Story on the link below is paywalled but it's self-explanatory albeit perhaps dubious. The Astoria (ex-Stockholm etc) might be scrapped in Scotland.
Of perhaps particular relevance for this website (other than being a cruise ship many will be familiar with) is that in her Völkerfreundschaft days she was, for the best part of two decades from the mid-1960s onwards, chartered each winter by Stena Line for long-distance cruises out of Gothenburg.
The report about the Astoria is sad if it's true. As a very old ship with an interesting and eventful life I think she is one ship worthy of preservation. Originally built in Sweden she is the largest ship ever built there and it would be nice to see her in retirement back somewhere in Sweden.
I went on a cruise on her some years ago from Falmouth down to Rio D J and back, most enjoyable. Although extensively modernised in later years with a new superstructure and reshaped sponson she had many old features including timber plank decking and wooden handrails. Ah well, happy days.😎
The mv ASTORIA, one of the ships of the CMV, that went bankrupt in June 2020, ex GDR VÖLKERFREUNDSCHAFT, ex Swedish America Line's STOCKHOLM, who collided with the ANDREA DORIA outside New York, has now been sailed to Turkey, to be scrapped.
Author of "Fra LILLEBELT to SKÅNE" about train ferries and other railway owned ships in Scandinavia and the Baltic, in Scandinavian with English summaries. Free pdf-version by contacting me on "Private messages"
colinb wrote: ↑31 Mar 2023 20:18
Well, that is something! 75 years old, the same as me tomorrow! A rather more interesting career than mine! The ship was a real survivor.
colinb wrote: ↑31 Mar 2023 20:18
Well, that is something! 75 years old, the same as me tomorrow! A rather more interesting career than mine! The ship was a real survivor.
Happy Birthday!
Author of "Fra LILLEBELT to SKÅNE" about train ferries and other railway owned ships in Scandinavia and the Baltic, in Scandinavian with English summaries. Free pdf-version by contacting me on "Private messages"
Fine old lady maybe but looks were not great with age.... I put a pilot on her several times and that rear end didn't get any better the more you see it. The closer you got the worse it was!
Risberg wrote: ↑31 Mar 2023 20:05
The mv ASTORIA, one of the ships of the CMV, that went bankrupt in June 2020, ex GDR VÖLKERFREUNDSCHAFT, ex Swedish America Line's STOCKHOLM, who collided with the ANDREA DORIA outside New York, has now been sailed to Turkey, to be scrapped.
Risberg wrote: ↑31 Mar 2023 20:05
The mv ASTORIA, one of the ships of the CMV, that went bankrupt in June 2020, ex GDR VÖLKERFREUNDSCHAFT, ex Swedish America Line's STOCKHOLM, who collided with the ANDREA DORIA outside New York, has now been sailed to Turkey, to be scrapped.
But that article doesn't show her in Turkey - that was in another article I can't find right now.
Author of "Fra LILLEBELT to SKÅNE" about train ferries and other railway owned ships in Scandinavia and the Baltic, in Scandinavian with English summaries. Free pdf-version by contacting me on "Private messages"
Well despite all the speculation over the timeframe of the posts above the Astoria still clings on, in Rotterdam.
This exploration of her was posted yesterday. The views of the crew accommodation areas really make you think about the upstairs/downstairs setup of the cruise industry (and yes I'm sure more modern ships aren't quite so basic).
hhvferry wrote: ↑20 Nov 2023 17:32
Well despite all the speculation over the timeframe of the posts above the Astoria still clings on, in Rotterdam.
This exploration of her was posted yesterday. The views of the crew accommodation areas really make you think about the upstairs/downstairs setup of the cruise industry (and yes I'm sure more modern ships aren't quite so basic).
I hate to mark words, but she wasn't built for the cruise industry but for Atlantic crossings. Yes, I know that Cunard nowadays call their Transatlantic crossings cruises, but they aren't.
I had hoped to make ASTORIAs last voyage for the CMV in autumn 2020, but then there was no more CMV.....
Author of "Fra LILLEBELT to SKÅNE" about train ferries and other railway owned ships in Scandinavia and the Baltic, in Scandinavian with English summaries. Free pdf-version by contacting me on "Private messages"
hhvferry wrote: ↑20 Nov 2023 17:32
Well despite all the speculation over the timeframe of the posts above the Astoria still clings on, in Rotterdam.
