Anthem of the Seas

La Conchee reef, on the west coast of Guernsey,  in January 1974 was the scene of a tragic shipping disaster when the Cypriot ship Prosperity was driven onto the reef by hurricane force winds with the loss of all on board. On the morning after, the ship could be seen broken in two.  In L'Eree car park on the west coast of Guernsey is a memorial to the disaster.

Forty one years later the Anthem of the Seas, the world's third largest cruise ship, sails past the west coast of Guernsey with La Conchee Reef in the foreground. With a capacity of almost 5,000 guests, robotic bar tenders, surf simulator, and virtual sky diving machine it is a ship that could never have been dreamed of that January morning in 1974. The Anthem of the Seas will be christened tomorrow, 20th April 2015, in Southampton, its base for the summer of 2015, before heading to its permanent home port in New Jersey's Cape Liberty Cruise Port from the winter.