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FULL
HISTORY
(source:
ssmaritime.com)
The first three SS
Statendam’s:
1. The 10,491 ton SS Statendam (1) was built in 1898 by
Harland & Wolff, Belfast and sold to Allan Line Steamship
Company Ltd, Glasgow in 1911. She was scrapped at Genoa in
1927.
2. The 32.234 ton SS Statendam (2) was built in 1917 by
Harland & Wolff, Belfast. She never sailed for HAL as she
was requisitioned by the British government. Torpedoed and
sank in 1918 named SS. Justicia.
3. The 29.511 ton SS Statendam (3) 1929 - 1940 * Built by
Harland & Wolff, Belfast in 1921, but completed in 1929. She
burnt out in May 1940 and scrapped in August 1940.
Planning SS Statendam (4) - Ship 753:
Her planning had commenced in 1953, but was taking good
shape in 1954. Many new improvements were incorporated into
her design compared to the earlier sisters for this new, as
yet unnamed ship, was just known as number 753 was built as
a passenger liner from the laying of her building plate. In
addition, she would be almost 10,000 tons larger than the
aforementioned ships and this extra size would allow a far
superior hull design as the previous ships did have hulls
that were essentially designed for their original role as
passenger cargo ships. The 753 would be fitted with twin
screws, thus her service speed would be a good 19 knots
compared to the 16 knots “The Economy Twins.” However, the
Tourist Class flow throughout the ship would once again be
first and foremost, but this time of a much higher standard
utilising some of the finest artisans that HAL could gather.
With the overall plan agreed upon, HAL signed a building
contract with the Wilton-Fijenoord shipyards at Schiedam and
had the blueprints completed and approved, after which the
actual construction could commence. Unlike most liners she
would not be built on a slipway, but very similar to the
great SS United States in 1951, she was constructed within a
dry dock. This caused a great deal of publicity at the time,
but the truth is that HAL was far ahead of their times for
these days this kind of construction is very much the norm
when they build the largest of ships, but now ships are no
longer built as one whole but in pre fabricated sections and
then welded together until it become a whole.
Building the 753:
As time passed an attractive new modern looking ship had
taken shape and on June 12, 1956, she was ready to be
launched, although not in the traditional way of course. The
dock was filled with water and she simply floated out. This
was certainly not as compared to the old slipway style of
launching, but it was the new and modern way of doing things
and the Dutch were always an advanced sort of country. Now
afloat she was taken to her fitting out berth for
completion. Strangely enough this ship had little to no pomp
or ceremony attached to her, in fact less than any of the
earlier HAL ships, for to date she had not officially been
named. Holland America decided that they would announce her
name at a later date.
On November 17, 1956, the ships very first master, Captain
Cornelis Haagmans boarded her at Schiedam to supervise the
concluding stages of her construction and fitting out
process. It was customary for Captain Haagmans to get
familiar with his new ship as soon as possible for his
responsibilities also included taking out on her several
deep sea trials. The first of these was to test her engines
and it commenced on December 15, 1956. However, this trail
went very badly as her engines suffered an embarrassing
total breakdown and five tugs had to be called on to tow her
back to Schiedam returning onthe 17th. There was grave
disappointment amongst all of the workers at the shipyard
and the Holland America employees who were on board the ship
and it mush have been demoralising for them, but they pulled
up their socks and continued and started to fix the problems
at hand!
The engine problems were soon dealt with, but, some of these
mechanical flaws would occasionally come to the surface
again throughout her career. In particular her boilers would
cause various problems, but ten again, which ship did not
have similar problem? But the 753 was given a new kind of
untried and an experimental type of boiler. After a month of
repairs she was ready for her trail, being her technical
trial. This time she had some 476 people on board, she
departed Schiedam at 0900 on January 14, 1957. This time,
she performed extremely well. The Captain even decided to
push her and tried her out to top speed and she reached an
admirable 21.9 knots. After her excellent performance she
returned to her builders berth, arriving in the morning of
January 17th.