This exploration of her was posted yesterday. The views of the crew accommodation areas really make you think about the upstairs/downstairs setup of the cruise industry (and yes I'm sure more modern ships aren't quite so basic).
I hate to mark words, but she wasn't built for the cruise industry but for Atlantic crossings.
Whilst true the ship as Astoria bears very little relation to the Stockholm or the Völkerfreundschaft. The vessel in her current incarnation to all intents and purposes was built as a cruise ship.
Risberg wrote: ↑20 Nov 2023 17:58
I hate to mark words, but she wasn't built for the cruise industry but for Atlantic crossings.
Whilst true the ship as Astoria bears very little relation to the Stockholm or the Völkerfreundschaft. The vessel in her current incarnation to all intents and purposes was built as a cruise ship.
And that goes for the crew accomodation as well?
Author of "Fra LILLEBELT to SKÅNE" about train ferries and other railway owned ships in Scandinavia and the Baltic, in Scandinavian with English summaries. Free pdf-version by contacting me on "Private messages"
hhvferry wrote: ↑20 Nov 2023 18:19
Whilst true the ship as Astoria bears very little relation to the Stockholm or the Völkerfreundschaft. The vessel in her current incarnation to all intents and purposes was built as a cruise ship.
As I have said previously I think this is a vessel worth saving. Originally built in Sweden for trans-Atlantic work she was comprehensively reconstructed some years ago as a cruise liner, albeit at 18,000 tons a fairly small one. Having travelled on her when she was chartered to Travelscope, long since defunct, on an extended cruise to South America I had the time, and a natural curiosity, to investigate.
I think there was little left of the original ship apart from the hull, which was rivetted construction, with the interior and superstructure being all welded. But she did still have a teak external deck. The bustle around the stern was added at the same time, I think it was added to aid stability but was unsightly and caused a booming resonance when rolling or pitching on a less-than-smooth sea. The conversion squeezed a lot into the existing hull and I think a fair few compromises were made, but it was quite a nice ship to sail in apart from the propensity of the diesel engines to throw smuts over the open decks; one had to be careful to choose the windward side to sit or suffer black blobs on clothing or body!
Unfortunately, the trend is towards bigger and bigger ships, and small ones like this one struggle to be profitable unless they target the top end of the cruise market, and her age and decor do not match up to luxury.
A pity, but that is life.
P.S. I look at the great blocks of floating activity operating as cruise ships and shudder. No 'cattle wagons' for me, thank you!
ancientdad wrote: ↑21 Nov 2023 09:49
As I have said previously I think this is a vessel worth saving. Originally built in Sweden for trans-Atlantic work she was comprehensively reconstructed some years ago as a cruise liner, albeit at 18,000 tons a fairly small one. Having travelled on her when she was chartered to Travelscope, long since defunct, on an extended cruise to South America I had the time, and a natural curiosity, to investigate.
I think there was little left of the original ship apart from the hull, which was rivetted construction, with the interior and superstructure being all welded. But she did still have a teak external deck. The bustle around the stern was added at the same time, I think it was added to aid stability but was unsightly and caused a booming resonance when rolling or pitching on a less-than-smooth sea. The conversion squeezed a lot into the existing hull and I think a fair few compromises were made, but it was quite a nice ship to sail in apart from the propensity of the diesel engines to throw smuts over the open decks; one had to be careful to choose the windward side to sit or suffer black blobs on clothing or body!
Unfortunately, the trend is towards bigger and bigger ships, and small ones like this one struggle to be profitable unless they target the top end of the cruise market, and her age and decor do not match up to luxury.
A pity, but that is life.
P.S. I look at the great blocks of floating activity operating as cruise ships and shudder. No 'cattle wagons' for me, thank you!
Agree. That's why I miss the CMV and chose Ambassador's AMBIENCE for my Mediterranean cruise this spring and have chosen her for my Round-the-World cruise next year. Long live Ambassador!
Author of "Fra LILLEBELT to SKÅNE" about train ferries and other railway owned ships in Scandinavia and the Baltic, in Scandinavian with English summaries. Free pdf-version by contacting me on "Private messages"
