MV Astoria – Wikipedia

Cruise ship
For other ships with the same name, see Astoria ( disambiguation ) “ MS Stockholm ( 1948 ) ” redirects here. For other ships named “ Stockholm ”, see Stockholm ( disambiguation ) “ MS Athena ( 2005 ) ” redirects hera. For other ships, see Athena ( disambiguation )

MV Astoria is a ship that was constructed as the transatlantic liner MS Stockholm for swedish american english Line, and rebuild as a cruise ship in 1993. Ordered in 1944, and commenced serve in 1948, at 73 years previous, she is the oldest passenger liner silent sailing in deep water routes. As Stockholm, she was best known for an accidental collision with Andrea Doria in July 1956, resulting in the sinking of the latter ship and 46 fatalities off the coast of Nantucket. During her seven decades of service she has passed through several owners and sailed under the names Stockholm, Völkerfreundschaft, Volker, Fridtjof Nansen, Italia I, Italia Prima, Valtur Prima, Caribe, Athena, and Azores before beginning service as Astoria in March 2016. Astoria sailed with Cruise & Maritime Voyages until 2020 when the company suspended operations due to the COVID-19 pandemic and was subsequently laid up for sale. In 2021, she was sold to an american group. [ 4 ]

M/S Stockholm [edit ]

Stockholm as built as built The embark was ordered in 1944, and launched 9 September 1946, as Stockholm by Götaverken in Gothenburg for the Swedish America Line ( SAL ). The ship was designed by swedish american Line couturier, Eric Christiansson, who worked as the technical director at parent company Broström. [ 5 ] She was the fourth embark named Stockholm for swedish american Line, but the second of the four to actually sail under the identify ( See : MS Stockholm ( 1941 ) ). When Stockholm III was sold to the Italians, the proceeds were initially exit aside, but were late used to finance the construction of the ship after the 1941 Stockholm was sunk during the war. [ 5 ] At 525 feet ( 160.02 megabyte ) with a gross cross-file tonnage of 12,165, Stockholm at the fourth dimension was the smallest passenger transport operating on the North Atlantic route, [ 6 ] but the largest passenger ship built in Sweden, with the largest diesel propulsion unit of measurement however built in Sweden. [ 7 ] in the first place designed to carry a total of 395 passengers, divided between first and tourist class, and a cargo capacity of 3,000 tons. Interiors were completed by swedish artists, including Kurt Jungstedt. [ 8 ] When delivered, the ship would replace the aging SS Drottningholm, and run an alternating transatlantic service with MS Gripsholm. [ 7 ] She made her inaugural voyage on February 21, 1948, under the command of Captain Waldemar Jonsson, from Gothenburg arriving in New York on March 1. [ 9 ]
The Stockholm would continue to sail the transatlantic route, late joined by the fresh MS Kungsholm ( 1952 ). A 1953 refit expanded Stockholm’s capacity to 548 people by infilling the outdoor aft and forward end of “ A ” deck with passenger cabins. Due to the small size, and not handling the North Atlantic seas very well during the cold months, the swedish american Line scheduled her for occasional cruises starting in 1953 out of Morehead City, North Carolina cruise to Havana, Nassau, and Bermuda. [ 10 ] A late refit in 1956/57 added a film to the deck forward end of the independent superstructure, and an outdoor pool aft. With both MS Kungsholm and the new MS Gripsholm ( 1957 ) sail, the smaller Stockholm was started to be seen as excessively small and not meeting the current standards of the argumentation. The transport was sold in May 1959 to, at the time, an nameless german party. The ship would finish out the year sailing with swedish american Line to New York, before being transferred in 1960 to the modern company. [ 11 ]

collision with Andrea Doria [edit ]