Then on January 19, 1957, she departed her builder’s yards
and headed for her home port of Rotterdam, which is just a
short two-hour voyage. However having arrived she was made
ready for an overnight voyage on the 23rd.on the North Sea
with some 500 special guests, one of the guests was the 18
year-old Dutch Crown Princess Beatrix (today she is HRH
Queen Beatrix of The Netherlands) and she officially named
and Christened the ship in the restaurant. Her Highness was
invited to pour a glass of champagne over the ship’s 300lb
bell and then she gave the ship her blessing and the
official name “I name her Statendam.” Finally she had a name
and an identity, which had not been known to the Dutch to
date. The newly named SS Statendam arrived home in Rotterdam
the following morning and she was made ready for her maiden
voyage early in May.
Her Externals:
Externally SS Statendam was a ship that had perfect
proportions in every respect. She had one of the most
beautiful and superb bow sections of her time and a
beautifully rounded stern. In between these were her long
sleek lines and a beautifully styled funnel and shapely mast
atop her Observation Lounge. She was not overburdened with
cargo handling gear like so many liners of the day, as there
was just four unobtrusive kingposts, two forward two aft.
She was soon rightfully considered one of the most stylish
liners of the day. Needless to say, the lovely classic
Holland America Line dove grey hull with that traditional
buff funnel with the company colours emblazoned on it
certainly did add to her charm!
Her Internals:
Internally, the new and imaginative liner SS Statendam was
designed to be a huge success for obviously “The Economy
Twins” the SS Ryndam, Maasdam had set precedence, and both
had the vast majority of the ship designed to be almost a
Tourist Class liner with a very small First Class section.
This time the larger and more glamorous Statendam offered
accommodations for 867 Tourist Class passengers, and 84
people in First Class, however these was to comply with the
“two-class requirements of the Trans-Atlantic Passenger
Steamship Conference” of the time.
In this respect the Statendam was very much alike her two
smaller fleet mates, but she offered a great deal more in
terms of luxury and comforts. Due to her being built as a
passenger liner, unlike her predecessors, she offered
private facilities for 90% of her Tourist Class cabins, as
well as al her cabins being very much large. She featured an
outdoor pool and spacious outdoor deck spaces that made her
a most suitable ship to adapt for cruising duties during the
off-season. However, she retained all the traditional HAL
features that Trans-Atlantic voyages were so famed for, such
as a long glass enclosed Promenade Deck, which was the
absolute essential.
Cabins:
All her First Class cabins were outside with windows
accommodation from one or two beds, with some having a third
berth available, but every room, suite had a private
bathroom, telephone, which was rather new for the day, and
the ship was fully air-conditioned with controls in every
room. Whilst Tourist Class offered from one, two, three and
four berth cabins, both outside and inside, with at least
90% having a full bathroom, with either a bath or shower and
like in First Class all cabins had phone. The furnishings
reflected the style of the ship, contemporary, stylish with
that traditional HAL touch of style. Those who had sailed
previously in Tourist Class on other ships would have though
they were being shown into a First Class cabin upon
entering, for these rooms were that good!
Lounges and Public Venues:
The ships public venues were far from the old traditional
style and she followed the SS SS Statendam, which was
rather art deco, where the interior designers of the
Statendam had decided on a contemporary décor. However, they
did continue that Holland America Line tradition, by using
vast amounts of exotic woods in her public venues, such as
bleached Ash, Bubinga, and Rio Rosewood.
The Tourist Class Main Lounge featured a floor area of some
5,380 square feet with seating for 450, being just over half
of the Tourist Class guest list. This fine room had a décor
of soft warm colours such as chairs and carpets warm yellow
and old rose with a parquet dance floor in front of the
bandstand. Above there was indirect lighting that provided a
delightfully intimate atmosphere? Several of the walls in
the Main Lounge were adorned by multi-coloured ceramic
depictions of the four seasons, which added to the dramatic
visual effect of this room. Amazingly, this theme, although
a much newer format and with a tulip touch was used on later
HAL much newer cruise ships.
