MV Astoria

Astoria departing Tallinn, Estonia June 20, 2016.
History
Portugal
Name:	1948–1960: Stockholm 1960–1985: Völkerfreundschaft 1985–1986: Volker 1986–1993: Fridtjof Nansen 1993–1994: Italia I 1994–1998: Italia Prima 1998–2002: Valtur Prima 2002–2005: Caribe 2005–2013: Athena 2013–2016: Azores 2016 onwards: Astoria
Owner:	1948–1960: Swedish America Line 1960–1985: VEB Deutsche Seereederei 1985–1989: Neptunus Rex Enterprises 1989–1994: StarLauro 1994–2002: Nina Cia. di Navigazione 2002–2004: Festival Cruises 2004–present: Nina SpA[1]
Operator:	1948–1960: Swedish America Line 1960–1966: VEB Deutsche Seereederei 1966–1985: VEB Deutsche Seereederei (summer seasons)/Stena Line (winter seasons) 1985–1994: laid up/rebuilt 1994–1995:Nina Cia. di Navigazione 1995–1998: Neckermann Seereisen 1998: laid up 1998–2001: Valtur Tourist 2001–2002: laid up 2002–2004: Festival Cruises 2004–2005: laid up 2005–2013 : Classic International Cruises[1] 2013-2014: Portuscale Cruises 2015-2017: Cruise & Maritime Voyages 2017: ?
Port of registry:	1948–1960: Gothenburg,  Sweden 1960–1985: Rostock,  East Germany 1985–1989: Panama City,  Panama 1989–2004: Naples,  Italy 2004–present: Madeira,  Portugal[1]
Ordered:	October 1944[2]
Builder:	Götaverken, Gothenburg, Sweden
Yard number:	611[1]
Launched:	9 September 1946[1]
Christened:	9 September 1946[2]
Acquired:	7 February 1948[1]
In service:	21 February 1948[1]
Identification:	Swedish Official Number 8926 (1948)[3] Italian Official Number 1749 (1993)[3] Call sign CQRV IMO number: 5383304 MMSI number: 255801380
Status:	In service
General characteristics (as built)[1]
Type:	Ocean liner
Tonnage:	12,165 GRT 4,700 DWT
Length:	160.08 m (525 ft 2 in)
Beam:	21.04 m (69 ft 0 in)
Draught:	7.90 m (25 ft 11 in)
Installed power:	2 × 8-cylinder Götaverken diesel engines 8,900 kW (12,000 hp) (combined)
Speed:	17 knots (31 km/h; 20 mph)
Capacity:	390 passengers
General characteristics (currently)[1]
Type:	Cruise ship
Tonnage:	15,614 GRT
Decks:	8
Installed power:	2 × Wärtsilä 16V32 10,700 kW (14,300 hp) (combined)
Speed:	19 knots (35 km/h; 22 mph)
Capacity:	556 passengers

MV Astoria is a former ocean liner now operated as a cruise ship by Cruise & Maritime Voyages. She was ordered in 1944, and launched 9 September 1946, as Stockholm by Götaverken in Gothenburg for the Swedish America Line (SAL). During her almost seven decades of service she has passed through several owners and sailed under the names Völkerfreundschaft, Volker, Fridtjof Nansen, Italia I, Italia Prima, Valtur Prima, Caribe, Athena, and Azores before beginning service as Astoria in March 2016.^[4]

As Stockholm, she was best known for colliding with Andrea Doria in 1956, resulting in the sinking of the latter ship.

With the retirement of Doulos Phos in 2010, Astoria is (as of January 2016) the world's second oldest active oceangoing passenger ship after Sea Cloud.^[5]

Service history

At 525 feet (160.02 m) with a gross register tonnage of 12,165 register tons, Stockholm was the smallest passenger ship operating on the North Atlantic route at the time. However, she was the largest passenger ship built in Sweden at the time. Originally designed to carry 395 people, a 1953 refit expanded Stockholm's capacity to 548 people.

Collision with Andrea Doria

On the night of July 25, 1956, at 11:10 pm, in heavy fog in the North Atlantic Ocean off the coast of Nantucket, Stockholm and Andrea Doria of the Italian Line collided in what was to become one of history's most notorious maritime disasters.

Although most passengers and crew survived the collision, the larger Andrea Doria luxury liner capsized and sank the following morning. Owing to the collision, 50% of the Andrea Doria's lifeboats were unusable. However, a number of ships responded and provided assistance, which averted a massive loss of life.

