. But we often forget either about the ships that belonged to the fleet just a few years ago or about the ships that got the glory of one or another cruise company.
Today we want to talk about the former ships of the company
Ocean liners - Angelina Lauro and Achille Lauro were the first ships of the company that was called Lauro Lines at that time.
Angelina Lauro made her first cruise in 1939. Then the ship was called Oranje and was flying the flags of Netherland Line. During the Second World War, the ship was used as a hospital ship.
Achille Lauro was built in 1939, but she was launched only in 1946 because of the war.
The ship was called Willem Ruys and was flying the flag of Royal Rotterdam Lloyd.
Once a beautiful liner was sold for scrapping in Taiwan on July 2, 1979. However, the ship failed to reach Taiwan and sank on the way in the middle of the Pacific Ocean on September 23...
The terrorists demanded the release of 50 Palestinians from an Israeli prison. After they had refused to make a stop in Tartus, the terrorists killed a Jewish passenger from the U.S., Leon Klinghoffer, and his body was thrown overboard.
After that, the terrorists decided to return to Port Said. After 2 days of negotiations, the terrorists left the ship in exchange for promises of security. They went by plane from Egypt to Tunisia. On the way, the aircraft was intercepted by American F-14 Tomcats from USS Saratoga aircraft carrier. The plane landed in Sicily, and the Italian police detained the terrorists.
Symphony was part of MSC until 2000. The liner was sold to Golden Sun Cruises and named Aegean Spirit. In 2001, the ship was forbidden to sail in the sea because of non-compliance with modern standards. Soon, the liner was sold for scrapping.
Monterey was part of MSC until 2006, and she was planned to serve longer. Although in 2006, some mechanical problems were discovered and the ship was scrapped.
In 1995, the company's fleet was replenished by a beautiful liner - Rhapsody.
The ship was built in 1975 for Cunard and was called the Cunard Conquest. In 1977, the liner was renamed to Cunard Princess.
The liner began to cruise in the Mediterranean.
In 2009, the ship was sold to Mano Maritime and named Golden Iris.
Moreover, the liner is still in service!
We do not know why MSC ships were so unlucky, but ...on April 25, 2009, during a cruise from Durban, South Africa to Genoa, Italy, the ship was attacked by Somali pirates. 1000 passengers and 500 crew members were on board of the liner.
At 11.25 p.m. the boat with the pirates tried to attack the ship, then they brought down fire from submachine guns on the deck bridge, and then the pirates attempted to get on board. The passengers repulsed, starting to throw tables and chairs from the decks into the pirate’s boat.
A little later, the Israeli security service of the ship began defending the liner using fire hoses and pistols. The pirates had to retreat. They were detained by a Spanish frigate 2 days later.
In 2013, MSC Melody was sold to an Indian company. The liner was supposed to become a hotel in Goa.
On June 29, 2016, the hotel-liner partially sank near Goa because of heavy rains. However, the hotel-liner was soon restored...
This is the destiny of the former MSC cruises.
Later we are going to study the history of this company separately.
I wonder if there are people among the readers who have cruised at least on one of the liners mentioned above?
Author: Gian Luka
Source: gianluka.livejournal.com
Translated by: Zoozi
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