Just forward of the Smoking Room there was the Ante Room
that ran between venues and this venue was adorned by a huge
wall size tapestry that was named “By the Well.” Panelling
in this room was of Bubinga sourced from the African
Cameroons, whilst the chairs were in pale blue half velour’s
upholstery and the floor was covered by a hand tied beige
carpet.
Holland America had also included a Palm Court and Verandah
on the Statendam, just as they had done on many other
previous liners. The secluded First Class Verandah was done
in a bright and cheerful fashion, with walls panelled in
cherry and a multi-coloured linoleum relief of the five
continents. From here, glass doors led to the Lido Deck and
outdoor pool.
The Ocean Bar, on the other hand, made use of black and grey
for its floor and ceiling, while accentuated by the lemon
yellow, pale red, grey, and black on the tables, chairs, and
stools. And with the nature of the room in mind, the
designers had incorporated humorous line drawings on the
walls and tabletops.
Her Maiden Voyage:
SS Statendam departed with some 877 passengers for her
maiden voyage on February 6, 1957, with Captain Haagmans’
standing proudly on her bridge as the ship sailed along the
Maas River and headed for the North Sea bound for New York,
sailing via Le Havre and Southampton.
However, in spite of her luxurious and stylish interiors the
maiden voyage sadly was not greatly successful with all
passengers, mostly due to the ship encountering a severe
storm and heavy seas that led to a good number of cases of
seasickness among her passengers. As it was too dangerous
for passengers to go out on deck, the entertainment staff
worked very hard to make the crossing as pleasant as
possible by ensuring that the entertainment was up to
standard, well at least for those that were brave enough to
stay up and keep on going regardless no matter what! Soon
they were would be arriving into New York and as this was a
new liner on her maiden voyage, every one on board thought
there would be a huge welcome awaiting thus hem as they
sailed up the harbour most were out on deck awaiting the
spectacle was the New York tradition. But sadly it was not
to be on that day!
As the ship arrived in New York, there was no big welcome
and greeting, no festive a gala, close to nothing. The
reason for this was that there had been an ongoing strike
amongst the harbour tugs masters and pilots, thus it was not
just her greeting escort was smaller than expected for at
least HAL did send someone out, the Captain discovered that
he would also have to dock the ship without the aid of any
tugboats or even with the assistance of a pilot. Although
Captain Haagmans was to berth her at the company’s Hoboken
pier, a berth he knew well, but obviously to date he did not
have a great deal of un aided docking practice with this
ship and he could not possibly know precisely how she would
behave without any tug aid. Captain Haagmans later admitted
that the docking was no easy task, he later said: “I first
brought a headline ashore with our own lifeboat and dropped
one of the anchors, then I heaved her slowly alongside; not
too slow to beat the incoming tide. At 7:10 a.m. it was all
over and we were docked without any mishap.” Thus it all
went well and it proved his admirable skills as a great
seaman!
Following this eventful maiden voyage, the Statendam
remained in New York for a few days before she undertook
three Caribbean cruises. Prior to commencing to build her
Holland America had already realised that new ships had to
be built for the dual purpose of transatlantic crossings and
cruise operations, and thus the SS Statendam and the SS
Rotterdam that would soon be built was no exception. On
these cruises, the Statendam would sail as a one-class ship,
with a reduced passenger capacity, thus giving her a
superior passenger to crew ratio. She would accommodate just
650 passengers on each cruise. SS Statendam returned to
Rotterdam on April 16, 1957.
SS Statendam departed New York on January 7, 1958, and
commenced on a 110-day around the world cruise, being
Holland America Line’s very first ever. For this voyage two
special motorboats had been fitted on top of hatch two in
order to assist shore with tendering whilst at anchor. Also
she had a crew of 503 with an additional cruise staff of 26,
whilst there were only 351 passengers. The reason for the
low numbers was that this voyage was meant to be an
exclusive and luxury cruise. This crew/passenger ratio that
was almost 2 to 1 guaranteed the highest level of service
and the passengers got all that and so much more!
