The superb steam horn you are listening to
was sourced from the SS France whilst she was in Sydney
Australia
in 1974
Provided
by www.timeanddate.com/clocks/free.html
Welcome to ssMaritime.com and
ssMaritime.net. As my regular readers will know I have written countless
features and articles for magazines as well for this and other sites and
several books, including one that directly related to my other love covering
general history that includes World War II. My best known book is “Dutch
Tzedakah”, which was a huge success, although it is now out of print!
It is unbelievable, but now I have written on
some 420 great and lesser known Passenger Liners, and these include many fine
smaller Passenger-Cargo Liners that have played a significant part in the
romantic days of ocean travel, covering those elegant days that have now long
gone, considering the building of those giant hideous 220,000 GRT cruise ships
that are more like apartment (Condo) style “big square box-like”
vessels and unlike the classic ships of yesteryear and these new vessels can
hardly be classified as being “romantic” considering you would be
boxed up and sailing with up to 6,300 passengers and around 3,400 crew members
on a short Caribbean cruise. For interest all features on ssMaritime is well
supported by many images and currently it is estimated that there are well over
48,000+ photographs online. But as you will see I have written a
farewell note as I have now officially retired and will not write any further
articles.
I wrote about the Holland America Lines SS
Statendam, being the very last article I have written for ssMaritime late
August 2011. However over the years I have written on, countless ships from the
grand to the more demure American wartime built Victory/C3-4 class ships, which
were later sold and rebuilt into a humble migrant ships and sailed the globe
bringing countless migrants to their new homes, be it to North or South
America, South Africa, New Zealand and Australia. Yet each ship was significant
to all those who sailed on them, regardless if it was the RMS Queen Mary, SS
United States, SS France, SS Nieuw Amsterdam, SS Santa Ines, SS Funchal, MS
Stockholm, MS Port Sydney, or the humble SS Waterman being a little known Dutch
Victory class ship, but she was a much loved ship by many who sailed on her, as
well as her two sisters the SS Groote Beer and SS Zuiderkruis sailing to
Canada, USA, New Zealand and Australia! Then there are such
unusual ships like the superb Chinese ship, such as the 1967 built MS Yao Hua,
or the ever popular passenger cargo liners British Chinese Navigation Co MS
Changsha and Taiyuan.
All having an amazing story to tell and all ships on ssMaritime will have
something for you, especially if you have sailed on them, or just loved gazing
at them from ashore just wishing you could sail on them one day!
On “Classic
Ocean
Voyages you can discover how you can sail on a
genuine ex Classic Liner today! I created these special pages to encourage all
lovers of classic ships from yesteryear that have been carefully transformed
into superb cruise ships and now you can go and cruise on these fine ships that
will continue to operate long in the future, for their owners have spent
fortunes on them keeping them in perfect condition. I know I have sailed from Australia
to England
on the 1948 built ex MS Stockholm, currently the Classic International Cruises
superb MV
Athena
and she as well as all of these fine rebuilt/refitted ships have been superbly
maintained and fully modernised and updated. Besides these ships have
remarkable histories and best still they are all fully SOLAS 2010 compliant and
will be continually updated! When I sailed on the delightful MV
Athena
from Australia
to England
in 2011 I have to say that she had the very latest safety and navigational
equipment onboard. In fact I was totally astounded for her absolute cleanliness
and for being 100% rust free, and frankly she put every new cruise ship I know
to shame! I have also been on board the MV
Funchal,
also owned by Classic International Cruises, and again, she was superb and
spotless, she is currently undergoing a 12 million Euro rebuild with every
cabin, both passenger and crew are larger and brand new! Thankfully these fine
ships will be sailing on for many more years to come! Details for Athena’s
2011/12 cruise schedules are available on “Classic Ocean Voyages”
as are links to agents and the cruise company in the UK
and Australia.
New ships have been added recently! See the
logo/link down the page.
The origin’s of ssMaritime:
Personally I commenced in the Passenger Shipping
Industry in May 1960, and I managed several major passenger shipping companies,
and co-owned a cruise company, which is still operating to this day, but I have
no further interests in the company having sold it. My first website was named “MaritimeWorld.com” and it came
online in 1997. At the time this site covered all my shipping interests, with
both articles on Classic Liners as well as my Cruise interests. Then in 2003,
MaritimeWorld.com was split into three sites: 1. ssMaritime.com - featuring the Classic Liners. 2
& 3. Cruise-Australia.com & .net. In 2007 a new site was added that came out
of ssMaritime: 4. ssMaritime.net,
which features my favourite ship, being the oldest passenger ship that was
still operating, which she did until December 31, 2009, the MV Doulos,
built in 1914. And then there is the 6. SavetheClassicLiners.com
site, which is my main campaign site attempting to save ex classic liners,
which are deemed worthy to be saved. This campaign officially came into being
in 1999, although I commended it long before that date. (Updated June 2011)
ssMaritime and all my cruise/maritime sites have now received a staggering
418.7 million visitors to date, thus I wish to thank all readers,
especially my regular readers and all ship lovers worldwide who seem to return
again and again, and I trust that you will continue to enjoy the features and
photographs that I have presented online, for believe me, it is such a joy to
present them to you, as it a work of love!
