• August 23, 2005 - A man jumped overboard after an intoxicated argument with his wife. The 52 year old male was rescued in a three hour effort in treacherous seas west of Noumea. [7]

• March 07, 2006 - Hundreds of passengers on a seven night cruise were left stranded for about 30 hours after the vessel broke down in the Malacca Strait near Singapore. About five hours after leaving Singapore the ship experienced problems with its starboard engine and came to a halt with more than 1300 passengers on board. Crew tried to fix the problem but were unsuccessful. [8]

• January 18, 2007 - Early in the morning, the Sky Wonder with 1600 passengers ran aground on a sandbar in the Rio Plata 3 km from the port of Buenos Aires. There were no injuries other than a heart problem suffered by a 50 year old male passenger, who was treated ashore. The ship was freed by tugboats at high tide several hours later. [9]

Dianne Brimble Dianne Elizabeth Brimble (April 10, 1960–September 24, 2002) was a 42-year-old mother of three from Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. ... September 23 is the 266th day of the year (267th in leap years). ... For album titles with the same name, see 2002 (album). ... GHB redirects here. ... Orders Stauromedusae Coronatae Semaeostomeae Rhizostomae Jellyfish are marine invertebrates belonging to the Scyphozoan class. ... Pinkenba Wharf is an Australian wharf, located in within the Port of Brisbane, Queensland, Australia. ... Capital Brisbane Government Constitutional monarchy Governor Quentin Bryce Premier Peter Beattie (ALP) Federal representation  - House seats 28  - Senate seats 12 Gross State Product (2004-05)  - Product ($m)  $158,506 (3rd)  - Product per capita  $40,170/person (6th) Population (End of September 2006)  - Population  4,070,400 (3rd)  - Density  2. ... Population: 282,645* (2005)[1] (11th) Location: 100 km from Brisbane State District: Caloundra, Maroochydore, Kawana, Noosa, Nicklin Federal Division: Fisher, Fairfax For other uses, see Sunshine Coast Australias Sunshine Coast (population 282,645 with up to an additional 50,000 in visitors and seasonal workers) is a coastal... Brisbane (pronounced ) is the capital and most populous city of the Australian state of Queensland, as well as the third largest city in Australia, with a greater metropolitan population of just under two million. ... Categories: Oceania geography stubs ... The Straits of Malacca is a narrow stretch of water between Peninsular Malaysia (West Malaysia) and the Indonesian island of Sumatra. ...

References

1. ^ King, David (2006). Dead mother called 'a bitch'. News.com.au. Retrieved on 2006-06-17.
2. ^ Dianne Brimble - Sexually Assaulted Murdered - P & O Cruise Lines - September 23, 2002. Cruise Bruise (2002). Retrieved on 2006-06-17.

• "Statement from P&O Cruises Australia on Safety and Security", pocruises.com.au, 13 January, 2006.
• "Sniffer dogs for Cruise liners", The Advertiser, April 2, 2006.
• "Drugs and death in cramped cabin", The Sunday Mail, 22 March, 2006.

• P&O Australia
• E-cruiseworld.com

For the Manfred Mann album, see 2006 (album). ... June 17 is the 168th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (169th in leap years), with 197 days remaining. ... For the Manfred Mann album, see 2006 (album). ... June 17 is the 168th day of the year in the Gregorian calendar (169th in leap years), with 197 days remaining. ...

External links

• Sky Wonder page at Pullmantur Cruises