{{Short description|Small, yacht-type cruise ship}} {{Infobox ship |display_title=ital |section1={{Infobox ship/image |image=La Belle des Oceans IMO 8800195 P Las Palmas 05-03-2026.jpg |image_caption=''La Belle Des Oceans'' docked at Las Palmas, Spain, on 5 March 2026 }} |section2={{Infobox ship/career |hide_header= |name=*1989–1997: ''Oceanic Grace'' *1997–1999: ''Oceanic Odyssey'' *1999–2013: ''Clipper Odyssey'' *2013–2019: ''Silver Discoverer'' *2019-: '''''La Belle Des Oceans''''' |owner=*1999–2007: Clipper Cruise Line *2007–2014: International Shipping Partners<ref>{{cite web|title=Clipper Odyssey|url=http://www.shipspotting.com/gallery/photo.php?lid=1336551|publisher=shipspotting.com|accessdate=26 April 2012}}</ref> *2014–2019: ''SunStone Ships''<ref>{{cite web |url= https://www.rivieramm.com/news-content-hub/news-content-hub/croisieurope-boosts-fleet-with-sunstone-ships-vessel-54681|title= CroisiEurope boosts fleet with SunStone Ships' vessel|work= Riviera Maritime Media|accessdate= 2 November 2019}}</ref> *2019-: '''''CroisiEurope''''' |flag= |operator=*1999–2007: Clipper Cruise Line *2007–2014: International Shipping Partners *2014–2019: ''Silversea Cruises'' *2019-: '''''CroisiEurope''''' |registry=*1989–2019: Nassau, {{Flag|Bahamas|civil}} *2019 onwards: Brussels, {{flag|Belgium}} |route= |ordered= |builder=NKK Tsu Works - Tsu, Japan |original_cost= |yard_number=112 |way_number= |laid_down=22 August 1988 |launched=31 October 1988 |completed=April 1989 |christened= |acquired= |maiden_voyage= |in_service= |out_of_service= |identification=*Call sign: ONKI *{{IMO Number|8800195}} *{{MMSI|205788000}} |fate= |status=In service |notes= }} |section3={{Infobox ship/characteristics |hide_header= |header_caption= |class= |tonnage={{GT|5,218}} |displacement= |length={{convert|102.97|m|ft|abbr=on}}<ref>[https://www.faktaomfartyg.se/oceanic_grace_1989.htm Fakta om fartyg] {{in lang|sv}}</ref> |beam={{convert|15.42|m|ft|abbr=on}} |height= |draught={{convert|4.13|m|ft|abbr=on}} |depth= |decks=7<ref name="croisieurope">{{cite web |url=https://www.croisieurope.travel/en/boat/mv-la-belle-des-oceans |title=Ship MV La Belle des Océans - Intimate, small sized ship |website=www.croisieurope.travel |access-date=12 December 2025 }}</ref> |deck_clearance= |ramps= |ice_class= |power= |propulsion= |speed= |capacity=130 passengers<ref name="croisieurope" /> |crew=73<ref name="croisieurope" /> |notes= }} }}
'''''La Belle Des Oceans''''' is a small, yacht-type cruise ship operated by CroisiEurope. She has previously been operated by a number of cruise lines under different names, the most recent of which was ''Silver Discoverer''.<ref>{{cite web |url= https://www.cruiseindustrynews.com/cruise-news/20860-croisieurope-acquires-silver-discoverer.html|title= CroisiEurope Acquires Silver Discoverer|work= Cruise Industry News|date= 14 May 2019|accessdate= 2 November 2019}}</ref>
==Architecture and equipment== The ship has a gross tonnage of 5,218, is 338 feet long and 51 feet wide. She is for destination-intensive cruising and does not have many amenities like larger ships.
All the cabins are outside and the ship has a small selection of balcony rooms and has one suite. She can accommodate up to 130 passengers<ref name="croisieurope" /> in five categories.
The facilities on board include a jogging track, a swimming pool; a gym and beauty salon; a restaurant and pool grill; a lecture room for in-depth stories and briefings about the destinations and a panoramic lounge. ''Silver Discoverer'' is also equipped with 12 Zodiac boats and a glass-bottom boat for exploration of marine life. She used to have a decompression chamber for divers, but it is no longer in use.
