About
the Author of
ssMaritime.com
~ ssMaritime.net
and
Cruise-Australia.com & .net
Reuben
Goossens
Maritime
Historian, Author & CruisenShip Reviewer
By
Kosta Specis
(*Updated
May 2010)

Reuben Goossens in the Crows Nest aboard MV
Aurora 29 January 2006
Photograph: Hun-Eng Tan © 2006 Reuben Goossens
ssmaritime.com
Fifty years in
the Passenger Shipping/Cruise Industry
Having known and worked for Reuben Goossens as
a secretary and personal assistant since the early eighties, and
Eng has worked with and been a close friend since 1995, we feel
that we are well qualified to write about him. Reuben has spent
all his secular working life in the passenger shipping industry,
the industry he obviously loves. His incredible knowledge of
ships and cruising is beyond question. We have both sailed with
Reuben, and have witnessed first hand his in-depth knowledge of
ships sailing today, as well of those that have now long gone.
Captains, officers and many of the crew we have met on different
ships knew Reuben either personally or by reputation and
obviously greatly respected him. On each voyage we were invited
to the captains lounge, the bridge, even on certain
occasions we were given a tour of the engine room whilst in port,
in addition Reuben is invited to many private functions. On
various cruises he is booked as the guest maritime lecturer.
Although I recall, whilst he was on Fair Princess final
cruise to New Zealand in 2000, Reuben was on a vacation, yet he
received a special request from cruise director Dan Styne and was
asked if he would be so kind as to give a lecture in the Meridian
Lounge, for so many passengers and most senior crew already knew
him by sight. Reuben decided to say yes and astonishingly the
Meridian Lounge was filled to capacity with passengers sitting on
the floor and standing down the hallway. Captain Phillip Pickford
and several of his officers were also in attendance. We knew of
his long-standing renown, but that day really blew us away!
Rotterdam 1945
- 1955
Reuben Goossens was born in Rotterdam the
Netherlands Just over a week after World War II on 16 May 1945.
Coming from a Jewish family his mother was lucky to escape from
the Holocaust. However, his families tragic wartime detail
is very long and a sad story and we feel that this is not the
place to tell it. Although after a very long stint in hospital
for both the babe and the mother, they both lived in Winterthur,
not far from Zurich, Switzerland for some time, but they returned
to Rotterdam being Reubens mothers home town.
From an early age he would spend time along the
harbour side whenever it was possible, and he would sit just
across from the Holland America Line wharves in Rotterdam. Almost
every day a liner would be in port, including ships from the
Royal Rotterdam Lloyd such as the MS Sibajak that at 12,000-ton
would be considered these days as a small passenger liner. She
had steel grey hull and a single tall black funnel and was built
in 1928. Unknown to Reuben in those early years, it would be this
very ship that would change his future and his working life, for
it would make his love for ships and the sea grow to the point
that it would lead that he would work all his life in the
passenger shipping industry.

Royal
Rotterdam Lloyds MS Willem Ruys, which later to become
Flotta Lauros Achille Lauro
Other ships in the port of Rotterdam included
the imposing twin funnelled MS Willem Ruys, however Reubens
all time favourite liner of the day was the stately two funnelled
Holland America Liner SS Nieuw Amsterdam, a ship that is still
regarded to this day as one of the most beautiful liners ever
built. Whenever possible, Reuben would sit alongside the Maas River
and watch the river barges, tugs, cargo ships and other passenger
liners pass by. At times he would be quayside as a liner departed
for a far away destination, bedecked in flags and streamers
flying in the wind.

Holland
Americas SS Nieuw Amsterdam
Amsterdam 1955
- 1958
At
the age of ten, he and his mother moved to Amsterdam, being
another Port city to watch ships come and go. Whenever the liner
MS Johan van Oldenbarnevelt and her newer running mate MS Oranje
of the Netherland Line were in port he would make a special
effort to be at the Java Kade (Java wharves) to watch
passengers board and experience the excitement of their
departure. I recall him telling me that he would be as excited as
those who were aboard ready to depart. He would dream that one
day he would be standing at the railing of a great ship just like
that waving goodbye to those ashore as he would be heading to far
away countries across the ocean. Little did he know that late in
his adult life he would not only have done just that, but that he
would have sailed well over a hundred times, but also that he had
managed major shipping companies and operated a Cruise Company in
Australia.