You can enter the ssMaritime SITE INDEX
as well as the MV Doulos, Cruise-Australia and the “Save The Classic Liners Campaign” websites …
… via the links located
on Left-Bar.
The author with Captain Chris
Rynd
in 2002.
Reuben Goossens – NOW RETIRED!
Maritime
Historian, Author & Cruise‘n’Ship Reviewer
Official Historian of the Doulos Phos, ex MV Doulos, MS Franca C, SS
Roma,
SS Medina built in 1914
Founder (1999) of the original
www.savetheclassicliners.com campaign
– CAMPAIGN NOW CLOSED!
Cruise-Australia & “Classic
Ocean
Voyages.”
On
this Page:
February/March.
Important
Notice – The author has NOW retired & will no longer write
on any further ships!
Please do not send any further photographs or stories!
News Updates – SS
Monterey & Mariposa – The last Matson
Passenger Liners - Feature Updated.
“Featured Ships” – The amazing American
Export Lines - “Four Aces” - the SS Excalibur (I) & her 3 sisters.
Classic Ships Vs the Modern
Monsters of the Sea – The Author’s thoughts.
When
a Liner is NOT a Liner - With a link
to an article.
“Classic
Ocean
Voyages” – Cruise on an ex classic liner/ship, now a
superb cruise ship, including the MV Athena …
Including the
MV Funchal, MV Princess Daphne, MV Princess
Danae, MV Arion, MS Lofoten & MS Nordstjernen.
Links &
Articles – Various excellent maritime related links – INCLUDING
…
Maritime
Memorabilia with Nautiques.
Please
Note: Although I have now retired and will no
longer write, I will continue to update this page with News, and updates, as
well as the “Featured Ship/s.” Although I will be continuing with
my Cruise-australia.com pages and concentrate on the cruise industry, but in a
lesser degree to what I used to. No matter what, on this page, there will
always be something new, and on the www.savetheclassicliners.com
there will also be some updates as they come to hand!
Reuben Goossens.
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News Updates
This Feature has
been fully updated and placed online in February 2012!
These two superb Trans Pacific Liners were
certainly my favourites, and I spent a great deal of time on the superb Monterey,
and just once on the Mariposa. Their interiors were sublime and had that modern
tropical feel of the South Pacific, with plants and the traditional, Maori and
Hawaiian carvings, etc. The Restaurant was a delight, being a two level affair
as part of it was raised somewhat and the venue was sublime, as was the service
and the finest of cuisine on board! Down stairs there was also a Cinema. What
was so great about the accommodations was that a twin bedded cabin, or even a
two berth cabin, would have the upper berth (if there was one) fold away,
whilst the lower berth would fold back into the wall and it would become a
comfortable sofa. Thus all cabins were like lounges during the day, offering
that extra space as well!
They were indeed great ships, but once they
were transferred to Pacific Far East Line, I somehow lost interest in them. I
did visit the Monterey once when she
was in port, and although she was unchanged, she just did not feel like the
same ship for some strange reason, that Matson touch was lost!
You can enter the SS Monterey and Mariposa
feature by clicking the logo above and you will discover 8 great pages of
history, photo pages of all their stages and companies served, to Monterey’s
very end in 2006!
Or click SS
Monterey – Mariposa.
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“Featured Ship”
American Export
Lines
The Famous first series of …
“Four Aces”
The SS Excalibur (1) may have been an unimpressive
looking ship, but internally she was far more than just magnificent!
