shipstamps.co.uk

The Angola stamp commemorating its stamp centenary year 1870-1970, depicts two liners, the Infante Dom Henrique at the top of the design, and the Principe Perfeito.

 INFANTE DOM HENRIQUE
Builder: Societe Anonyme, Cockerill-Ougree, Hoboken, Belgium.
Completed : September 1961.
Gross tonnage: 23306.
Dimensions: 642ft x 84ft. Depth 47ft.
Engines: Four steam turbines, double-reduction geared.
Screws: Twin.
Watertight bulkheads: Nine.
Decks: Five.
Normal speed : 20 knots.
Officers and crew: 328.
Passenger accommodation : 156 first and 862 tourist class.
 
Engaged in the Lisbon–East African ports–Beira trade.
She has a cargo capacity for 724553 cubic feet of grain,bales and refrigerated cargo.
Equipped with motion stabilisers and fully air-conditioned.
The Infante Dom Henrique is the Portugues Line's flagship and is presently in service.

The Principe Perfeito was built by Swan, Hunter and Wigham Richardson at Wallsend, for the Companhia Nacional de Navegacao S.A.R.L., Lisbon; and was the largest ship built at the Neptune Shipyard of her builders. She has a gross tonnage of 19,393 (8,600 tons deadweight), her overall length being 625 ft,. beam 78 ft. 8 ins, and draft 25 ft. 6 ins. She carries 1,000 passengers in first and tourist-classes and operates on a similar service to the ship above.
SG696 Sea Breezes 11/71 and North Atlantic Liners since 1900 by N T Cairis

