History
Name:	1964–1984: Ilmatar 1984–1997: Viking Princess 1997–2015: Palm Beach Princess
Namesake:	Ilmatar (original name)
Owner:	1964–1980: Finland Steamship Company 1980–1984: Vesteraalens Dampskibsselskab 1984–1997: Grundstad Maritime Overseas 1997–1999: Deerbrooke Invest 1999–2006: MJQ Corporation 2006–2008: Cruise Holdings^[1] 2008-2011: Mauro Sebben^[2] / Platinum Real Estates LLC^[3] 2011: Imperial Ships LLC^[3]
Operator:	1964–1970: Finland Steamship Company 1970–1974: Finland Steamship Company (Silja Line traffic) 1974–1975: laid up 1975: Finland Steamship Company 1975–1976: Finnlines 1976–1978: Finland Steamship Company 1978–1980: Effoa (Silja Line traffic) 1980–1982: Vesteraalens Dampskibsselskab 1982–1984: laid up 1984–1995: Crown Cruise Line 1995–1997: laid up 1997–2010: Palm Beach Casino Line^[1]^[3]^[4]
Port of registry:	1964–1980: Helsinki, Finland 1980–1984: Norway 1984–2011: Panama 2011: Bolivia^[3]
Ordered:	14 July 1962^[1]
Builder:	WärtsiläHelsinki New Shipyard, Finland^[1]
Yard number:	375^[3]
Launched:	29 October 1963^[3]
Christened:	29 October 1963 by Sylvi Kekkonen^[1]
Acquired:	15 June 1964^[1]
In service:	15 June 1964^[1]
Out of service:	2010
Identification:	IMO number: 6402937^[3]
Fate:	Scrapped in 2015^[3]
General characteristics (as built)^[3]
Type:	Ferry
Tonnage:	5,101 GRT 680 DWT
Length:	108.27 m (355 ft 3 in)
Beam:	16.40 m (53 ft 10 in)
Draught:	4.50 m (14 ft 9 in)
Decks:	6 (passenger accessible)^[5]
Installed power:	Wärtsilä-Sulzer 12MD51 (3,300 kW)
Propulsion:	One propeller^[4]
Speed:	16.50 knots (30.56 km/h; 18.99 mph)
Capacity:	1,000 passengers^[1] 332 passenger berths^[1] 50 cars
Crew:	93^[6]
General characteristics (after 1973 refit)^[1]
Type:	Ferry
Tonnage:	7,155 GRT 830 DWT
Length:	128.31 m (421 ft 0 in)
Installed power:	1 × Wärtsilä-Sulzer 12MD51 (3,300kW) 2 × Nohab SF116VSF (2×2,118kW)
Propulsion:	Three propellers
Speed:	19 knots (35 km/h; 22 mph)
Capacity:	1,210 passengers 470 passenger berths 75 cars
Crew:	113^[6]
General characteristics (after 1979 refit)^[3]
Type:	Cruise ship
Tonnage:	6,659 GT
Decks:	6 (passenger accessible)^[7]
Capacity:	470 passengers
Notes:	Otherwise same as built

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MS Palm Beach Princess was a cruise ship operated by Palm Beach Cruises on casino cruises out of the Port of Palm Beach in Riviera Beach, Florida.^[1]^[4] She was built in 1964 by WärtsiläHelsinki New Shipyard, Helsinki, Finland for Finland Steamship Company as Ilmatar. From 1970 until 1974 and again from 1978 to 1980 she was marketed as a part of Silja Line fleet. In 1973 she was lengthened at HDWHamburg, Germany by 20.04 m (65 ft 9 in). Between 1975–1976 she was chartered to Finnlines. In 1979 she was converted to a cruise ship.^[1]

In 1980 the Ilmatar was sold to Vesteraalens Dampskibsselskab, without a change of name. In 1984 she was sold to Grundstad Maritime Overseas and renamed Viking Princess for cruising with Crown Cruise Line. In 1997 she received the name Palm Beach Princess.^[1] After several further changes of ownership, the ship was sold for scrap in 2011.^[3]

On 28 November 1968 the Ilmatar collided with the Siljavarustamo ferry Botnia in the Åland archipelago, resulting in the death of six people on board the Botnia.^[8]

2Service history
3Design

Concept and construction[edit]

In the early 1960s the Finland Steamship Company decided to construct a 5,171 gross register ton ship for the Finland—Sweden service the company operated in collaboration with Steamship Company Bore, Rederi AB Svea, and Siljavarustamo, a joint subsidiary of the three companies. For the first time in Finland SS Co's history, the new ship was fitted with diesel engines and included side-loadable car deck for 50 cars.^[4] Her service speed was planned at 16.50 kn (30.56 km/h), and she was to carry 1000 passengers, 332 of them in two classes with berths and the rest as classless deck passengers.^[1]^[4]

The construction of the new vessel was awarded to Wärtsilä's Helsinki New Shipyard, and she was the largest ship built by the shipyard at the time.^[4] On 29 October 1963 the ship was launched and christened Ilmatar (spiritess of the air, a character from the Finnish national epic Kalevala) by Sylvi Kekkonen, the wife of Urho Kekkonen who was the President of Finland at the time.^[1]^[3] The Ilmatar was delivered on 15 June 1964.^[1]

The Ilmatar was found to be too small from the start, and in 1973 she was docked at HDWHamburg, Germany, where she was lengthened by 20.04 m (65 ft 9 in), increasing her passenger capacity to 1210, passenger berths to 450 and car capacity to 75.^[1]^[4] Additional engines and two additional propellers increased her speed to 20 kn (37 km/h). Due to the increased passenger capacity the number of crew carried was also increased from 93 to 113.^[6] In 1978–1979 she was rebuilt for cruise service at the shipyard that had built her,^[1] with cabins rebuilt^[3] and a casino, swimming pool, gym, cinema^[4] and lounge featuring live entertainment were added.^{[citation needed]}

Service history[edit]

1964–1980[edit]

Following delivery, the Ilmatar was used on traffic from Helsinki or Turku to Skeppsbron in Stockholm. In July of the same year she lost

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