Photograph by R.T. Hildebrand – Rich
Turnwald
Collection
Externally these passenger cargo liners were
rather simple looking ships and there was nothing to show that these were in
reality ultra luxury liners with the finest of fittings, and some of the most
glamorous room afloat! The Excalibur was the first to enter service in January
1931 and operated luxury 43 day voyages from New York to the Mediterranean with an
amazing list of ports of call! But whilst on board, her passengers lived a life
in sheer luxury with public rooms that would match those found on some of the
fines and the biggest Trans Atlantic liners then and much later! The
accommodations were sheer luxury plus, all having private bathrooms with either
a shower, or a full sized bath, which was unheard of in the 1930s! In addition
the vast majority of staterooms has a sitting area in their room, whist others
even has a superb enclosed veranda with windows that opened out to sea, the
forerunners to the balconies! The two main lounges, the Main Lounge forward and
the Smoke Room further aft on Promenade Deck, had high domed ceilings, and the
Country Club Veranda Café was just sublime! But the Dinning Room was without
doubt the master piece of the ship and you will see this amazing two deck high
venue on my feature on the SS Excalibur and her three sisters the SS Excambion, SS Exochorda, and SS Exeter, lovingly known as the “Four
Aces.”
Enter the “Four Aces” Feature
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The
Author’s Thoughts
“Classic
Liners Vs the Modern Monsters of the Sea!”
Recently
updated
The
company famed as having the “Spotless Fleet” - Holland America
Line and their finest liner ever - SS Amsterdam
The
SS Nieuw Amsterdam was and still is considered as the most beautiful ship ever
to be built and the most perfectly balanced ship!
Read my
thoughts regarding the great and well built ships of yesteryear compared to
those huge ugly floating apartment (condo) boxes of today!
This article
is accompanied by many photographs of interiors and exteriors
The
“Norwegian Epic" or I tend to call this one of the "Monsters of
the Sea”
The top
heavy 114,500-ton MV Costa Concordia as we all know keeled over
having hit rocks with 17 dead and more missing
The
capsized Costa Concordia seen on Saturday January 14, 2012
Enter
… “The Author’s Thoughts”
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“When a
Liner is NOT a liner!”
I
was sent the following item, which was written by a well known ex merchant
seaman Mr.
Alistair
Macnab.
He served from being a Third Mate on the Bank Line passenger cargo liner SS
Inchanga,
to becoming the President of the Greater Houston Port Bureau in Houston
Texas.
Thus he has gained a great respect and knowledge of the industry and shipping
in general! He retired in 2007.
The following are his
thoughts on the question “Can a Cruise Ship also be called a Liner?”
“I believe this topic has been discussed quite
often but since it has come up again, I’ll give you my take on the topic.
The word ‘liner’ denotes a ship assigned
to a regular, advertised sailing on a given route that is open as a common
carrier to accept cargo and passengers for any of the ports being advertised.
Note that a liner may be a cargo-only ship and the term does not only exist for
passenger ships.
In the days before airlines were the only way to go,
it was the regularly advertised schedules of the passenger ship companies that
were the only way of getting to where you were going. In that sense, these
ships were liners.
Cruise ships, on the other hand, are out and back with
the same passengers on board and whilst they are well advertised, they are not
liners in the strict definition of the word but merely voyages of opportunity
much like the original definition of a ‘tramp’ ship.
Certainly, the term ‘luxury liner’ is the
biggest misnomer of all but is the regularly employed description of a ship
carrying passengers used by the Press.
By the way, a ‘tramp’ ship is somewhat of
a pejorative word used for a cargo-only ship when the better description would
be a ‘freighter’ or a ‘cargo ship.’ A cargo ship will
be a liner when it is assigned to a regular, advertised sailing by its operator
and a tramp ship will be open for hire or charter to a merchant who will take
the entire ship (or sometimes part of it) for his own cargo, quite often a
homogeneous bulk commodity but could just as easily be a full load of
containers or general cargo.
When the “Queen Mary 2” operates on the
UK/USA service, she could be on a “line voyage,” but when cruising,
then she is just a “cruise ship,” not a “cruise liner or
“luxury liner.” It’s not the luxury that's in question but
the erroneous use of the word ‘liner’.”
As you can tell
Alistair Macnab agrees with me completely with what I have stated online over
the years, but those ignorant modern and so called cruise executives who prove
themselves to be utter fools over and over again as they make sure that their
media use the words “luxury liner” or Megaliner: Superliner,”
etc. For there is not a liner to be found amongst any of these modern cruise
ships, for that is just what they are “Cruise Ships.”
Visit the “Dear Reuben” page for much more!
This page is located on my cruise
site
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As
the author recently Cruised Classic style on MV Athena
Now
is it Your …
Time to go Classic
Cruising
Click
the image above to enter “Classic
Ocean
Voyages”
Or the LINK below
I have set up a
series of pages featuring a number of superb classis ships that continue to
cruise around the world, and I believe that all lovers of fine classic ships
should take the opportunity to sail on them. Some of the ships featured were
built as far back as 1948, but they are as strong and up to date as the very
latest new builds of today. In fact I would say that some of these classic
ships are far better built in so many ways than these huge boxes that are more
like “jig saw puzzle” ships that were assembled in a big shed!
