MS Kungsholm was a combined ocean liner / cruise ship built in 1953 by the De Schelde shipyard in Vlissingen, the Netherlands for the Swedish American Line.

From 1981 until 1984 she sailed for Costa Cruises as MS Columbus C. She sank in the port of Cadiz, Spain after ramming a breakwater on 29 July 1984.

[1] After the end of World War II the Swedish American Line, the company that had been pioneers of cruising during the 1920s,[8] was left in a difficult situation.

MS Stockholm, the large newbuild that had been planned during the late 1930s, never entered service for them because of the war, with the remaining fleet consisting of ageing ships.

[10] In 1948, during the same year that the Stockholm was delivered, SAL had already begun market research on both sides of the Atlantic, with the prospect of building a new ship in mind.

[2][11] Based on the results of the research, the company decided to order a 20,000 gross register ton combined ocean liner / cruise ship that could accommodate 802 passengers.

[1] During her time with the Swedish American Line she was used on transatlantic crossings during the northern hemisphere summer season, and on luxury cruises during the rest of the year.

[7] She was a highly successful vessel, and already in September 1954 SAL decided to order a slightly larger ship (eventually named MS Gripsholm) based on the same design from the Ansaldo shipyard in Genoa, Italy to become a running mate for the Kungsholm.

[1] In NGL service the ship followed a similar arrangement as she had with the Swedish American Line, with transatlantic crossings during the (northern hemisphere) summer and cruises during the rest of the year.

In North German Lloyd service she received the traditional black hull of a transatlantic liner, with the funnels and cargo cranes in front of the ship painted buff.