Andrea Doria, Stockholm with severely damaged 26 July 1956 : After colliding withwith badly damaged bow, heads to New York . MS Stockholm entering port of New York Damagedentering port of New York On the night of July 25, 1956, at 11:10 prime minister, in fleshy daze in the North Atlantic Ocean off the seashore of Nantucket, Stockholm and Andrea Doria of the italian Line collided in what was to become one of history ‘s most ill-famed nautical disasters. [ 12 ] Although most passengers and crew survived the collision, the larger Andrea Doria luxury liner capsized and sank the follow good morning. Owing to the collision, 50 % of Andrea Doria ‘s lifeboats were unserviceable. however, a act of ships, including SS Ile de France, responded and provided aid, which averted a massive personnel casualty of life. [ 13 ] Five members of Stockholm’ mho crowd were killed immediately, and several more were trapped in the wrecked bow. Despite its having lost about 3 ft ( 0.9 megabyte ) of freeboard, the crippled Stockholm helped in the rescue and ended up carrying 327 passengers and 245 crew members from Andrea Doria, in addition to her own passengers and gang. [ 14 ] After the ships had separated, and as Stockholm crew members were beginning to view the damage, one of the gang came across Linda Morgan, who had been thrown from her layer on Andrea Doria as the two ships collided and landed on Stockholm ‘s deck, suffering chasten but not dangerous injuries. After Andrea Doria sank, Stockholm sailed to New York City under her own power and arrived on July 27. There, the crush bow helping was replaced at a cost of US $ 1 million three months later at Bethlehem Shipyard in Brooklyn, NY. [ 15 ] An inquiry followed the events, with a settlement reached after 6 months between the italian Line and swedish american Line .

wreckage from collision [edit ]

The Bell [edit ]

Stockholm, salvaged from the wreck of the Andrea Doria and currently displayed on board the Astoria Damaged bell from the bow of M/Ssalvaged from the bust up of theand presently displayed on board the Years following the collision, Andrea Doria would become a popular honkytonk site. In 1959 the damaged ship ‘s bell was recovered from the shipwreck web site. today it is displayed onboard in the transport ‘s lobby .

discovery of the Bow Wreckage [edit ]

In September 2020, New Jersey-based Atlantic Wreck Salvage announced that their ship, D/V Tenacious, had discovered Stockholm ‘s bow and anchors. The divers made the confirmation based on the presence and alone expressive style of both anchors, internal bow reinforcements, accordion-style rumple on the wreckage in the same traffic pattern as seen in photos of Stockholm after the collision, and the placement of the wreckage near Andrea Doria ‘s final rest position. [ 16 ]

east german transport Völkerfreundschaft [edit ]

Völkerfreundschaft The ship in 1961, sailing as On 3 January 1960, Stockholm was transferred to the east german government, which renamed the ship Völkerfreundschaft ( “ friendship between nations “ ) operating under the line Deutsche Seereederei ( german Shipping Company ), a harbinger to Aida Cruises. Völkerfreundschaft made her new inaugural ocean trip on February 23, 1960, and was home-ported in Rostock, Germany finally operating in bicycle-built-for-two with the newly built Fritz Heckert. [ 17 ] When the Berlin rampart went up in 1961, all ports were restricted to communist countries alone, which greatly limited sailing routes. The transport made trips to Cuba, and would be one of the two ships that was en path to Havana during the Cuban Missile Crisis, where she was suspiciously watched by U.S. military planes and vessels. [ 17 ] The transport was already center to Havana, and it was necessity to continue to resupply and refuel, before cursorily turning around back to East Germany. In 1964 the transport was put under the management of the complimentary german Trade Union Federation, but would be chartered out to western european countries for a majority of the class. This would be expanded in 1967, with Stena Line chartering the embark for swedish passengers for one-half of the class, doing within per annum until the ship was sold in 1985. [ 18 ]

norwegian barracks ship Fridtjof Nansen [edit ]

In 1985 she was transferred to a panamanian company, Neptunas Rex Enterprises. Her diagnose was reduced to Volker, and by the end of the year she was laid up in Southampton, England. In 1985 the transport was renamed Fridtjof Nansen was by and by used as a barracks ship in Oslo for refuge seekers in Norway.

Rebuilding into a modern cruise ship [edit ]

conversion into a cruise transport at a Genoa shipyard in 1993 Italia Prima In AsIn Genova Italy, in 1994 In 1989, ex- Stockholm was officially sold to the italian Star Lauro Lines, who intended to convert the liner into a luxury cruise ship. The ship was inactive under charter as the Fridtjof Nansen, and therefore remained in Oslo until 1993. The ship was towed to a shipyard in Genoa, Italy, Andrea Doria’s home port ; but when she arrived, the weigh labeled her “ the ship of death ” ( La nave della morte ) due to the collision with Andrea Doria. [ 19 ] During conversion, it was discovered that the ex- Stockholm was in a very good condition ( except for the American-built refilling bow, which needed the most refurbish ). [ 20 ] She was completely gutted on the interior, and rebuild from the amble deck improving. New diesel engines were installed, and a newly bridge was built, extending the superstructure fore. The aft decks were built up, giving her a more modern cruise ship profile. A large ducktail was added that importantly altered the stern appearance. Although not identical recognizable from her original appearance as Stockholm; many elements such as the bow and anchor, hull window arrangement, passenger lifts and step locations, and the distinct double porthole dine room windows, were all visible traits from the master Stockholm blueprint .

