What is probably the oldest cruise ship in the world, the “Astoria”, was auctioned off by a Rotterdam court this week for just €200,000.
The bid price was also the minimum bid. No information is yet available about the buyer or the future of the cruise ship, which was built in 1948 and has been moored in the Waalhaven in Rotterdam for five years now.
An auction of the “Astoria” was already scheduled four years ago in the Netherlands, but no bids were submitted at the time, as the minimum price had been set at €10 million by the creditors.
The future of the 160-meter-long ship can therefore only be speculated about. It could conceivably be used as a hotel ship or even scrapped; if it were to be used as a cruise ship, the ship would probably have to be extensively refurbished.
“Astoria” was built in 1948 as the “Stockholm”
Built in 1948 as the “Stockholm”, the ship has had many names over the decades and is currently the oldest cruise ship in the world. With a length of 160 m, a width of 21 m and a maximum of 550 passengers on board, it is one of the smaller cruise ships with a gross tonnage of 16,0000.
However, the history of the ship makes historians sit up and take notice: It was built for the transatlantic trade between Sweden and America. On July 25, 1956, after leaving New York, the “Stockholm” collided in thick fog with the Italian “Andrea Doria”, an Italian luxury ship twice its size, which sank with a heavy list after the accident. 51 people lost their lives. The badly damaged “Stockholm” was able to return to New York and was repaired.
From the beginning of 1960, it operated as the GDR vacation ship “Völkerfreundschaft” of the Free German Trade Union Confederation (FDGB) for cruises. The ship, which was based in Rostock, was managed by VEB Deutfracht/Seereederei Rostock (DSR). Until she was sold in 1985, up to 568 passengers were on board each of the numerous voyages, which went as far as Cuba.
Complete conversion in the nineties
In 1992, the ship was completely rebuilt, leaving little more than the sturdy, partially riveted hull of the original ship. For stability reasons, a so-called ducktail was also added to the stern during the conversion, but this did not necessarily make the ship any prettier. After the major refit, it sailed under various shipping companies and names such as “Italia Prima”, “Valtur Prima”, “Caribe”, “Athena” and “Azores” and was also used by German cruise operators such as Phoenix Reisen and Ambiente Kreuzfahrten.
Since 2015, it has been sailing for the Cruise & Maritime Voyages (CMV) shipping company, primarily for the British market under the name “Astoria”, and at times also on charter for the French tour operator Rivages Du Monde. In February 2017, the ship was also known to a younger audience, as the “Astoria” served as a platform for model shoots for 28 young girls for the well-known German TV series “Germany’s next Topmodel” by Heidi Klum.
Due to the global coronavirus pandemic at the beginning of 2020 and the discontinuation of cruises, the British shipping company CMV had to file for insolvency and the “Astoria” was laid up in Tilbury.
After an unsuccessful transfer of the cruise ship from Tilbury to Lisbon, the “Astoria” was towed to Rotterdam in December 2020. Since then, the cruise ship has been under arrest in a hidden, inaccessible harbor basin of the Waalhaven. (CE)