January 03-1976 laid up in Lisbon.
1977 to 1986:
Having been laid up, she was eventually sold to a group named - “Gabinete da Area de Sines” (GAS) who intended to use her as a worker’s accommodation ship at the port of Sines south of Lisbon. This had been a fishing village that was being rebuilt into a large industrial estate and the ship would serve as permanent housing. After a $10 million refit that included the construction of a basin around her, she was due to be opened in November 1977 as a floating hotel. However, the program folded and she was left to the elements. Every now and then visitors would visit her over the years but she was sadly being poorly looked after!
VASCO DA GAMA – 1986 – 1997:
However, fortunately in 1986, the badly neglected Infante Dom Henrique came to the notice of the famed Lisbon-based Greek shipping magnate; Mr. George Potamianos of one of the most respected Portuguese Shipping organisations to this day, Arcalia Shipping of Lisbon, and he decided to purchase the ship for he could see for her and that she was suitable to become a full time cruise ship. His plans were to fully refit this badly neglected liner for his Panamanian registered company “Trans World Cruises.”
As her propellers had been removed at Sines, she was towed from her basin back to Lisbon where she arrived in February of 1988. Then she was towed to Greece in March and a US$50 million renovation commenced for her to become the cruise ship which was renamed the; TS Vasco da Gama. The work was undertaken at Nafsi, which is close to Piraeus. In addition all her cabins were rebuilt with all cabins being fitted with private bathrooms. Some of the Tourist Class public rooms that were no longer required were converted into additional cabins and other facilities, including new boutiques and the obligatory casino for a cruise ship! Her attractive funnel livery remained much the same to its earlier incarnations, with the exception of a slight colour change.
Other work that was undertaken was that her engines were completely overhauled. Externally she seemed to look even better than before, which was mostly due to the removal of her forward and aft king posts and derricks. In it place was a small electric crane with a short mast behind it, A tall modern radar atop the Bridge and a superbly styled aft mast at the rear of Sports Deck.
When the work was completed the renamed Vasco da Gama commenced in her new role as a full time cruise ship. Having been chartered by the giant West German travel organisation, “Neckermann Reisen,” she commenced cruising from Bremerhaven Germany. When she was in Lisbon on December 5, 1988, she suffered a fire in the engine room that caused sufficient damage that required her having to be towed to the Bremerhaven shipyards where she arrived on December 17.
With the work completed she headed for Genoa and on January 7,1989 she departed for her around the world voyage that had her crossing the Atlantic to New York, through the Panama Canal, the South pacific, Auckland, Wellington, Picton and Milford Sound’s in New Zealand before crossing the Tasman Sea to Australia where she visited Sydney arriving on March 7.
Two days later she departed for Hobart in Tasmania, then to Melbourne and around the south of Australia, calling at Albany on March 17 and Fremantle (Perth) the 18th.She continued via the Sues back to Genoa.
After her visit to New Zealand and Australia she continued operating mostly Mediterranean cruises. However she suffered further boiler troubles the following June, which put her out of service for fifteen days while repairs were made once again at Bremerhaven.
SEAWIND CROWN – 1991 – 2003:
In 1991, Vasco da Gama commenced on a series of Brazilian cruises, but she was given the additional name of SeaWind Crown (but officially she retained her original name on her bow) as she was under charter to the American “SeaWind Cruise Lines” and they mostly operated week long cruises to Aruba.
SeaWind Cruise Lines and their new vessel seemed to be a success in this new market operating her seven night voyages with ports of call at Curacao, Caracas, Grenada, Barbados, St. Lucia, as well as a day at sea. Passengers came from various South American countries, The United States as well as Europe, and there was no doubt that the ship's ambiance and this week long circuit became a popular alternative to the mega-ships that was taking over the Caribbean at the time. In 1995, SeaWind Cruise Line decided to purchase the ship outright, and they finally officially dropping the Vasco da Gama name from her bow. The company decided to add a second itinerary alternating the original as well as the offering the following ports: Antigua, Barbados, Guadeloupe, and Dominica with two days at sea. Both could be combined for a two week cruise of Caribbean cruising on the ex classic liner, the SeaWind Crown.
Then in 1997, SeaWind and Dolphin Cruise Lines decided to merge which formed a new company “Cruise Holdings, Ltd.” By doing this they were initially able to keep their identities separate. But it would not be long before Cruise Holdings acquired all off Premier Cruise Line’s operations, which then merged all three companies under the new banner of “Premier Cruises, Inc.” SeaWind Crown was sent for a major refit towards the end of that year to make her ready with the new SOLAS (Safety Of Life At Sea) regulations and she received further drastic changes such as the replacement of her forward dining room and conference room with shops as well as cabins. Additional cabins were built were crew areas were on forward section of Atlantic Deck and there was an expansion of the Tavern into a Lido Restaurant the end of the original Nightclub. Upon completion her accommodation changed from 624 to 728. Externally she received a blue hull with a gold band surrounding it up high as well as a dark blue funnel with the Premier logo.
Sadly her days were running out for Premier made many errors, such as taking her off the Aruba service, which had been extremely successful.
Late in 1999 SeaWind Crown was transferred from her successful Aruba base to Puerto Vallarta, offering weekly cruises along the Mexican Riviera. The results were a disaster and she was withdrawn after just a few of cruises as advance bookings were simply woeful! Then came a last minute respite for this fine ship, which was being mishandles by a company which was being so badly operated! The Spanish Pullmantur Cruises decided to charter the SeaWind Crown, and soon she headed for Barcelona where she commenced a program of weekly Mediterranean cruises.
Both the SeaWind Crown and her cruises were going well and Pullmantur was happy to keep her in operation, when suddenly the worst possible event for this once great liner could happen. The ships owners Premier Cruises Inc, in September of 2000 with all of its assets, including all their ships and the SeaWind Crown, under charter to Pullmantur were seized for payment of debt. Thus when the SeaWind Crown arrived at Barcelona on September 17, 2000, she was stranded there together with her 260 crew members left on board and there were no wages to pay them.
There were all sorts of efforts to save this ship, but being unable for the crew to obtain their back pay from the ship's liquidators, being Price Waterhouse Coopers, the technical operation company, International Shipping Partners, or Pullmantur Cruises, the crew decided to stay on board the ship for almost six months, and it was due to the generosity of various charitable organizations and individuals who not only donated food but sufficient funding for them to eventually go home. Sadly this magnificent ship was tied in “legal red tape,” although she was for sale, there were no buyers, thus the superbly beautiful SeaWind Crown was moved from the World Trade Centre Terminal in Barcelona harbour to a lonely berth near the outer breakwater and was laid up.
The Final Year – 2004:
It had become obvious as other ex Premier ships were bound for the breakers, with none having much hope for salvation (except for the great Dutch liner SS Rotterdam that has been saved and completely restored and is open today as an hotel in Holland) in March 2002, the SeaWind Crown was officially shut down and became what is know as in “dead ship.” Everything had been secured, such as her funnel having been covered, and her interiors and other section in “secure mode.”
The Barcelona Port Authority now took control of the ship, and with the berth space needed for an oil tanker facility, they decided to place the renamed Barcelona up for auction.
It would be on December 28, 2003, that the Batumi registered Barcelona departed Barcelona having been laid up for three long years and she headed for India. On January 12, 2004, she passed through Suez Canal obviously bound for Alang, India to be broken up. And this would be the case, for by the end of 2004, the once great, sleek, ultra modern liner, the TS Infante dom Henrique had become part of history!
Internet.

The Portuguese PTT gives by this stamp:

Liner INFANTE DOM HENRIQUE 1961-1988 Companhia Colonial de Navegação, Lisbon The Infante Dom Henrique was a state-of-the-art passenger ship with an imposing exterior and ultra-modern design. The layout and decoration of its interiors prioritised light, colour and spaciousness, resulting in a most magnificent liner. As with the Infante D. Henrique Nautical College, the ship was named as part of the celebrations to commemorate the 5th centenary of the death of Infante Dom Henrique (Henry the Navigator), in 1960. It was the largest Portuguese liner of the 20th century and sailed from 1961 to 1976, mainly in Africa. After nine years serving as accommodation in Sines, it was restored and, under the names Vasco da Gama (1988 to 1995), Seawind Crown (1995 to 2003) and Barcelona (2003 to 2004), embarked on international cruises. It was scrapped in China, in 2004.

Portugal 2024 1.00 Euro sg?, Scott?