Her very first port of call was to be the Cape Verde
Islands, but sadly there was an encounter with a violent
east-south-easterly gale that resulted in one of those extra
motorboats being lost in the storm, and due to the
subsequent delay the ship was forced the ship to cancel her
first port of call. Thus, she headed for Dakar, where she
arrived on January 14. From there she continued to Freetown
and Pointe Noire, where yet another incident would occur
when the Statendam was departing. With the harbour pilot on
board to take the ship out, the Captain advised him clearly
that the ship had very good reverse power. However, he took
no heed to his warning, the pilot ordered the engines to
“slow astern” instead of the recommended “dead slow.”
Considering that the Statendam was docked between two other
ships, this manoeuvre could have easily ended up in
disaster. But thanks to a “miraculous stroke of luck” as
Captain Haagmans later said, everything went well, although
it was by a very small margin. The ships lines snapped, but
thankfully she did not run into the ship astern. The
Statendam continued aft and passed the other ship along the
whole length just a few feet next to her thanks to some
rapid thinking on the Captains side at the steering wheel.
The pilot decided that it was better to let the Captain
handle all the engine commands from here in, and then he
could safely bring the ship out of the port. With this
dramatic event behind her, the Statendam continued her
spectacular around the world cruise without any further
hitches! She continued and sailed via Luanda, Walvisbay,
Cape Town, Durban, Zanzibar, and Mombasa. She then arrived
at Bombay where she remained for a full week to allow
passengers to make a trip to Nepal. Following her week in
India, SS Statendam sailed via Colombo (Sri Lanka), Penang,
Singapore to offshore near Bangkok. There a coastal vessel
came alongside and took on passengers for transportation up
the river. As the rest of the cruise continued, she sailed
to Bali, Manila, Hong Kong, Formosa, Okinawa, and Yokohama
before proceeding across the Pacific Ocean to Honolulu, San
Francisco, and Acapulco. She then passed through the Panama
Canal and stopped at Cristobal before heading back to New
York, returning April 26. Holland America Line’s premiere
world cruise became known as a splendid success and this
would be a beginning of many more to follow, by the
Statendam as well as her newer fleet mate the “Grand Dame”
that would be completed in 1959, the superb SS Rotterdam V.
SS Statendam after three days in New York returned to her
regular North Atlantic trade and sailed back to Rotterdam,
where she received a quick clean up in dry dock and returned
to service to spend the summer season on the Atlantic Ocean.
In June that year, Captain Haagmans was transferred to the
company flagship SS SS Statendam for his last voyage as a
Captain. But when he retired at the age of 60 he boarded his
favourite ship, the SS Statendam, the ship he called his
friend, but this time he came on board as a passenger and
sailed to New York. Later he recalled that it was “a very
special and emotional voyage” for him.
The changing times:
Captain D. Van Dalen, took command of the Statendam and she
continued her career both as a liner and a cruise ship,
spending nine months on the Trans-North Atlantic service and
then she operated another world cruise in 1959, This would
was the ships second such grand voyage, but also for the
Holland America Lines second ever. Although the company’s
shorter cruises around the Caribbean had become very
popular, these voyages were provided the signs what the
future had in store for all of the Trans-Atlantic ocean
liners, for it was becoming obvious that passenger traffic
on the Atlantic was rapidly declining!
As the 1960s continues, it was becoming more and more
obvious that more passengers were travelling by air instead
of opting for the slower route by sea, and therefore many
countries with liners that served the North Atlantic decided
to lessen services or simply discontinue them and sell their
ships altogether. As a result, many liners were rescheduled
to operate on more pleasure cruises and the already popular
SS Statendam was certainly no exception. Slowly her time
crossing the Atlantic became less and less every year until
1966 when it was decided that she would become a full-time
cruise ship. The two-class system was totally abandoned, and
her load capacity was reduced to just 650 passengers.
