As soon as a cruiser or passenger ship is decommissioned due to its age and high operating costs, it is usually taken to one of the scrapping yards in the world, for example in India, Bangladesh or Turkey. The shipping companies thus at least achieve a return on the scrap value.
Some ships, albeit not many, can be rescued and remain as a museum or hotel ship. These are only a few ships, and even these cannot be preserved forever, as the ravages of time continue to gnaw on them despite restoration. Also, the restoration and the conversion to the hotel ship is connected with high investments.
Below are some of the hotel ships in the world - probably the most significant and well-known.
RMS QUEEN MARY
After the planning for this transatlantic liner began in 1926, the Cunard Line gave only in 1930 the contract to the shipyard John Brown & Company in Clydebank in Scotland. Construction began in 1930, but in December 1931, the construction work was discontinued due to the Great Depression. After confirmation of a bond by the British government could be continued from April 1934, the construction. The liner was finally completed in 1936 for the Cunard White Star Line.
Commissioning was on 27 May 1936. The name QUEEN MARY deviated from the name series of Cunard. The names of the passenger ships had until then always ended on "-IA" (for example MAURETANIA). Supposedly the name QUEEN MARY was chosen at the request of the then King George V, who wanted to name the ship after his wife. Cunard had no choice but to follow his wish. So RMS QUEEN MARY was baptized on September 26, 1934, by Queen Mary.
The QUEEN MARY was used as a transatlantic liner. She also won the Blue Ribbon for the fastest Atlantic crossing but had to hand over this trophy in between.
After her time as a troop transport in World War II. They went from 1946 for Cunard White Star Line on the Atlantic Ocean. Until the commissioning of the SS UNITED STATES, she also retained the Blue Ribbon. Gradually the transatlantic liners, however, were removed from the aircraft, and so was RMS QUEEN MARY (IMO 5528793) provided in 1967 out of service.
Later, the community Long Beach acquired the RMS QUEEN MARY and converted it to the hotel ship. The machinery was removed and replaced the original chimneys with plastic dummies. The former outer cabins now serve as hotel rooms.
ANCERVILLE - MINGHUA
The ANCERVILLE was built in 1962 at the Chantiers de l 'Atlantique in Saint Nazaire for the Compagnie de Navigation Paquet (CNP), later Croisières Paquet. The passenger ship was christened by then French President Charles de Gaulle. The ship was named after the town of Ancerville, the birthplace of the shipping company founder Nicolas Paquet. With a length of 167.95 meters, the liner offered space for 770 passengers. The ANCERVILLE (IMO 5015957) was put into service for a scheduled service from Marseille to Dakar. From 1970, she was only used for cruises to the Canary Islands. By the way, during this time she also rescued all passengers and crew members of the burned FULVIA ex OSLOFJORD.
1973 was a sale to China Ocean Shipping Company. Renamed MINGHUA, the ship was still used for cruises. Ten years later, the MINGHUA was decommissioned. Since 1986, she serves as a hotel ship in the Chinese port of Shenzhen. The ship is integrated into the Shekou Sea World and can be found as a hotel under the name Shenzhen Cruise Inn.
RMS QUEEN ELIZABETH 2
From 1965 to 1969, the QUEEN ELIZABETH 2 was built by John Brown & Company in Clydebank. On May 2, 1969, she was put into service for Cunard Line. It is 293.50 meters long and measured with a gross tonnage of 70,327. The QUEEN ELIZABETH 2 (IMO 6725418) was used in the transatlantic service, making it one of the last liners on this route. In 2004 she was withdrawn from this regular service, namely when the new QUEEN MARY 2 took over this route. QUEEN ELIZABETH 2 was used as a cruise ship for a few more years. Her last trip ended in New York before being transferred to Dubai. There she was to be converted to a hotel ship. Initial plans were to integrate the ship in the Palm Jumeirah.
However, it took years before the conversion became concrete, but finally, QUEEN ELIZABETH 2 opened her doors on 18 April as a hotel ship. It now has 224 rooms and suites. There are also nine restaurants and a QE2 Spa. An interactive exhibition about the QE2 can also be found on board.
