Monarch

Rewind to her launch 25 years ago, and you'd be looking at the largest passenger ship in the world.

When she first enetered service as Monarch of the Seas in 1992 for Royal Caribbean, she shared this accolade with her sister ship Sovereign of the Seas. This class of ship proved hugely successful; it wasn't until 2013 that she was renamed Monarch and transferred to the Pullmantur fleet.

It hasn't always been plain sailing for Monarch. In 1998 she struck a reef, with an enourmous hole carved into her side, and was grounded to prevent a full sinking. Noone was seriously injured, but the repairs saw her out of service for three months. Then, in 2005, a gas leak on board tragically lead to the deaths of three crew members, with 19 others injured. Thankfully the past few years for Monarch have been more uneventful.

Monarch has a tonnage of 73,940 and can accommodate up to 2,744 passengers. She sailed from Bergen at 22:00 to continue her cruise.

The following photos were taken as tall ship Statsraad Lehmkuhl passed her yesterday evening, and then during her sailaway, viewed from the bathing platform at Nordnes.