In October 1965 she departed New York and sailed through the
Panama Canal and several West Coast Cities, including San
Francisco, voyaged via various Pacific Islands and called to
Auckland New Zealand and Sydney Australia for the first time
ever. Although this was certainly nor HAL’s first visits to
Australia for the SS Ryndam had arrived in 1964 and the SS
Maasdam in 1965, but certainly not as luxury cruise ships
but operating as migrant ships into Australia and tourist
ships homeward. The Statendam returned to the USA sailing
via Asia. She operated the same voyage in 1966 and again in
1967.
Her 1967 visit to Sydney was going to be very special indeed
as it would the very first time ever that two Holland
America Line passenger ships were in the Port of Sydney at
the very same time so far from home. Thus, on November 7,
1967 both the SS Maasdam had sailed direct from the
Netherlands via the UK, and SS Statendam on her cruise, were
in Sydney proudly showing off their spotless livery of grey
hulls, gleaming white superstructure, their proud buff
funnels with those green and white HAL bands on them. Such
an event would not happen again, well not until the
21st.century when two HAL cruise ships are stationed in
Sydney, being the ms Volendam and ms Zaandam in 2011/12 and
in 2012/13 the ms Volendam and ms Oosterdam, in addition
with regular visits of the ms Amsterdam and the ms Rotterdam
VI.
After the Statendam visit in 1967 it would be another five
years before she would return to New Zealand and Australia,
but she would be a very different ship to the one that had
been seen Down Under!
The all-New SS Statendam:
Holland America Line saw great potential in the Pacific
Ocean, and they started operating the Statendam from the
American west coast. Already she made a series of luxurious
cruises to the South Seas, New Zealand, Australia, and the
Orient. She proved to be so popular that frequently guests
on board would include a good number of movie stars and
famous people and VIPs on vacation. Thus HAL’s cruise
ventures proved to be extremely successful.
In 1971 the company had already decided on a new company
flag and logo as well as an updated fleet livery, more
suitable for cruising as this had become their major source
of income. Also, HAL decided to evolve and when the
opportunity came along the company purchased one million
shares of “Westours Inc” and they acquired 85% of their
shares in February 1971. Westours had been a major force
touring to Alaska and Yukon as of 1947, and this tradition
would now be continued by Holland America Line. Thus they
decided to restructure their outlook as well as their
fleet’s livery. All ships would be repainted with a royal
blue hull and red boot topping, topped with a gleaming white
superstructure. The ships funnel would now be orange, which
is the traditional “House of Orange” colours, being the
Royal Family as well as the country’s colours, adorned with
three stylised lines, “aqua, white, and aqua.”
The Statendam entered the Rotterdam Dry-Dock Company in
September 1971, where she was given an extensive internal
rebuild and refit in and externally. This would see her
original Sports deck completely taken up with a brand new
superstructure from fore to aft, and her Promenade Deck
would be completely be rebuilt, with little to nothing of
the original fittings remaining, which was rather sad! Due
to entering a new market, there would be a Casino, larger
lounges and aft deck have windows extended as a windshield
for her pool areas, as well as showers added at the rear of
the pool.
But the saddest of all for so many was that the enclosed
promenade areas had now gone for these spaces had made room
for the new larger public rooms. She was also given an
enhanced lido and pool deck aft, with new windows along the
sides as a windbreak and showers aft of the pool and other
additional facilities! All her accommodations received a
massive upgrade to the very highest of standards and when
completed she could accommodate 740 passengers. In all,
after five months of work and at a cost of US$7 million, she
was like a brand new ship.
Upon completion, the SS Statendam recommenced her sailings
on March 14, 1972, as she returned to New York from where
she made Caribbean cruises as well as extended voyages like
the one later in the year. The Statendam departed the United
States for her fourth and final visit Down Under and she
arrived in Sydney on November 19, 1972 and her passengers
enjoyed an overnight stay departing on the 20th. She
returned to the USA via Asia. Sadly Australia was not to see
her again. In 1973 she was reregistered to Holland America
Cruises in Willemstad Curacao and all HAL ships would now
employ Indonesian service staff rather than just all Dutch.