The
Netherland Line MS Johan van Oldenbarnevelt. She
was sold to become the ill-fated Greek cruise ship, Lakonia

Whilst
The Netherland Line MS Oranje was sold to become the
Flotta Lauro Angelino Lauro
MS Sibajak
1958
On 17 May, 1958, one day after his thirteenth
birthday Reubens dream of sailing across the oceans became
a reality as he and his mother departed Rotterdam for Wellington
New Zealand on the Sibajak, the very ship he used to watch come
and go in Rotterdam. This voyage to New Zealand sailed via
Southampton, across the Atlantic to the very Dutch but tropical, Willemstad
in Curacao, Balboa, transiting the Panama Canal, with a port call
at the then notorious and dangerous city of Panama. Whilst
crossing the Pacific a visit was made to Papeete, the
Capital of Tahiti before arriving in Wellington in middle of the
Southern Hemisphere winter.

The
Royal Rotterdam Lloyd MS Sibajak The first ship
Reuben sailed on in May 1958
MS Sibajak was built especially for the luxury
Indonesian service, later she operated migrant services to Canada,
the USA and then she was placed on the Australia and New Zealand
service. Her original first class lounges and dinning room were
superbly luxuriant and elegant featuring fine dark timber
carvings. However, in 1958, the Sibajak was an ageing ship,
although not that Reuben noticed it, he loved this ship! I 1959
Royal Rotterdam Lloyd sold her and had her broken up. However,
this fine old liner gave Reuben the experience of a lifetime and
this voyage cemented his love of the sea and the ships that sail
on them. At the age of thirteen onboard MS Sibajak he decided
that he would work in the shipping industry in one way or another
and he certainly did, and although he is now retired, he
continues in the world of passenger shipping as a maritime
historian and a cruise and ship reviewer, because he still loves
it!
Wellington
To date (2010) Reuben has had 50 years
experience in the passenger shipping industry. However, he
obtained his first job commenced in May 1960 as an office boy
with Russell and Sommers who was the General Sales Agents (GSA)
for the Royal Rotterdam Lloyd as well as the Nederland Line, also
known as Royal Dutch Mails. At the time their ships
included the Willem Ruys, Oranje and the Johan van Oldenbarnevelt.
In addition Russell and Sommers were also the GSA for Holland
America Line who managed three migrants ships SS Zuiderkruis,
Groote Beer and Waterman then there was also the German Europe
Canada Line SS Seven Seas.

SS
Zuiderkruis one of 3 US built & rebuilt Victory
Ships including the Groote Beer & Waterman
In 1961 the Union Steamship Company of New
Zealand sought his services to join their ship provisional (providoring
or supply) department. Within six months Reuben was the assistant
manager of USSC Wellingtons providoring department, which
looked after all Union Steam Ship Co passenger ships that
included the inter Island ferries, and passenger cargo ships
sailing the South Pacific from all New Zealand ports.

