ssMaritime.com &
ssMaritime.net
With
Reuben Goossens
Maritime Historian
MS
Angelina Lauro
March 30, 1979

The
Costa Lines “Angelina” seen in her last days
Please Note: All Photographs (except for postcards above and at bottom of
page) were taken
by Neil
Whitmore, Maitre d'hotel on Sun Princess. They were taken between 4.30 &
11.30pm on March
30, 1979, and the final ones one week later when Sun Princess
returned to St Thomas.
On March 30, 1979, whilst on a
cruise, Angelina Lauro was berthed at St. Thomas,
U.S. Virgin
Islands, when suddenly a fire broke out in her aft galley, which
rapidly spread forward through the restaurants and passenger accommodations.
Even though the well trained crew did everything possible to contain the fire,
the task was too great and soon flames roared from her top decks. Thankfully,
most of her passengers and crew were ashore when the fire broke out. All those
onboard managed to disembark safely.

Fire
has forged its way forward. Note activity still taking place on the gangplank
A number of attempts were
made to tow her away from the wharf; however this failed due to the weight of
the water that had been pumped into the ship. Slowly she ended up sitting on
the shallow bottom with a list to port. Thankfully there was no loss of life.
Neil Whitmore, Maitre
d'hotel on Sun Princess adds the following to the story …
Most of the ships in port that day were on the
final day of their seven day Caribbean cruise having commenced from San Juan. As a result,
passengers from the Angelina Lauro were divided into groups between the various
ships in port taken and aboard for an overnight voyage back to San Juan.
Most of Angelina’s passengers had been
ashore in shorts and tops and had lost all their belongings in the fire thus, some of our passengers gave them items of clothing.
Sun Princess took 400 of Angelina’s passengers and provided them with a
substantial self service buffet dinner and a continental breakfast the next
morning before they disembarked in San Juan
where they were flown home to the mainland of the USA. It certainly stretched our
catering facilities.
Angelina Lauro was
declared to be a total loss and remained dockside for some three months.
Eventually the German salvage company, Eckhardt &
Company of Hamburg
was awarded the contract to raise her from the bottom and have her refloated.
This was achieved on July
2, 1979.
Having been sold for
scrap to Taiwanese ship breakers, she departed under tow on July 30. She
successfully navigated the Panama Canal and headed across the Pacific towards Asia. However, on September 21, being mid Pacific,
Angelina Lauro’s fire affected warped hull plates began to take on water,
which saw her slowly listing. Even though her list increased, she remained
afloat for three days, but, by the evening of September 23 she was fully on her
side. It was not until early the next morning, just before sunrise, that
Angelina Lauro, ex Oranje, slowly sank.
MS Oranje departed on her
maiden voyage on September
4, 1939, 20 days after her 40 year milestone, she passed beneath
the waves. Her previous running mate Achille Lauro (ex Willem Ruys), which
became well known for the terrorist attack in Egypt, continued cruising until
November 1994, when she caught fire and sank on December 2, 1994.

Passengers
and local watch dockside

A proud ship
nears her end

At 11.30pm,
although tragic, Angelina Lauro provides St
Thomas with a spectacular light show

One week
later she has burned herself out and is a tragic sight

To look
at her here, it is so hard to believe this fine liner has given so many the
voyage of a lifetime!

Note the oil
slick protector surrounds the ship

A dramatic
photograph of the Angelina Lauro, whilst the Island Princess enters the
port
Memories
This fine ship gave 40
years of excellent service to both the Netherland line as MS Oranje, then
Flotta Lauro Line as MS Angelina Lauro! To this day, past
passengers email me with stories of their voyage on the Dutch liner or the
Italian Liner and later a cruise ship. All had joyful memories and simply loved
to talk about her features, experiences and not to forget the many love
stories. No doubt, they, and all who sailed on her as a passenger or crew
member, will always fondly remember her.

MS Oranje in the 1950’s

MS Angelina Lauro in Sydney
INDEX
Page One: The Oranje
Story
Page Two: The Angelina Lauro Story
Page Three: Angelina Lauro Photo Page
Page Four: Angelina
Lauro’s demise
Page Five: Angelina Lauro Deck Plan
Page
Six: MS
Orange
– Passenger list of her very first voyage/cruise 4 Aug 1939
Provided
by passenger Dieuwertje Goedkoop
Visit our Main Index
for features on other Dutch liners, such as the
Johan van Oldenbarnevelt, Sibajak, Willem Ruys (Achille Lauro),
Waterman, Groote Beer and Zuiderkruis, as well as RIL and other Dutch
Passenger/Cargo ships
I trust you have
enjoyed reading this page on two fine and much loved passenger liners. If you have
sailed on them I would like to hear from you, and if you have any photographs I
would greatly appreciate some, especially those of the interiors and out on
deck. Email Me!
Use the Back
button on your browser or Close the Page to return to the previous page
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Who is the Author of ssMaritime?
By Kosta
Specis & Hun-Eng Tan
Email
Me:
info@ssmaritime.com
PLEASE NOTE: I receive
hundreds of requests for Passenger/Crew Lists and Sailing Schedules. I hereby wish to advise that I am unable to assist
due to time restrains and as most shipping companies have long gone these
lists/schedules are no longer available. I regret to advise that any request
for these will no longer be answered regardless of the circumstances presented!
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Where
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Please
Note:
Photographs
on ssmaritime are: 1. By the author. 2. From the author’s 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!
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