Statendam continued cruising the Caribbean and Bermuda until
1981, except for 1979 when she was selected together with
the SS Rotterdam to represent Holland America Cruises at the
New York Harbour Festival. After which she returned to her
cruise duties. Then in 1981 she was relocated to Vancouver
to operate 7-day Alaskan cruise during in summer, which
proved to be rather successful and it became a lucrative
market for HAL and just about every other cruise line these
days!
Statendam’s final HAL days:
However, at 27 years of age, it seemed that the Statendam
was no longer in the best of condition, which was mostly due
to her boiler problems, which had always been a source of
worry every now and then. But the time had come they were
really becoming a problem. It came to the point she was
having ongoing breakdowns causing disruptions to her
schedule even requiring costly repairs. In several ports the
authorities placed a notice on her due to engines producing
foul emissions.
Then the worst incident of all came about, for whilst she
was off Antigua in 1982, her generators failed completely
and this resulted in total power loss throughout the ship.
As all lights and air-conditioning went out, the ship
drifted for many hours before the electricity could be
restored. But it had been decided at Head Office that
situation was no longer acceptable, and although HAL had
already decided earlier to sell the ship it was now time to
release her.
Going French - the SS Rhapsody:
The once elegant and ever popular SS Statendam was
officially handed over to Actus Investments Ltd, in October
1982 and placed under the management of the French company
Paquet Cruises. She received repairs and a refurbishment and
a new livery, being all white including her funnel with a
large stylised P with the top part in aqua with a flying
seagull and the bottom in red. Her hull also had an aqua
ribbon surrounding her hull. Upon completion she was renamed
Rhapsody and reregistered in Panama and given a multi
national crew.
She returned back to operate Alaska cruises in the summer
and Caribbean service in the winter, much as she had done
before. However, soon enough her new owners, began to
realise that their new ship was not all they had hoped for,
as mechanical problems continued to plague her, and due to
this the company was certainly not being very profitable, to
say the least!
But far worse was still to come, and no one can blame her
engines for this, for on March 28, 1984, the Rhapsody
suddenly struck some rocks and was firmly stuck on them at
the Grand Cayman, near Georgetown. After three days sitting
there with nothing happening passengers were very angry, and
they were finally taken off the ship and flown home on the
31st. The Rhapsody remained there for over two months before
she was refloated, which finally happened on June 15. She
towed to Galveston where she would have to undergo the
required repairs. Then in September she returned to her
cruise duties from Port Everglades, but she was a failure
and never a profitable ship for Paquet Cruises, the whole
affair had been a total failure. Paquet placed her on the
market and prayed that there would be a buyer for this, what
now seemed to be a plagued ship!
MS Regent Star:
She was sold for US$12 million to Universal Glow Ltd,
Piraeus, part of the Lelakis Group, on March 11, 1986. This
company was owned by the well-known Greek businessman
Antonis Lelakis, who renamed her Regent Star. She was
intended to be one of his new cruise company’s first ships,
for Lelakis’ had recently founded Regency Cruises. She had
been handed over on May 4 at Port Everglades and she headed
for Piraeus, Greece, where she was given, yet another
extensive refit. As Mr. Lelakis was well aware of the engine
problems, he had obtained a container ship the MS Margaret
Johnson in February 1986 that was going to be rebuilt as a
cruise ship, but, now with the arrival of the SS Regent
Star, it was better to use the diesels engines of that ship
and place them into the ex Statendam and removed her old
troublesome steam turbines. The Margaret Johnson was then
sold for scrap.
Her passenger capacity was now 950, which meant an
additional 75 new cabins had been installed. With her
refurbishment completed, the all-new MS Regent Star entered
service for Regency Cruises on July 26, 1987, commencing
cruises from Montego Bay, Jamaica. After which her programme
seemed much the same as that she has followed most of her
cruising life on the West and East Coast of the USA, from
Vancouver she operated summer Alaska cruises and the rest of
the year Caribbean cruises.