Union
Steam Ship Company Head Office in Wellington
His employment in the shipping industry gave
him many opportunities to visit and sail on many ships, and
although he had been on line voyages, he finally went
on his very first cruise departing Wellington on 20
December 1961, being a Christmas and New Year Cruise on the Dutch
liner, MS Johan van Oldenbarnevelt to Australia. Reuben has
written a work on the JVO, which is now available online on
ssMaritime.com. (www.ssmaritime.com/jvo.htm).
Brisbane Australia
In the early sixties Reuben moved to Brisbane
and joined Australian Express Co first as a travel agent, but
soon, due to his expertise and leadership he became the Manager.
Australian Express was the General Sales Agents (GSA) for the
massive Greek shipping company, Chandris Lines in Queensland.
Australian Express also operated the now famed; Around the
World Tours, sailing to and from Southampton with a
Chandris liner and touring the UK and Europe by coach. To ensure
quality control and to make sure his staff were selling optional
tours, Reuben sailed many sectors spent a great deal of time on
these Chandris liners, especially SS Australis that was built as
the SS America the forerunner to the grand SS United States. Then
there were two two funnelled ex Matson liners, SS Ellinis and SS
Britanis. Eventually the company (Australian Express) was sold to
Trafalgar Tours and its Australian offices were closed.
Reuben then became involved with a brand new
company, which many will all know as Jetset Tours, which has
become one of the largest brands worldwide, although it was first
known in Queensland as Astronaut Travel, being the
retail outlet and Jetset Tours the wholesale business.
During its establishment Reuben worked with the late and famed
Mrs Marie Watson-Blake, the late Mr. John Julius and Mr. Tony
Newton.
Later, having moved on, Reuben managing
Atlantic & Pacific International decided together
with Lord Bollingbrock of New Zealand and Tony Millmore of Sydney
to commence a new cruise operation in Australia and chartered the
Russian liner TSS Fedor Shalyapin (ex Cunard liner RMS Ivernia,
later TSS Franconia) for Shaw Savill Holidays, and
marketed their venture under the banner of Celebrity
Cruises. The first cruise departed Sydney in October 1975
being the beginning of a popular cruise venture that had an
average loading of 94.6%. At the same time CTC Cruises were also
operating Russian ships from Australia however their ships,
including the Fedors identical sister the TSS Leonid
Sobinov did not enjoy the same success as Celebrity Cruises.
It was for this reason her Russian owners without warning decided
to rescind their charter agreement with Shaw Savill
Holidays later in 1976 and the Fedor Shalyapin was
transferred to CTC Cruises, being a wholly Russian owned Company,
but having their head quarters based in London. Whilst the Fedor
was with CTC she never again regained the popularity she enjoyed
during Reubens halcyon days. We have always known from his
many future marketing successes that he was a marketing genius
and he always worked with integrity and total honesty, never
offering a fare in the media that was not available to Mr and Mrs
average as it seems to be in these days where you have to be able
to read the fine print on TV or the paper, that is if you can!
Sadly today lead in advertised fares that are shown as lead in
fares, is usually based on four persons booking together in an
inside four berth cabin on the lowest deck, located far forward.
Considering the majority of sales are twin bedded cabins, these
fares are not relevant!
The name Celebrity was later taken
over by Reubens old time associates and friends at Chandris
Lines for their new cruise company as they were in need for a
name suitable for an upmarket cruise venture thus,
Celebrity Cruises was born, although later Chandris
sold Celebrity Cruises to Royal Caribbean Cruises.
At
30 years old, Reuben is seen at the very top of the game!
He
is seen (in the middle) with famed Australian TV and singing
super-star Jimmy Hannan and actor
Ken
James on Hawaiian Night whilst on a Pacific cruise ex
Sydney January 25, 1976
Photograph: Ships photographer © ssmaritime.com
TSS
Fedor Shalyapin seen in Auckland February 1976
Photograph
by & © Reuben Goossens ssmaritime.com
Happily CTC Cruises would suffer greatly in due
course as there was an occurrence that would end their operation
in Australia for a long time when the Fedor Shalyapin
rendezvoused with a Russian submarine whist crossing the Tasman
Sea towards Sydney. Upon her return to Sydney, passengers told
the media of the strange events encountered and how both cargo
and crew were transferred to the submarine. This caused great
controversy in Australia, however, what and why it happened was
never fully explained. Australia banned all Soviet based
passenger ships for a considerable time. Never let it be said
that a wrong does not get repaid in some way or another!
During Reubens work in the shipping and
the travel industry in the seventies and eighties he also managed
Orbit Travel and was the founder and Director of
Coronet Travel Service, operating CTS Tours
as well as FunPac Tours.
In the mid eighties Reuben decided to retire
and spent his time travelling and sailing the world. However,
whilst in India in October 1987 he was involved in a car accident,
which caused a serious illness that almost took his life. However
he always remained on the maritime scene continuing with his vast
experience in shipping, as he began to write and give lectures in
his new role as a maritime historian and author.
In addition Reuben decided to become a part
time freelance journalist writing cruise and ship reviews, either
by invitation or whilst on personal cruise vacations. In addition
in the nineties he commenced a new website MaritimeWorld.com that
covered cruise ships and articles on the great ocean liners of
the past. However, with MaritimeWorld.com becoming far too big,
this site was split into a number of new sites; ssmaritime.com
for articles on vintage liners, savetheclassicliners.com being
Reubens long standing campaign to save worthwhile ships
from being broken up and turned into museums and/or hotels, etc.,
and he has succeeded with some important ships! In addition there
is cruise-australia.net aiming mostly at the Australian and New
Zealand cruise market although the world seems to love it, and
then there is Reuben most loved classic passenger ship built in
1914; the 1914 built MV Doulos. This ship has its own site
located at; ssmaritime.net. To date these three sites have
received almost 159 million visitors during the past five years
alone.

