up at Singapore. In 1991, the ship was sold to Orient Lines - the brainchild of cruise lines and hotels entrepreneur Gerry Herrod - and renamed Marco Polo. Service as Marco Polo Following the purchase by Orient Lines, Marco Polo sailed to Neorion Shipyard, Greece, where her engines were reconditioned by Sulzer Diesels. Following this she was moved to Perama Shipyard, Greece, where a near-total reconstruction of the ship commenced. Externally this resulted in notable extension of the rear superstructure and heightening of the funnel to maintain the proportions of the ship. Internally the ship was almost entirely rebuilt under the guidance of naval architect Knud Hansen and interior designers Michael and Agni Katzourakis. In addition to the more visual changes, the ship was fitted with Denny Brown stabilizers, additional diesel engines and brought up to the latest IMO and SOLAS standards. The refit took 2 years; various sources estimate the cost as between US$20m and $60m. In 1993, following completions of the conversion, Marco Polo began a varying itinerary of cruises all over the world, including more unusual destinations such as South-East Asia, Africa, and Antarctica. In 1998, Orient Lines was sold to Norwegian Cruise Lines. Marco Polos cruises continued as before, but as a result of the NCL deal MS Crown Odyssey joined her in the Orient Lines fleet in 2000, turning the company into a two-ship brand. However, Crown Odyssey left the Orient fleet in 2003, and Marco Polo became again the sole ship of the brand. Since 2005 she has also been the sole surviving Ivan Franko-class vessel, the other sisters having sunk or been scrapped.In 2008 Norwegian Cruise Line sold Marco Polo to the Greece-based Global Maritime Group, which chartered the ship to the Germany-based Transocean Tours. Marco Polo replaced MS Arielle in the Transocean Tours fleet, operating cruises out of the United Kingdom and Germany. The sale of Marco Polo also meant the end of the Orient Lines brand. Transocean Tours said that they planned to operate the ship until 2012 at least. On 6 July 2009 Marco Polo called at Invergordon, Easter Ross, Scotland on a cruise outbound from Tilbury in Essex. During a health inspection by the local port health officials up to 150 passengers were discovered to have been infected with what was presumed to be norovirus; the number of infected passengers and crew subsequently rose to 400. Also on 6