==Service history== The ship was built in 1989 for the Japanese market as ''Oceanic Grace'', before being bought by Indonesia's Spice Islands Cruises which renamed her ''Oceanic Odyssey''. In 1999, she was bought by St Louis-based Clipper Cruise Line, and renamed ''Clipper Odyssey''.<ref name=LAT>{{cite news| url=https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-1999-sep-19-tr-11813-story.html | work=Los Angeles Times | first1=Shirley | last1=Slater | first2=Harry | last2=Basch | title=Former Lines and Old Ships Are Rising Again | date=19 September 1999}}</ref> She was then sold in 2007 to International Shipping Partners.<ref name="BrownGolden2008">{{cite book|author1=Jerry Brown|author2=Fran Wenograd Golden|title=Frommer's Alaska Cruises & Ports of Call 2008|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=88rQZQPTyh4C&pg=PA2|accessdate=11 February 2012|date=10 January 2008|publisher=John Wiley & Sons|isbn=978-0-470-16907-0|pages=2–}}</ref>
On 10 September 2013, it was announced that the vessel had been purchased by Silversea Cruises.<ref>http://www.seatrade-insider.com/news/news-headlines/global-launch-of-silverseas-third-expedition-ship-in-sydney.html{{dead link|date=May 2018 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref> She entered service for Silversea on 1 March 2014, after being rechristened in Singapore by Elda Turco Bulgherini.<ref name="smh2014-04-13">{{cite news|last=Macmillan|first=Sally|title=The Cruise Director: Silversea's Silver Discoverer|url=https://www.smh.com.au/travel/activity/cruises/the-cruise-director-silverseas-silver-discoverer-20140410-36e9n.html|accessdate=4 May 2014|newspaper=The Sydney Morning Herald|date=13 April 2014}}</ref> The following month, she commenced a program of short cruises along the Kimberley coastline between Broome and Darwin, Australia.<ref name="twa 2014-04-28">{{cite news|last=Prior|first=Neale|title=Discover the Kimberley coast|url=https://au.news.yahoo.com/thewest/travel/a/23025977/discover-the-kimberley-coast/|accessdate=15 May 2014|newspaper=The West Australian|date=28 April 2014}}</ref>
As ''Silver Discoverer'', she is deployed in remote regions of the world including Micronesia, Melanesia, Polynesia, the Russian Far East, Southeast Asia, New Zealand and Australia, including the Kimberley. The ''Silversea Expeditions'' onboard team consists of 11 experts, from expedition leaders, divemasters and marine biologists to historians, geologists and naturalists.
In 2019, ''Silver Discoverer'' left the Silversea Expeditions fleet. The vessel's owners, Florida-based SunStone Ships, subsequently announced it had been sold to the French cruise company CroisiEurope, the transaction having been brokered by Aminima Shipbrokers, and will sail under the name ''La Belle Des Oceans''.<ref>{{Cite web |url=https://www.expeditioncruising.com/2019/05/sunstone-sells-silver-discoverer-to.html |title=SunStone sells Silver Discoverer to CroisiEurope, puts Sea Spirit on market}}</ref>
Since 2021, La Belle des Océans has been sailing through the heart of six islands of the Canary archipelago during the winter season and around Corsica during the summer season. Throughout the year, the ship also operates repositioning cruises, calling at destinations in Morocco, Spain and France.<ref>https://www.croisieuroperivercruises.com/information/company</ref>
==Incidents== In July 2002, the ship ran aground on St. Matthew Island in the Bering Sea but was not damaged.<ref name="Klein2005">{{cite book|author=Ross A. Klein|title=Cruise ship squeeze: the new pirates of the seven seas|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=S5QlSKl3oFEC&pg=PA223|accessdate=11 February 2012|date=1 October 2005|publisher=New Society Publishers|isbn=978-0-86571-522-6|pages=234}}</ref> In August 2004, the ship ran aground in the Aleutian Islands near Dutch Harbor and the passengers and crew had to be evacuated.<ref>{{cite news| url=https://www.cbc.ca/news/world/cruise-ship-runs-aground-in-alaska-1.516053 | work=CBC News | title=Cruise ship runs aground in Alaska | date=2 August 2004}}</ref> The ship was seriously damaged and 5000 gallons of fuel leaked from the vessel.<ref name=star>{{Cite web|url=https://news.google.com/newspapers?id=K_1PAAAAIBAJ&sjid=OwkEAAAAIBAJ&pg=3702,1647453&dq=clipper-odyssey&hl=en|title = Ocala Star-Banner - Google News Archive Search}}</ref> She returned to service two months later.<ref name="Klein2005"/>
==References== {{Reflist}}
==External links== {{commons category|IMO 8800195}} * [http://www.shipspotting.com/gallery/search.php?search_imo=8800195&page_limit=192 Photos] from shipspotting.com * [http://www.silversea.com/expeditions/discoverer/ Silver Discoverer] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130914041222/http://www.silversea.com/expeditions/discoverer/ |date=2013-09-14 }} from silversea.com
{{Silversea ships}} {{Cruise ships of Japan}} Category:Cruise ships Category:Ships built in Japan Category:1988 ships