The old Portuguese ship Funchal turned into cruise ship had its maiden voyage interrupted by Swedish maritime authorities, who found several irregularities, from technical shortcomings to the lack of preparedness of the crew, informs Swedish media.

According to the inspectors at the port of Gothenburg, Funchal has  problems with life-saving appliances and watertight doors, as well as lack of adequate knowledge on the part of the crew.

According to the Swedish press, quoted by the Journal News, the inspectors decided to suspend the conclusion of the inspection and keep the ship at the port until the deficiencies are corrected.

The ship is moored in the port of Gothenburg for three days, after a 12-day cruise to the North Cape, with 400 people on board.

The Portuscale Cruises, chaired by Rui Alegre, confirmed in a statement published on its website the existence of problems, including a deficiency electrical connection between the bridge and two of fifteen watertight doors, as well as one of the fire stations, reported Radio TSF .

The owner Rui Alegre does not state when the ship will be able to return to the sea.

Funchal was built More than half a century ago by the shipyard Helsingor Skipsværft A / S, Denmark, commissioned by the Company Insulana Navigation with draft Rogério de Oliveira, according to Wikipedia.

It was the largest passenger ship built in Denmark at the time of its delivery in October 1961. The ship was sailing regular shipping route between Lisbon and the Azores, the Canary Madeirae, making monthly two consecutive trips to the route Lisbon - Funchal - Tenerife - Funchal - Lisbon followed by a trip to the Azores via Funchal.

After that, Funchal underwent several owners and flags, and returned to Portugal, where he was abandoned until it was bought and renovated by Portuscale Cruises investing 20 milion euros, with financial support from a Portuguese bank.