Pacific Explorer passing
the iconic Sydney Opera
House. Previously
Dawn Princess, she was
operated by P&O Cruises
Australia from June 2017
having been built by
Fincantieri in 1997.
One of the most storied names in Australian passenger shipping and a pioneer in cruising, P&O, is disappearing in 2025, as its corporate owners look to improve financial performance. The end of the P&O brand ‘down under’ not only closes a long history of liner services and cruising going back to the 1830s and the glory of the British Empire, but also ends the heritage of Orient Line and Sitmar, which both helped to build the Australian cruising market before becoming part of P&O Australia.
Orient Line and P&O each played a critical role in the liner service connecting the UK and Australia. During the 1870s both P&O (Peninsular & Oriental Steam Navigation Co) and Orient Line (Orient Steam Navigation Co) established regular services between Britain and Australia, and played a vital role in the migration of countless Britons to the Commonwealth. The liner services, however, began to fade in the 1960s with competition from Shaw Shavill, Sitmar, Chandris and others. By the 1970s, P&O Australia was exclusively a cruise company.