However, in June 1990, she returned to New York for the
first ever-Regency Cruise operations from this port. Sadly
it would be on Memorial Day 1990, that she again had a
problem as she ran aground some 25 miles up the Delaware
River. However, the Delaware ferry came to her assistance
very rapidly and manoeuvred alongside her port side and
unloaded all passengers that were onboard. Thereafter, the
Regent Star was then able to get off and thankfully she was
practically undamaged.
But after a while the Regent Sun replaced her on the
company’s New York-Eastern Canada service after only a year.
Regent Star was returned to Alaska to her old service there.
She continued her normal duties until the summer of 1995,
when the ship once again became the scene of yet another
dramatic event.
Whilst she was approximately 65 miles southwest of Valdez,
Alaska, there was a ruptured fuel line, and this resulted in
a fire in the engine room that crippled the ship. The
Captain ordered radio calls to be sent out and amazingly,
the very first ship to arrive assist her was her long time
running mate, the SS Rotterdam. She immediately assisted
with the unloading of all her passengers.
But tragically in October of 1995, Regency Cruises collapsed
and their fleet was scattered at sea or in various ports.
Regent Star was at the time voyaging a part of the Panama
Canal, whilst on a cruise of the Caribbean, Florida and
eventually heading for the Mediterranean. But as had been
known by some, the company had been in financial
difficulties for some time, and crewmembers on board the
Regent Star had been waiting for their salaries that were
slow in being paid. In addition, the ship was having
shortages of supplies and stores, but when the final
announcement regarding the collapse came, the ship concluded
her cruise and her captain headed away from the awaiting
American creditors at the next port and headed for the
Mediterranean.
Her last days as the MS Sea Harmony – Harmony I:
When she arrived in Greece she was arrested and taken over
by CIT Financiers of New York and she was placed at anchor
at Eleusis Bay Greece in November 1995. In 1996 she was sold
to Perosea Shipping Co and was renamed Sea Harmony and it
was intended to return her to cruise duties, but she
remained in laid-up. She was returned to the open market,
but there was no real interest. Although there was the
occasional weird ideas to purchase her, one was by a company
named CruiseShares, who thought to introduce a
timeshare-style system on board and operate her with a small
fleet of other older refitted cruise ships. However, the
whole idea was soon abandoned, as for that time there was
little to no chance at all of it taking off.
The once glamorous and revolutionary ex SS Statendam sadly
remained in Greek waters and thus this great once
Trans-Atlantic liner and very popular Cruise Ship commenced,
due to her being neglected with no maintenance done on board
whatsoever, she rapidly deteriorated she slowly became a
rusting hulk and she became a sad looking ship at anchor in
the middle of Eleusis Bay and she began slowly listing
slightly to starboard.
After a long lay-up for 8 years and 9 months, on March 14,
2004 this proud liner, looking very shabby and to say at
least rather old due to her rusty and weather beaten hull,
she finally departed Eleusis Bay with a new name painted on
her bow “Harmony I,” and flying the traditional flag of
death for ships that are bound to the breakers yard, and
that id the dreaded “St Vincent and Grenadines” flag for her
delivery voyage to Alang beach in India.
Above we see a tragic sight of the now renamed MS Harmony 1,
ex Sea Harmony, Regent Star, Rhapsody built as the elegant
Holland America Line SS Statendam seen beached at Alang
India, awaiting the hordes of workers with their cutting
tools to come aboard and commence cutting her up into
pieces, although her interiors had already been stripped.
Not long after her arrival work on dismantling commenced.
Perhaps this was the most dignified end to a long and
glorious career of the SS Statendam with Holland America
Line. For her final years with the other companies were far
from her finest days!
Memories of the Wonderful Holland America Line S.S.