Cruise ship [edit ]

Athena in Asin Split, 22 October 2011 Azores in Asin Tallinn, 2014 Azores with Cruise & Maritime Voyages in with Cruise & Maritime Voyages in Liverpool, 2015

Italia I – Italia Prima – Valtur Prima [edit ]

Following the completion of the refit in 1994, transport was named Italia I, then Italia Prima, she later sailed as Valtur Prima chiefly to Cuba, and was laid up there in 2001 .

Caribe [edit ]

Acquired by Festival Cruise Line in 2002 and renamed Caribe, she continued to sail to Cuba .

Athena [edit ]

In 2005 the Caribe was renamed Athena, being registered in Portugal. She was reflagged to Cyprus operating for Classic International Cruises .

Pirate fire [edit ]

On December 3, 2008 Athena was attacked by pirates in the Gulf of Aden. reportedly, 29 commandeer boats surrounded the ship at one stage until a US Navy P-3 Orion maritime patrol aircraft circled above which caused some of the pirates to flee. The crew prevented the pirates from boarding by firing hard-hitting water system cannons at them. No one was injured and the embark escaped without wrong, continuing her voyage to Australia. [ 21 ] In 2009 the ship was chartered to german cruise hustler Phoenix Reisen and repainted in the company colors with a turquoise funnel and company logo. On September 17, 2012, reports announced that she and her boyfriend transport Princess Danae were detained in Marseille, France, for unpaid fuel bills. [ 22 ]

Azores [edit ]

early in 2013 Athena was bought by the recently created portuguese cruise company Portuscale Cruises and renamed Azores. deoxyadenosine monophosphate soon as her acquisition was confirmed, she was taken to a shipyard in Marseille, where she was revamped. She then entered Portuscale Cruises servicing after completing a charter for Berlin-based Ambiente Kreuzfahrten, from whom she was chartered to Classic International to join her fleetmate Princess Daphne. The charter began in March 2014 with a cruise from Lisbon, Portugal, to Bremerhaven, Germany, and concluded in November 2014 in Genoa, Italy. After Portuscale ‘s crumble, the administrator of the ship ‘s dinner dress owner, Island Cruises — Transportes Marítimos, Unipessoal Ltda., secured a rent to Cruise & Maritime Voyages ( CMV ). [ 23 ] Her first voyage was from Avonmouth Docks to the Caribbean in January 2015. [ 24 ]

Astoria [edit ]

In March 2016 the ship was renamed Astoria by Cruise & Maritime Voyages and from May 2016 until March 2017 was subchartered to french tour operator Rivages du Monde. [ 25 ] Since 2016, Astoria is the last leftover vessel of the former swedish american Line still afloat, after the former Kungsholm was scrapped in 2016. In June 2016, it was announced that Astoria would be leaving the CMV fleet after her final examination cruise on April 27, 2017 from London Tilbury. [ 26 ] [ 27 ] In February 2017, CMV announced that Astoria would remain in the CMV fleet until 2018. She would offer a mini-season from London Tilbury, before being charted by Rivages du Monde during the summer months. [ 28 ] Astoria was scheduled to begin winter cruising the Sea of Cortez from the port of Puerto Peñasco ( Rocky Point ) Mexico from December 2019, [ 29 ] but this seafaring did not take place until January 2020 due to unspecified delays in dry dock. [ 30 ] The 2020 cruise temper was intended be the last for Astoria in the CMV fleet. [ 31 ] The vessel was arrested by UK Maritime & Coastguard Agency officers in June 2020 following reports she was about to set sail and leave UK legal power without arranging the repatriation of extraneous crew members stranded in the UK by the COVID-19 pandemic. [ citation needed ] CMV entered government in 2020. [ 32 ] Astoria was former moved to Rotterdam and put up for auction on 1 March 2021, with a minimum sale price of € 10 million, but received no offers until July 2021. [ 23 ] The ship remained in custody pending decisions by owners and creditors. [ 33 ]

2021 sale [edit ]

In July 2021, the ship was purchased by an american english group, which besides acquired the MV Funchal. The newfangled owners intend to use the Astoria for trips between Lisbon and Funchal in Madeira. [ 4 ] As of December 2021, Astoria remained laid-up in Rotterdam .

See besides [edit ]

• MS Dunnottar Castle, served for 68 years

References [edit ]