The Samson was a ferry that was built in Kristiansand , Norway in 1967 . The ship could carry a maximum of 30 cars and 300 people. The maximum speed of the ship was 12 knots .
The ship was originally named Lohals and was used in Denmark between Korsør and Lohals until 1974 . After deployments in the connections Søby / Fåborg (1974–1980) and Svendborg / Ærøskøbing (1980–1984) it operated from April 13, 1985 to June 23, 1995 together with the ferry Sam-Sine on the line Hov - Sælvig and connected so the island of Samsø with Jutland . Because of this, it was renamed Sam-Son .
It was deployed around Madagascar between 1997 and 2001 , where it sank in a storm in 2001 . Later the ferry was lifted again.
Sinking on March 7, 2004
On the crossing from Moroni on the Comoros to Mahajanga (Madagascar), the Samson sank with 113 passengers and eleven crew members on board in the cyclone Gafilo . Everyone on board was killed, with the exception of two people who reached Madagascar in a life raft and a third who was only found five days later among 16 bodies. In addition, it was not possible to enter the port of Mahajanga because the local customs officers were not on duty. The ship was turned away at 5:00 p.m. and had to turn back. Radio contact broke off around 8:00 p.m. The ship probably sank 150 km off the coast of Madagascar.
