Look back at the biggest cruise stories of 2014

Britannia receiving her contemporary Union Jack inspired hull artwork

As it is the last day of the year I thought it would be appropriate to look back at the most popular news articles posted on the Time Spent at Sea blog during 2014. I've looked at the total number of views and have pinpointed the five most popular cruise stories of 2014.

5) Three die in cruise ship engine room fire

At number five is the sad news that three people - two contractors and a crew-member – died in a tragic engine room fire on-board Oceania Cruises' Insignia cruise ship earlier this month. John Honeywell reported that the incident happened in port at Castries, on the Caribbean island of St Lucia.

4) P&O's Britannia is put through her paces for the first time

Next is the news that P&O Cruises' Britannia had been put through per paces in her first sea trials off the coast of Italy. The course tracked by Marine Traffic shows hair-raising turns and loops during her first open water sailing. John Honeywell noted that the path was reminiscent of a particularly drunken version of Join the Dots!

3) P&O Fly The Flag - In Pictures & Video

The third most popular story the year is the unveiling of plans by P&O Cruises to roll out the contemporary Union Jack inspired hull artwork fleet-wide starting at the end of 2014. Simon and Susan Veness explained how the bold new look celebrates the company's heritage and its popularity as Britain’s leading cruise line. Aurora was the first cruise ship in service to receive the new artwork earlier this month.

2) First pictures of P&O's newest cruise ship, Britannia, in her red, white and blue Union Flag livery

In September the first pictures of P&O Cruises' Britannia were released showing the contemporary Union Jack inspired hull artwork for real. Until this point all we had seen were computer-generated graphics of the design. John Honeywell noted that at 94 metres long, it was the world’s largest contemporary version of the Union Flag and that it took 420 litres of paint to complete this artwork.

1) Cruise ship Saga Pearl II sails to the rescue of injured yachtsman in mid-Atlantic 

The biggest news story by far this year was reported by Lesley Bellew and told of the rescue of an injured yachtsman in the mid-Atlantic by crew on-board Saga Pearl II. On route to Cape Verde, Captain Wesley Dunlop of Saga Pearl II answered a call for assistance from the Portuguese marine authorities and made a 90-mile diversion to meet the catamaran Coco Jet III.

(Photo credit to P&O Cruises)

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