Statendam
This is the way ship lovers and past passengers prefer to
remember
this fine and revolutionary liner/cruise ship the much loved
… SS Statendam
In Conclusion - summing up the SS Statendam:
In 1957, when Holland America Line's SS Statendam debuted
and she became an instant hit on North Atlantic crossings
from Rotterdam to New York as well as during her seasonal
cruising programs. As the Statendam was built to be mostly
as a Tourist Class ship, but one of the major factors to her
great success was the high quality of her accommodation,
which was in reality very close to first class standards of
most ships operating at the time as were her superb public
venues, which occupied the full length of the ship, whereas
on most ships, Tourist is located aft. Thus, for a
predominantly Tourist Class liner she was miles ahead of all
the competition and she was a vast improved version of the
two pioneering ships I have already mentioned being the much
loved “Economy Twins” - SS Ryndam and Maasdam, which
preceded her.
SS Statendam was later rebuilt as a superb luxury one-class
permanent cruise ship in 1972. The transformation was so
vast that Holland America Line dubbed her to be "The
Cinderella Ship" in their publicity material. Sadly, little
of her original decor survived this refit, which saw a
complete rebuilding of her Promenade Deck. However, in
certain parts of the ship, various traces of her 1950s
traditional elegance did remain. One of the main remnants
was the indoor pool, the cinema, and the purser's lobby.
Ten years later in 1982, the Statendam was sold to the
French company Paquet Cruises, who gave her a refit and
renamed her Rhapsody. She proved successful, hut they
obtained a much newer ship that would prove more economical
to operate, thus in 1986, she was sold to Regency Cruise
Line who renamed her Regent Star.
MS Statendam V – 1993:
The fifth ship to carry the famed name Statendam would enter
service in 1993 and she is at the time of writing one of 15
Holland America ships operating around the globe that
continue the rich and elegant traditions of Holland America
Line. This famed company commenced operations in July 1872
has now won more “The Highest Rated Cruise Company” from
“Conde Nast” and the “Best Overall Cruise Value” 20 for
consecutive years, and they continue to keep winning these
awards right until this year in 2013, even in Australia, the
“Australian Federation of Travel Agents” (AFTA) has awarded
HAL the title of being “Best Cruise Operator.” From the
1950s to this very day, Holland America Line is still known
as having “The Spotless Fleet” which is a great compliment.
The author has sailed with Holland America, the last cruise
being on the delightful 61,214-ton ms Volendam accommodating
just 1,430 passengers, unlike most ships of this size having
around 2,000, and I can tell you that this ships was supreme
and sailing with HAL is simply one of the finest cruise you
can possibly experience at sea, for there is not one other
company that I can name that is better! The crew to
passenger ration is excellent as is the excellent service,
supreme cuisine and some of the best entertainment. I found
that HAL does not push that typical oceangoing trashy over
the top Las Vegas style entertainment on their passengers as
seen on most ships, for the production shows and guests
vocalists, orchestras, classical concerts were all sublime!
PS: The
MS Maasdam and her sister
the Ryndam were transferred to P&O Cruises Australia and
were given an amazing internal refit. They were renamed the
Pacific Eden and
Pacific Aria respectively, with the Eden being based in
southern and western ports of Australia, whilst the Pacific
Aria, being home ported in Brisbane where she became the
most popular and Highest rated P&O ship, whilst the Eden
somehow never did as well, yet they were identical.
With new ships up to 114,000 gross tons entering the P&O
Australian fleet, the Pacific Eden will depart Australia on
March 16, 2019 as she will be transferred to the UK “Cruise
and Maritime Voyages” (CMV) early April 2019. Thus the ex
Statendam V will continue to live on providing British
passengers much joy at sea!
Although both companies made changes internally, but they
did leave a number of the original parts of the ship in
tact. The Regent Star sailed on until 1995 when she was
placed under arrest in Greece and taken over by CIT
Financiers of New York, and she was laid up. As a very
neglected sad and a rusty looking ship, she remained at
anchor at Eleusis, Greece under the name of Sea Harmony
until being sold to Indian breakers as the Harmony I in
2004.
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