Reuben
on stage with Captain Philip Pickford 8 February 2000
A lecture had been presented during Fair Princess
final New Zealand cruise in a packed Seaward Lounge
Photograph:
P&O Fair Princess Ships photographer
Save the Classic Liner
Campaign
As noted above, one of the strengths of
ssMaritime.com has been the Save the Classic Liners
Campaign (www.savetheclassicliners.com), which Reuben
founded 1999. He commenced the Save the SS Rotterdam
Campaign when she was the SS Rembrandt and was laid up in Freeport
on September 21, 2000. Thankfully, the SS Rotterdam has now been
saved and she has been fully restored and was returned to her
home port of Rotterdam on August 4, 2008. She has been opened as
a hotel and a tourist facility and museum to the public in 2010.
Other ships saved are the 1914 built MV Doulos (ex SS Medina, ss
Roma, MS Franca C) currently MV Doulos Phos and being refitted to
become a hotel and museum in Singapore. MV Royal Star (ex MS San
Giorgio, later MV Royal Star) today sailing as the PV Ocean Mist
from Mombasa. Other ships worked on were; SS OceanBreeze (ex Shaw
Savill Lines, Southern Cross), the Margarita L (ex Windsor Castle),
Princessa Victoria (ex Victoria, Dunnottar castle) Big Red Boat
II (ex Eugenio C), Madagascar (ex Stella Maris) Norway (ex France)
as well as a good many others. However, all of these ended on a
Bangladeshi or Indian beach and have been broken up. His battle
to save the great SS Norway (ex France) has taken a toll on him
health wise. Two other ships in the firing line are the SS
Oceanic, ex Independence and the SS United States. Although NCL
has already sold the Oceanic to the Indians, meaning she
has been betrayed by NCL, just like the Norway, for NCL she is
just another casualty. Reuben feels that NCL will do the very
same with the great American, SS United States, as he puts
it, NCL has no shame for they are being dictated to by Casino
based Asians who care little about great American maritime
heritage! PS: ex SS Independence, Oceanic has been
renamed Platinum II and is located at Alang and waiting to be
beached. SS United States was reported sold, but there is no
confirmation as yet.
It is well known that Reuben is outspoken and
he says it as it is, however, because of this, through his sites
he has managed to raise millions of dollars to save ships, yet,
he does not make a cent himself and does this for the love of it,
being so passionate to the cause! In relation to the SS
Independence and SS United States, Reuben said, NCL used
these two American ships, promising to fully rebuild and refit
them for operation to sway the US Senate to give this Chinese
Malaysian Casino backed NCL Cruise Company to an US Flagged
Company, NCL America for their own good, and as soon as they had
it, they changed their minds and they dumped the SS Independence
and she has been sold to the Indians. Only the SS United States
is left and rusting away in Philadelphia, and considering that
she is the finest and the most advanced American liner that has
ever been built, she must be saved! NCL America is as Patriotic
to America as Islamic Malaysia is Christian! (Note: The
Malaysian owned Resort World Bhd is part of the
Genting Casino Group owns Star Cruises, who owns the
majority shares of NCL and Star Cruises make all the major
decisions, thus, it is Malaysia who rules, not NCL America!).
Line Voyages,
Cruises and other voyages undertaken to date
To date Reuben has now undertaken a total of
122 voyages/cruises, with his first experience at sea commencing
on the Royal Rotterdam Lloyd liner MS Sibajak on May 17, 1958.
Since then he has sailed on many liners/cruise ships either once
or a number of times. All voyages undertaken (listed) were from a
minimum of 7 nights to 106 nights. During his 50 years in the
industry Reuben has also inspected countless ships around the
world.
List
of ships sailed on - (listed in alphabetical order)
Achille
Lauro - Arcadia (2 & 3) Aurelia Aurora
Australis Britanis Canberra - Club 1 Dawn
Princess - Dominion Monarch Doulos - Ellinis - Fairsky (I
& II) - Fair Princess - Fairsea (1) Fairstar - Fedor
Shalyapin Flavia Galileo - Gothic (2) - Himalaya (3)
- Iberia (3) - Johan van Oldenbarnevelt Karelia - Mariposa
(3) Matua - Mikhail Sholokhov - Monterey (3) - Nieuw
Amsterdam (2) Oranje - Orcades (3) - Oriana (1 & 2) -
Orsova (2) - Pacific Princess (2) Pacific Sun Patris - QE2
Rangitoto - Reef Endeavour - Rotterdam (5) Russ
Sibajak - Southern Cross (Shaw Savill) - Southern Cross (CTC)
- SuperStar Leo - SuperStar Virgo Tofua Volendam
and Willem Ruys.

