RMS Empress of Canada (ship, 1961)

Empress of Canada

The Empress of Canada in Liverpool, 1971

Ship data flag  United Kingdom other ship names Mardi Gras (1972–1993) Olympic (1993–1994) Star of Texas (1994–1995) Apollon (1995) Olympic 2004 (1995–1997) Apollon (1997–2003) Apollo (2003) Ship type Passenger ship home port London Shipping company Canadian Pacific Steamships Shipyard Vickers-Armstrongs , Newcastle upon Tyne Build number 171 Launch May 10, 1960 takeover April 1961 Commissioning April 24, 1961 Decommissioning October 1, 1997 Whereabouts Scrapped in India in 2003

Ship dimensions and crew length 198.13 m ( Lüa ) width 26.37 m Draft Max. 8.9 m measurement 27,284 GRT   crew 470

Machine system machine 2 × Pametrada Vickers diesel engines Machine performance 22,000 kW (29,912 hp) Top speed 20 kn (37 km / h) propeller 2

Transport capacities Permitted number of passengers 1,048 (later 1,240)

Others Registration numbers IMO no. 5103936

The RMS Empress of Canada (III) was a passenger ship of the Canadian Canadian Pacific Steamships , which was put into service in 1961 as the shipping company's last newbuilding. The ship remained in liner service until 1972 and was then used for cruises under different names and owners before it was retired in 1997 and scrapped in India in 2003 .

history

The Empress of Canada was built under hull number 171 at Vickers-Armstrongs in Newcastle upon Tyne and launched on May 10, 1960. After the takeover by Canadian Pacific Steamships, the ship was put into service on April 24, 1961 in the liner service from Liverpool to Montreal . The Empress of Canada could also be used for cruises. In 1968 the ship was rebuilt and from then on could carry 1,240 instead of 1,040 passengers.

As Mardi Gras in the Port of Montreal, August 1979

In January 1972, the Empress of Canada went into the ownership of Carnival Cruise Lines under the name Mardi Gras and thus became the first ship of the shipping company founded in the same year. From then on it was used for cruises in the Caribbean .

On March 11, 1972, the ship ran into a sandbar while cruising off Miami . However, it was able to be towed free again and then continue its journey.

After more than twenty years in service for Carnival, the Mardi Gras went to the Greek Epirotiki Lines in September 1993 , which it first renamed Olympic , 1994 Star of Texas and finally Apollon in 1995 , before it was launched in Eleusis in May 1995 .

In December 1995 the British travel company Direct Cruises chartered the Apollon under the new name Olympic 2004 and used it on the British cruise market. After the charter expired, the ship returned to Eleusis on October 1, 1997, where it was given its old name Apollon again in 1998 .

After five more years of lay-in, the Apollon was sold in November 2003 to be scrapped in Alang , India , where it arrived on December 5, 2003 under the transfer name Apollo .

Web links

Commons : IMO 5103936  - Collection of Pictures, Videos and Audio Files

• the ship on faktaomfartyg.se (Swedish)
• the ship on tynebuiltships.co.uk (English)