Interior wise all the classic ships that cI have inspected are as modern as
tomorrow and have all the Navigational and safety features, luxuries and
comforts expected in the 21st-century, yet as you roam
the decks or below, you will still discover so many excellent classic features
throughout these ships, which is a delight to every ship lover!
The 1965 built - 5,888 GRT MV Arion was the
smallest ship I has listed, until the two mkost recent additions the delightful
and very popular Norwegian Hurtigruten ships the MS Nordstjernen 2,191-tons and
the slightly larger MS Lofoten-2,621-tons.
Click the “Classic Ocean Voyages” image
above to enter my new feature and you will find that you will have arrived at
the introduction and Index page. There are links to three further pages
covering a number of fine classic ships that continue to cruise around the
world.
2012 & 2013 is Time to
Go “Classic Cruising”
For
full details …
Enter
the “Classic
Ocean Voyages” pages!
For
Reservations contact:
“The Cruise
Specialists”
Australia’s #1 and first
registered Australian all Cruise Agency – Established in 1982
Email
Corie: info@cruisespecialists.com.au
(Please NAME the
SHIP you are enquiring about)
For
other agencies or for International visitors
There is a
listing of recommended Australian, New Zealand & International Cruise’n’Travel Agents
ENTER HERE
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Links & Articles
Also
visit Maritime Links &
our Maritime Art pages!
Visit
Peter Knego & Martin Cox’s superb site: MaritimeMatters
Who is the Author of
ssMaritime?
Commenced
in the Passenger Shipping Industry in May 1960
www.savetheclassicliners.com
Read
about ships saved, or good ships in danger of being scrapped
Or go
to our Main ssMaritime INDEX
To
date there I have well over 420 ships online
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Maritime Memorabilia
Nautiques.net
was founded in 1984, and they have one of the finest collections of maritime
items available, be it from brochures, deck plans, labels, postcards, crockery
to furniture. Best still, prices are extremely affordable, and often they are
far better than what is available on EBay, mind you, I have found that they
have items that just do not show up on eBay! Nautiques.net is operated by Don
Leavitt
and he has more than 3,000 items of ocean liner and steamship antiques and
collectibles spanning the last century available at any one time! You can browse through their site, which
has hundreds of shipping lines listed from around the world. If you are looking
for a rare item then contact Don
Leavitt
direct at dml@nautiques.net. Nautiques will
ship worldwide - www.nautiques.net.
Please Note: This is not a paid advertisement; it is just
that I personally recommend Nautiques having had superb service and some fine goods from
them over the years, and I have found that their prices are excellent and the
goods and service have been superb. Most of these can be seen on the various
pages throughout this site! Thus, I have decided to share it with you as a
favour as I am so often asked about memorabilia and where it can be obtained
etc! Reuben
Goossens.
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Use
the Back button on your browser or Close the Page to return to the previous
page
or go to our INDEX
Before
emailing me please READ the “PLEASE NOTE” below!
This
email is ONLY for those making an enquiry regarding ship details, a story or re
photographs …
PLEASE NOTE:
As I have received thousands of requests over the years for Passenger/Crew Lists and Sailing Schedules.
I hereby advise that I am unable to (cannot) assist due time and other restrains. In addition
as most shipping companies of old have now long gone or have been sold and come
under new ownership these lists/schedules/details are no longer available.
I regret to advise that any request
made will NOT BE ANSWERED regardless the
circumstances of the request nor how pitiful the story, and believe me I have
heard the best of them! Take my word for it your
email will be DELETED instantly!
I am sorry for being
so strong in my statement above, but I have had a similar message in the past,
but with on a much softer note, but it has been to no avail, for I still have
been receiving around 40+ per week. Thank you for your consideration. Reuben
Goossens.
ssMaritime.com & ssMaritime.net
Where
the ships of the past make history & the
1914 built MV Doulos Story
Also visit my …
“Classic
Ocean Voyages” page
And …
www.cruise-australia.com
Photographs
on
ssmaritime and associate pages are by the author or from the author’s
private collection. In
addition there are some images that have been provided by Shipping Companies
and private photographers or collectors. Credit is given to all contributors.
However, there are some photographs provided to me without details regarding
the photographer/owner concerned. I hereby invite if owners of these images
would be so kind to make them-selves known to me (my email address may be found
on www.ssmaritime.com only), in order 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 these individuals either refuse to provide
credit or remove them when asked, knowing full well that there is no legal
comeback when it comes to the net. However, let us show these charlatans up and
do the right thing at all times and give credit where credit is due!
This
notice covers all pages, although, and 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 by Reuben
Goossens
- All Rights Reserved