View source for MS Mega Smeralda

{{update|date=September 2022}}
{{short description|Ship}}
{{Use dmy dates|date = February 2019}}
{|{{Infobox ship begin}}
{{Infobox ship image
| Ship image = Mega smeralda bastia.JPG
| Ship caption = MS ''Mega Smeralda'' at [[Bastia]], July 2008
}}
{{Infobox ship career
| Hide header = 
| Ship country = 
| Ship flag = 
| Ship name = *1985–1992: ''Svea''
*1992–1994: ''Silja Karneval''
*1994–2008: ''Color Festival''
*2008–present: ''Mega Smeralda''
| Ship namesake = [[Rederi AB Svea]] (original name)
| Ship owner = *1985–1987: [[Johnson Line (company)|Johnson Line]]
*1987–1994: [[Svea Line (Finland)]]
*1994–2008: [[Color Line (ferry operator)|Color Line]]
*2008–present: [[Medinvest]]
| Ship operator = *1985–1994: [[Silja Line]]
*1994–2008: Color Line
*2008–present: [[Corsica Ferries]]
| Ship ordered = 
| Ship awarded = 
| Ship builder = [[Wärtsilä]] [[Helsinki New Shipyard]], [[Finland]]
| Ship yard number = 470
| Ship laid down = 
| Ship launched = 28 September 1984
| Ship sponsor = [[Birgit Nilsson]]
| Ship christened = 28 September 1984
| Ship completed = 
| Ship acquired = 7 May 1985
| Ship commissioned = 
| Ship in service = May 1985
| Ship out of service = 
| Ship refit = *March–April 1992
*December 2004–January 2005
| Ship identification = {{IMO Number|8306486}}
| Ship homeport = *1985–1994: [[Stockholm]], {{flag|Sweden}}
*1994–2008: [[Oslo]], {{flag|Norway}}
*2008–present: [[Genoa]], {{flagicon|ITA|civil}}
| Ship status = In service
| Ship notes = 
}}
{{Infobox ship characteristics
| Hide header = 
| Header caption = (as built)<ref name="FoF">{{in lang|sv}} [http://www.faktaomfartyg.se/svea_1985.htm Fakta om Fartyg: M/S Svea (1985)], retrieved 1 August 2007</ref>
| Ship tonnage = *{{GT|33,829}}
*{{DWT|4,150}}
| Ship displacement = 
| Ship length = {{convert|168.03|m|ft|2|abbr=on}}
| Ship beam = {{convert|27.60|m|ft|2|abbr=on}}
| Ship height = 
| Ship draught = {{convert|6.70|m|ft|2|abbr=on}}
| Ship depth = 
| Ship ice class = 1 A Super
| Ship power = *4 × Wärtsilä-Pielstick 12PC-6V [[Diesel engine|diesel]]s
*combined 26,200&nbsp;kW
| Ship propulsion = 
| Ship speed = {{convert|22|kn}}
| Ship capacity = *1,803 passengers
*1,625 passenger beds
*400 cars
| Ship crew = 
| Ship notes = 
}}
{{Infobox ship characteristics
| Hide header = 
| Header caption = (currently)<ref name="FoF" />
| Ship tonnage = {{GT|34,694}}
| Ship displacement = 
| Ship length = {{convert|168.45|m|ft|2|abbr=on}}
| Ship beam = 
| Ship height = 
| Ship draught = 
| Ship depth = 
| Ship ice class = 
| Ship power = 
| Ship propulsion = 
| Ship speed = 
| Ship capacity = *2,000 passengers
*1,933 passenger beds<ref name="Color Fakta">{{in lang|no}} [http://www.colorline.no/pages/ship/facts.faces?contentId=*1.171&gridId=*1.0 Color Line: Color Festival fakta]{{dead link|date=January 2018 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}, retrieved 30 November 2007</ref>
*330 cars<ref name="Color Fakta" />
*850 lanemeters<ref name="Color Fakta" />
| Ship crew = 
| Ship notes = 
}}
|}
'''MS  ''Mega Smeralda''''' is a [[cruiseferry]] owned by [[Medinvest]] and operated by [[Corsica Ferries - Sardinia Ferries]]. She was built in 1985 by [[Wärtsilä]] at the [[Helsinki New Shipyard]] in [[Helsinki]], [[Finland]], for [[Johnson Line (company)|Johnson Line]] as '''MS ''Svea''''' for use in [[Silja Line]] traffic. Between 1992 and 1994, she sailed for Silja Line as '''MS ''Silja Karneval''''' and, between 1994 and 2008, for [[Color Line (ferry operator)|Color Line]] as '''MS ''Color Festival'''''.

==History==
===Silja Line service===
[[File:Silja SVEA Fo207368DIA.jpg|thumb|left|As M/S ''Svea'']]
MS ''Svea'' and her sister [[MS Wellamo|MS ''Wellamo'']] were modeled after Silja Line's highly successful [[Helsinki]]–[[Stockholm]] service ferries [[MS Princess Maria|MS ''Finlandia'']] and [[MS Stena Saga|MS ''Silvia Regina'']]. Between the two classes, the aesthetic differences are the most notable; whilst the ''Finlandia'' and her sister followed a "form follows function" design philosophy resulting in a very boxy design for the ships, the new sisters for the [[Turku]]–[[Stockholm]] routing followed a more rounded and smoother, and overall much less hostile, design.