Five members of Stockholm's crew were killed instantly, and several more were trapped in the wrecked bow. Despite its having sunk about 3 ft (0.9 m), the crippled Stockholm helped in the rescue and ended up carrying 327 passengers and 245 crew members from the Andrea Doria, in addition to her own passengers and crew. After Andrea Doria sank, Stockholm sailed to New York City under her own power and arrived on July 27. The crushed bow portion was repaired at a cost of US$1 million three months later.

The ship in 1961, sailing as Völkerfreundschaft

History after the collision

On 3 January 1960, Stockholm was sold to the East German government, which renamed the ship Völkerfreundschaft ("friendship between nations") and operated her as an ocean liner until 1985. In 1985 she was transferred to a Panamanian company, Neptunas Rex Enterprises. Her name was reduced to Volker, and by the end of the year she was laid up in Southampton, England. She was later used as a barracks ship in Oslo for asylum seekers in Norway under the name Fridtjof Nansen.

Italia Prima In Genova, Italy. in 1994

Stockholm was sold to Italian interests in 1989 and towed to Genoa, Italy which turned out to be Andrea Doria's home port; but when she arrived, the press called Stockholm the "ship of death" (La nave della morte) due to the collision with Andrea Doria. It was discovered that the Stockholm was in a very good condition, except for the American-built replacement bow, which needed the most refurbishing. She was rebuilt from the waterline up and given a modern cruise ship design. Named the Italia I, then Italia Prima, she later sailed as Valtur Prima primarily to Cuba, and was laid up there in 2001. Acquired by Festival Cruise Line in 2002 and renamed Caribe, she continued to sail to Cuba.

As Athena in Split, Oct 22, 2011

In 2005 Stockholm was renamed Athena, being registered in Portugal. She was flagged out of Cyprus operating for Classic International Cruises.

On 3 December 2008 Athena was attacked by pirates in the Gulf of Aden. Reportedly, 29 pirate boats surrounded the ship at one stage until a US Navy P-3 Orion maritime patrol aircraft circled above which led some of the pirates to flee. The crew prevented the pirates from boarding by firing high-pressure water cannons at them. No one was injured and the ship escaped without damage, and continued on her voyage to Australia.^[6]

On 17 September 2012, reports announced that she and her fellow ship Princess Danae were detained in Marseille, France, for unpaid fuel bills, it was also announced that Arion was detained in Montenegro for similar issues.^[7]

Early in 2013 Athena was bought by the recently created Portuguese cruise company Portuscale Cruises and renamed Azores. As soon as her acquisition was confirmed, she was taken to a shipyard in Marseille, where she was revamped before entering Portuscale Cruises service after completing a charter to 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.

In 2015 she entered service with Cruise & Maritime Voyages, operating her first voyage with the line from Avonmouth Docks to the Caribbean in January 2015.^[8] From May 2016, until March 2017, the ship is on charter to French tour operator Rivages Du Monde.^[9] In June 2016, it was announced that Astoria would be leaving the CMV fleet after her final cruise on 27 April 2017 from London Tilbury.^[10][11]

Amenities

See also

• SS Andrea Doria
• Doulos Phos

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Azores.

• Classic International Cruises' page on the Athena
• Goldberg, Mark H. (2002). Ship Profile - MS Caribe. CruisePage.com. Accessed June 6, 2005.
• Ljungström, Henrik. Stockholm. The Great Ocean Liners. Accessed June 6, 2005.
• SS Maritime page detailing the name changes with photos
• Athena – review by Douglas Ward in The Daily Telegraph, London.
• http://www.royalcaravella.umi.ru
• for the German Cruise Line - Ambiente Cruises to 2014

Ships of the Cruise & Maritime Voyages fleet
Current ships	Marco Polo Astor Azores Magellan
Future ships	Columbus
Former ships	Ocean Countess Discovery

Shipwrecks and maritime incidents in 1956
Shipwrecks	10 Feb: Conlea 12 Jun: Warri 25 Jul: Andrea Doria 9 Aug: RFA Wave King 31 Oct: Domiat 21 Nov: M-200
Other incidents	6 Jan: Esso Appalachee 18 Mar: USS Willis A. Lee 7 May: USS Eaton, USS Wisconsin 9 May: HMS Talent 24 May: SS Orsova 31 May: Caronia 11 Jul: Dea Mazzella 25 Jul: Stockholm 12 Oct: HMS Anchorite 22 Oct: USS Antietam 31 Oct: Ibrahim-El-Awal 14 Nov: Port Victor Unknown date: ARA General Belgrano, ARA Nueve de Julio
1955 1957