SS ROTTERDAM
From 1956 to 1959 at the shipyard Rotterdamsche Droogdok Maatschappij, the transatlantic liner SS ROTTERDAM (IMO 5301019) for Holland America Line was built. On September 3, 1959, the maiden voyage began from Rotterdam to New York. It was used on this route from then on. In 1971, however, this service was discontinued because it became unprofitable. Since then, SS ROTTERDAM has served as a cruise ship.
In 1997, Holland America Line separated from the SS ROTTERDAM and replaced it with a new building, also called ROTTERDAM. The US shipping company Premier Cruises took over the historic liner and used it under the name REMBRANDT. However, Premier Cruises ran into financial difficulties and had to launch REMBRANDT three years later.
In 2003, a Dutch company bought the ship and renamed it ROTTERDAM. Since then, the plan has been worked to preserve and operate the ship as a hotel and museum ship. Due to necessary complex renovation work, which also included asbestos removal, the restoration, however, withdrew and threatened to fail because of the high cost. The ROTTERDAM lay on shipyards in Gibraltar, Cádiz, and Wilhelmshaven, where the work was carried out.
In 2009, the SS ROTTERDAM finally opened as a hotel and museum ship in Rotterdam. 254 cabins are available as hotel rooms. The ship can also be visited and also offers gastronomic offers.
DOULOS PHOS
The DOULOS PHOS has a long history. Originally it was built as a freighter MEDINA, as early as 1914 at Newport News Shipbuilding in Virginia, USA. The naming of the ship was a river in Texas. At the time MEDINA was one of the largest and most modern cargo ships on the US East Coast. The steamer was initially used on the Atlantic and later switched to the Pacific, where it was used by the US Coast Guard.
In 1948, the ship went to Panama for the company Naveria San Miguel and was rebuilt as a passenger ship. It was henceforth ROMA and could accommodate 287 passengers in cabins place and another 694 in dormitories. From 1949 to 1950, the ROMA made pilgrimages from South America to Europe, to the Catholic jubilee year 1950, which also explains the name ROMA. Subsequently, the ROMA served as an emigration ship. In 1952, the ROMA was sold to Linea Costa, which they had converted to a motor ship. As FRANCA C (IMO5119105) the ship then drove initially on the route Italy - Argentina, before it was rebuilt in 1959 to the cruise ship.
In 1977 Operation Mobilization (OM), a mission company, bought the ship, renamed it DOULOS, and converted it into a floating bookshop for the "Good Books for All" operating company, which visited ports around the world. However, the DOULOS could not be operated from 2010 due to the tightened SOLAS regulations. Much of the historic equipment, which was still made of wood, would have had to be completely rebuilt, which the owner company could not afford financially. Then the DOULOS was considered the oldest passenger ship in the world. The then established MV Doulos Preservation Campaign has set itself the goal of still receiving the ship to make it a hotel, tourist center or museum ship.
In the meantime, however, the scrapping threatened until the Singapore-based BizNaz Resources International bought the ship and renamed it DOULOS PHOS to use it as a tourist attraction in Singapore.
For some time now, the DOULOS PHOS has been a hotel ship on the Indonesian island of Bintan. It is about to be opened as a hotel ship and will be called officially: Doulos Phos The Ship Hotel at Bintan. Bintan is a popular vacation and weekend destination for Singapore's residents as it is less than an hour's drive from Singapore. Doulos Phos The Ship Hotel is also conveniently located for tourists from Singapore, in the immediate vicinity of the Bandar Bentan Telani Ferry Terminal.
The historic ship is the focal point of a hotel resort created with a small artificial anchor-shaped island: Anchor Isle. The holiday resort Doulos Phos The Ship Hotel is about to open.
SS BIRGER JARL
SS BIRGER JARL (IMO 5044893) was a Swedish car and passenger ferry, built in 1952/53 for traffic from Stockholm to the Åland Islands and to Turku, Finland. The BIRGER JARL was built at the Finnboda shipyard in Nacka near Stockholm. The ship, with a length of 92.50 meters and a measurement of 2,798 tons, had space for 515 passengers and 30 cars. Owner AB Svea was the owner.