In 1989, there were plans to rebuild ''Svea'' with rails on the cardeck so that she could also carry railroad carriages on board, but these were shelved. Until 1990, her funnel displayed the colours of Johnson Line, but at that time Silja Line's owners Johnson Line and [[Effoa]] merged into one company, [[EffJohn]], and Silja Line's seal logo was moved from the ship's hulls into their funnels.

In 1992, ''Svea'' and her sister underwent a large-scale reconstruction at [[Lloyd Werft]] in [[Bremerhaven]], [[Germany]], where most of the ships' interiors were rebuilt, a new "skybar" added on deck 9, a new more blue-dominated colour scheme replaced the traditional Silja stripes and the ship was renamed ''Silja Karneval'' in accordance with Silja's new name policy. In fact, the funds used to rebuild ''Svea'' and ''Wellamo'' were originally meant for the rebuilding of the [[GTS Finnjet|GTS ''Finnjet'']], but her planned rebuilding would have been too expensive and EffJohn opted to spend what money they had on ''Svea'' and ''Wellamo'' instead.

===Color Line service===
[[Image:ColorLine Color Festival.jpg|thumb|left|MS ''Color Festival'' at the [[Oslofjord]]]]
''Silja Karneval''{{'}}s service with Silja proved to be short. In early 1994, EffJohn decided to sell her sister ''Silja Festival'' to the [[Norway]]-based Color Line. However, when time came to deliver the ship to Color Line, EffJohn for some reason decided to sell them ''Silja Karneval'' instead (the two ships being structurally identical). Problematically for Color Line, it had already printed material advertising its new ship as the ''Color '''Festival'''''. As result ''Silja Karneval'' became M/S ''Color Festival'', not ''Color Karneval'' as would have been logical.

After reconstruction at [[Cityvarvet]], [[Gothenburg]], ''Color Festival'' was initially placed on the [[Oslo]]–[[Hirtshals]] route. In 2002,  one of her rudders was damaged in Hirsthals and she had to be docked in Hamburg because of it. In April 2006, she started operating on the [[Oslo]]–[[Frederikshavn]] route in direct competition with her old Silja Line fleetmate [[MS Stena Saga|MS ''Stena Saga'']]. On 21 November 2007, Color Line sold ''Color Festival'' to [[Corsica Ferries]] for €49 million (400 million [[Norwegian krone]]),<ref>{{cite press release|url=http://www.colorline.no/pages/infoCenter/infoCenterArticle.faces?contentId=1.3816&gridId=0.0 |title=Color Line selger Color Festival for 400 mill kroner |publisher=Color Line |date=21 November 2007 |accessdate=21 November 2007 |language=no |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20071124010143/http://www.colorline.no/pages/infoCenter/infoCenterArticle.faces?contentId=1.3816&gridId=0.0 |archivedate=24 November 2007 }}</ref> in preparation for the delivery of the new ''Color Superspeed'' vessels in mid-2008.

===Corsica Sardinia Ferries service===
The ''Color Festival'' was delivered to Corsica Sardinia Ferries in early January 2008, subsequently renamed ''Mega Smeralda'' and re-flagged in Italy with [[Genoa]] as her homeport.<ref name="FoF" /> Reportedly, she was to be placed on [[Civitavecchia]] – [[Golfo Aranci]] or [[Livorno]] – Golfo Aranci service. In 2011, the ferry operated between [[Toulon]], Ajaccio, Bastia, Nice, etc..<ref>{{cite web | url=http://www.fcbsweb.com/forum/index.php?topic=12254.msg90415#msg90415 | title=Color Festival myyty | publisher=FCBS Forum | author= Jani Nousiainen | date=29 November 2007 | accessdate=30 November 2007|language=fi}}</ref>

It was withdrawn from service and laid up in the port of [[Genoa]] 3 March 2024.

==2013 Tour de France==
In June 2013, the [[Tour de France]] visited Corsica for the first time. To accommodate [[2013 Tour de France|the Tour]] entourage, the organisers chartered the ''Mega Smeralda'' to house members of the organisation, media and others who worked on the Tour and to host press conferences, although the riders stayed in hotels in [[Porto-Vecchio]].<ref>{{cite web|title=A floating headquarters|url=http://www.letour.fr/le-tour/2013/us/pre-race/news/ahc/a-floating-headquarters.html|publisher=[[Tour de France]]|accessdate=27 June 2013|date=26 June 2013|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130630045544/http://www.letour.fr/le-tour/2013/us/pre-race/news/ahc/a-floating-headquarters.html|archive-date=30 June 2013|url-status=dead|df=dmy-all}}</ref>

==References==
{{reflist}}

== External links ==
{{commons category}}
*[http://www.corsicaferries.com Corsica Ferries] (Company website)
*[http://www.faktaomfartyg.se/svea_1985.htm M/S ''Svea'' (1985)] at ''Fakta om Fartyg'' {{in lang|sv}}

{{s-start}}
{{succession box|before=[[MS Scandinavia (1981)|MS ''Scandinavia'']]|title=World's Largest [[Cruiseferry]]|years=1985|after=[[MS Mariella|MS ''Mariella'']]}}
{{s-end}}


{{Color Line ships}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Mega Smeralda}}
[[Category:Cruiseferries]]
[[Category:Ships built in Helsinki]]
[[Category:1984 ships]]
[[Category:Former Color Line ships]]