Serenade (ship)
.jpg) The Serenade in front of Patmos, October 2004
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||
The Serenade was a cruise ship owned by the Cypriot shipping company Louis Cruise Lines , which entered service in 1957 as a liner under the name of Jean Mermoz . The Serenade remained in service until April 2008 and was most recently considered one of the oldest passenger ships in the world. In April 2008 it was retired after more than 50 years of service and sold to India for scrapping .
history
Jean Mermoz
The Jean Mermoz was built under the hull number D17 as one of two sister ships at Chantiers de l'Atlantique in Saint-Nazaire and launched on November 17, 1956. In May 1957 the ship was sold to the Cie. de Navigation Fraissinet et Cyprien Fabre and put into service that same month on the route from Marseille to Pointe-Noire .
In 1965, the Jean Mermoz became the property of the Nouvelle Cie de Paquebots , but remained in the liner service to Pointe-Noire.
Mermoz
In 1970 the ship was sold again and renamed Mermoz . The new owner was the cruise company Paquet Cruises , who had the ship converted for cruises in Genoa . The appearance of the ship was changed significantly by the conversion, as, among other things, additional superstructures were added for a higher passenger capacity. The tonnage increased from 12,460 to 14,173 GRT, the number of passengers from 394 to 757. In addition, the hull was lengthened from 160.1 to 162.1 meters. In September 1970 the Mermoz finally completed her first cruise.
The film The Captain with Heinz Rühmann was shot on the ship in 1971 . In the film, the ship was named Julia .
On December 31, 1975, the Mermoz ran aground off Belize , but was towed free again. Just under two weeks later, the next incident occurred when the ship lost its propulsion for a short time during a cruise. In 1988 the Mermoz was sold to Prestige Cruises .
serenade
The ship remained in service for an additional 11 years until it was sold to the Louis Cruise Line in November 1999 and renamed the Serenade . In October 2003, was Serenade placed temporarily out of service and in Eleusis launched until she returned into service in the spring of 2004. In July 2006, the ship was involved in the evacuation of Australian tourists from Lebanon .
In April 2008, the Serenade , which had been in service for 51 years, was taken out of service and sold to Alang , India , for scrapping . In May 2008, the ship was towed to Alang as Serena , where it arrived on June 14, 2008.