Fleet history
Vlasov operated cargo ships registered under either Greek, Italian or United Kingdom flags before and during the Second World War. SITMAR ships carried a letter "V" on their funnels, for "Vlasov". After the war, Vlasov purchased the former American troop ships Wooster Victory and Vassar Victory, chartering them to the IRO. Wooster Victory first operated under its original name then was renamed Castelverde, while Vassar Victory was immediately renamed Castelbianco. Both vessels were Italian-registered.
After the IRO charter contracts ended in 1952, Castelbianco and Castelverde were extensively rebuilt and used to carry emigrants, initially from Europe to Central America, later from Europe to Australia. This service ended in 1957 and both vessels were sold to the Spanish Line.
Vlasov also bought two war surplus United States Maritime Commission C3 class ships, the first in 1949 being the former escort carrier USS Charger. Austerely refitted to carry 1800 passengers, this vessel became Fairsea (1) under Panamanian registry. Fairsea (1) was used for a series of IRO and other refugee organisations' charters, including voyages to Australia and North America. Another passenger vessel, Castel Felice – completed in 1931 as SS Kenya for the British-India Steam Navigation Company – was acquired in the late 1940s and after refurbishment joined the SITMAR fleet in 1952, seeing duty in a number of markets.
From 1955 until 1970 SITMAR won successive five-year contracts from the Australian government to carry British emigrants from Southampton to Australia under the Assisted Passage Scheme. These commenced in December 1955 using the extensively refitted Fairsea (1). In 1957 the arrangement was expanded, so SITMAR arranged for the conversion of their idle other C3 design ship, Castel Forte, formerly the escort carrier HMS Attacker. Castel Forte received major structural alterations for her new role in New York in 1957, transferring to Italy at the end of that year for internal fitting-out. As Fairsky (2), the ship joined the Australian migration service from Southampton in May 1958. Eventually Castel Felice – and still later TSS Fairstar, formerly the British troopship Oxfordshire purchased from Bibby Line in 1963 – from 1964 also operated migrant voyages between England and Australia until 1970, when Chandris Lines instead won the migrant contract.
In 1968 Vlasov purchased the Cunard liners Carinthia and Sylvania, intending for them to replace Castel Felice and Fairsea (1). However, after 15 years' continuous service, SITMAR's bid to retain the 1970 UK-Australia migration contract was unsuccessful. The two former Cunarders, since renamed Fairland and Fairwind, were laid-up at Southampton until reactivated prior to refurbishment in late 1970 and early 1971. The pair received major refits in tandem at the San Marco shipyards in Trieste. From 1972, SITMAR successfully built a fine reputation in the North American cruise market with Fairsea (2) (previously Fairland) and Fairwind. Fairsea (1) was scrapped in 1969 after a disabling engine-room fire, while the veteran Castel Felice was scrapped in 1970, following the loss of the Australian contract.Operating from Australia as a full-time cruise ship since 1974, Fairsky (2) was sold in 1977 after a collision, so the company sought a larger vessel to replace it. SITMAR failed to secure the Queen Anna Maria, which was bought by Carnival Cruise Lines. In 1979 SITMAR instead bought the Portuguese ship Principe Perfeito and renamed it Fairsky (3), intending to convert the vessel in Spain. However, the conversion was deemed uneconomic and the ship was sold in 1982 to John Latsis.
New-builds
SITMAR who had traditional converted older passenger ships, decided on its first new-build, the Fairsky (4). Built by Chantiers de l'Atlantique at Saint Nazaire, France, Fairsky (4) entered service for the North American market in 1984.[5] In 1988 this became Sky Princess for Princess Cruises, then Pacific Sky for P&O Cruises Australia. Next sold to the Spanish operator Pullmantur Cruises, the ship was renamed Sky Wonder, later becoming Atlantic Star. After a prolonged lay-up in Marseille, France, this fuel-hungry turbine steamship was sold for scrap in 2013, being its 29th year.
A second new build was ordered and built by Chantiers de l'Atlantique, at their shipyard in Saint-Nazaire, France, and launched in 1988 as Sitmar Fair Majesty. Originally ordered for Sitmar Cruises, however with the merger of Sitmar Cruises into Princess, she first entered service with