In 1973, the ferry was sold to Jakob Line and renamed BORE NORD. It was then used on the route Skellefteå - Jakobstad. Over time, the ship was handed down by the hands of different companies, and it was always made changes. At times, the small liner also served as a barge in the Oslo Fjord.
Since 2002 the ship is called BIRGER JARL again. Until 2013, it was still used for mini-cruises on routes through the Stockholm archipelago and to Finland. Because they recognized the historical value of the ship, it escaped scrapping. Instead, it is now used as a hotel ship in the port of Stockholm. It is located in front of Södermalm and is now called M / S Birger Jarl Hotel & Hostel. So it is also near the city-near ferry and cruise terminal.
LADY HATTON
A barely known, but not uninteresting ship is a VANADIS built luxury motor yacht. It was built in 1924 on the Friedrich Krupp Germania shipyard in Kiel, for the US industrialist CKG Billings. In 1926, the yacht was owned by American multi-millionaire Harrison Williams, who took his wife on a one-year honeymoon around the world on this 73-meter-long yacht.
In 1930, Woolworth heiress Barbara Woolworth Hutton was given the yacht for her 18th birthday. This renamed the luxury yacht LADY HUTTON.
In 1940, the British Royal Navy bought the yacht. After the Second World War, the ship continued through several hands. So she was used in Norway as a training ship from 1948 and came in the early 1950s to Sweden. Renamed CORT ADELES, it was even used as a regular passenger ship on the Stockholm - Turku route. When the scrapping threatened, a group of Swedish businessmen bought the yacht and turned it into a hotel and restaurant ship. The name of the yacht is now LADY HUTTON (IMO 5125996), although the name of the hotel, Mälardrottningen (translated as Queen of Lake Mälar), stands on the bow.
On board the hotel ship, there are now conference rooms and a sauna, as well as a lounge with a glass floor, which provides a view of the engine room. The best view is from the Captains Lounge.
The LADY HUTTON is located on the small, inner-city island of Riddarholmen in Stockholm. Thus, the Mälardrottningen Yacht Hotel & Restaurant is centrally located near Stockholm's Gamla Stan.
BORE
The BORE was a 1959/1960 built car and passenger ferry. The shipyard was Oskarshamn varv in southern Sweden. The BORE (IMO 5048485) was the last steamship built in Scandinavia for commercial use. Owner of the steamer was the steamship company Bore in Finland. This co-operated at that time with the Swedish companies EFFOA and Rederi AB Svea - a co-operation, from which 1970 the Silja line emerged.
The BORE was used on the route Turku - Mariehamn - Stockholm, but also from Helsinki. Until 1976 she provided this service. From 1978, the ship sailed for Jakob Lines under the name BOREA on the route Jakobstad - Skellefteå. In 1984, the BOREA operated for the Finnish Aura Line between Turku and Stockholm, before being launched in Turku until 1987. After that, she came to Kristina Cruises as a cruise ship KRISTINA REGINA used in the Baltic, in the North Sea and even in the Mediterranean. Kristina Cruises had previously also had the steam engine replaced by a diesel engine. However, in 2010, the KRISTINA REGINA was decommissioned because it would have been too costly to rebuild it according to new SOLAS regulations. Nevertheless, it was preserved as a historically valuable ship.
Since 2010, the ship is in Turku, since 2011 it is open to the public as a hotel, restaurant and museum ship. It is part of Maritime Maritime Museum. The ship has its original name BORE and also the original livery.
Earlier hotel ships
KUNGHOLM - VERONICA
The Kungsholm (IMO 6512354) was a passenger ship of Svenska America Linjen, which had been built for the transatlantic service between Gothenburg and New York. The shipyard was the Scottish John Brown & Company. The ship was 201 meters long and measured with 26,677 tons. It had room for 700 passengers.
In 1978 the liner was sold to P & O and from then on used as SEA PRINCESS for cruises. Over time, the ship sailed for different companies as owner or charterer. The ship names were MONA LISA, OCEANIC II and finally MONA LISA. As early as 2010, MONA LISA served for the first time as a hotel ship in Vancouver for two months, before the ship was once again used as a hotel ship in Oman under the name VERONICA. In 2015, she was finally scrapped in India as a buyer could not be located.