Reuben
and travelling companion and co author of this page Mr. Hun-Eng
Tan with their excellent Steward Frank on MV Oriana 2005
Photograph
by George Walsh on Reuben camera: © 2008 Reuben Goossens
ssmaritime.com
In August 2008:
Reuben sailed on his all time favourite classic ship the MV
Doulos. His time on this ship was very special to him, as
Reuben spent almost a month onboard the then 94 year old MV
Doulos. First whilst she was in Brisbane and then sailing on this
fine 1914 built ship, along the coast of Australia down to Sydney.
This was Reubens 119th voyage.

Reuben
is seen here in 94 year old Doulos propeller shaft tunnel
Photograph
by Sven Benseler on Reubens camera: © 2008 - Reuben
Goossens ssmaritime.com
MV Doulos was originally the American
vegetable transport/cargo ship SS Medina, which was later rebuilt
as a migrant ship SS Roma. As the Roma she made a single visit to
Newcastle Australian December 1950. Eventually she became the
Linea C (Costa Lines) Liner to South America, then Costas
luxury cruise ship MS Franca C. Until December 2009 she was a
charity Book-ship and the Doulos is crewed/staffed by an all
volunteer crew. Reuben celebrated her 94thbirthday
onboard on August 22 by cutting the official birthday cake after
the official ships opening to her Sydney season.
Whilst in Brisbane Reuben entertained a number
of ex 1950 SS Roma passengers who came to Australia on her
onboard the Doulos as Eastern European refugees and he has added
their stories and photographs to his online 30 plus page MV Doulos
Feature. There was also one gentleman in Sydney who
has provided a most interesting story of his time onboard the SS
Romas from Bremerhaven to Newcastle in 1950!

Captain
Justin Lawes and Reuben Goossens aboard P&Os MV Pacific
Sun. This photograph was taken on November 20, 2008
at
the Captains Club Party. As Reuben was one of the most
cruised passengers he received his orchid & a bottle of
champagne
Photograph
presented to Reuben by P&O and taken by the Ships
Photographer

MV
Dawn Princess in Istanbul Turkey September 8, 2009
Photograph
taken by © Reuben Goossens

The
elegant 61,214-ton MS Volendam only accommodates 1,432 guests
New Zealand Cruise - October22, 2010
Photograph
provided by Holland America Line
In conclusion.
There is no doubt that Reuben Goossens is a
stalwart of the industry and he is greatly respected by his
readers, maritime historians and shipping companies worldwide.
PS.
When I told him I was going to write this piece (originally in
2000), he gave me a just one instruction; As long as you
include photographs of ships you might mention. Obviously
there are far too many listed on this page to do so, however, I
have used at least those early ships that were so important in
his early life, as well as the ship he chartered SS Fedor
Shalyapin. The personal photographs, well they were my choice
from the massive catalogue of photographs I searched through, and
I know he will hate them all! Kosta.
Kosta
Specis & Hun-Eng Tan
Photographs:
Photographs on this page are 1. By Reuben Goossens. 2. Hun-Eng
Tan. 3. The ships photographer. Postcards: Nieuw Amsterdam,
Sibajak, Johan van Oldenbarnevelt, Oranje, and Zuiderkruis are
all from Reubens private collection.
Use
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Where
the ships of the past make history & the 1914 build MV Doulos
Story
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&
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Also
visit the Authors
Save
the Classic Liners Campaign
& Classic Ocean Voyages
Photographs
on ssMaritime and ssmaritime.net are: 1. By the author. 2. From
the authors private collection. 3. As
provided by Shipping Companies and private photographers or
collectors. Credit is given to all contributors. However, there
are photographs provided to me without details provided regarding
the photographer concerned. I hereby invite if owners of these
images would be so kind to make them-selves known to me, that due
credit may be given. I know what it is like, I have seen a
multitude of my own photographs on other sites, yet they either
refuse to give me credit and even refuse to remove them, knowing
full well that there is no legal comeback when it comes to the
net. However, let us show the charlatans up and do the right
thing at all times and give credit where credit is due! Note:
I do not credit those who send me photos as they are not the
owners of the photographs concerned, unless the image is part of
their private collection.
This
notice covers all pages, although, I have done my best to ensure
that all photographs are duly credited and that this notice is
displaced on each page, that is, when a page is updated!
ssMaritime
is owned and © Copyright 2010 - by Reuben Goossens - All Rights
Reserved

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