The new combined passenger and freight boat, the M/S Diana was delivered to the Göta Canal Steamship Company on March 15, 1931.

Built at the Finnboda Shipyard in Stockholm, she had been ordered in anticipation of a wave of Swedish-American guests during the Tercentenary Celebration and was built to travel the Göta Canal in scheduled traffic between Stockholm and Gothenburg.

Named after the goddess of the hunt and chastity, she was Sweden's last steamship in regular canal service. It was not until 1969 that the steam engine was replaced by a diesel one and in 1975, the boat received its current profile.

In 1987 efforts to pump her dry failed and the boat sank at the quay in Trollhättan, was condemned and then returned to the Steamship Company. It was decided to totally renovate her, to reduce the number of cabins and outfit other areas of the boat for meetings of various types. One result was that the dining-room and the lounge were made into one large.