Stockholm still sailing now MV Athena

[Matthew Lips]

Lovely pics, thanks for sharing them.

Takes a brave man to sit directly in front of this baby with his back turned. She has been known to clobber things that blocked her path...

BTW, tecchies here may be able to explain what the thinking is behind that stern. It must surely serve some practical function, because it certainly isn't there for its good looks!

 

[Michael H. Standart]

>>because it certainly isn't there for its good looks!<<

I wouldn't argue with that! As to it's function, I have no real idea. It might help if I saw a photo of this area as it is now that was taken in drydock. Seeing what's below the waterline could tell me a thing or two. Short of that, this may have been nothing more then a way of adding some hull volumn so something deemed essential could be installed. Whatever it is, I think it's worth noting that it's never been repeated with any other ship so it may not have been a success.

 

[Richard Glueck]

Of course nobody can say without talking to the shipwrights, but what about a collector for the upward flow of screw turbulence. Could it channel the energy that would be lost upwards to the surface, and hopefully apply it to the forward propulsion of the ship? It would make for huge fuel savings provided the theory worked.
Other design changes in the ship I've noticed are the high sides having been cut down and her icebreaker bow gone replaced. Almost impossible to call her the same ship, although her power plant and interior must remain to some large degree. And actually, it's remarkable she was rebuilt to that great and extent without total replacement of the vessel.

 

[Noel F. Jones]

Re Athena ex-Stockholm:

I would call that a sponson. Perhaps she needed more buoyancy down aft or longitudinal stability if she had developed a propensity to slam arising from her considerable modifications.

We need to know more...

Noel

 

[Aaron Mattner]

Apparently the 'duck tail' stern adds to her speed and stability. She has been repowered with 2 Wärtsila diesels.

 

[TOWER3]

The MV Astoria (Stockholm), which is being withdrawn from the Cruise & Maritime Voyages fleet this year should be preserved as a hotel and museum ship rather than scrapped and restored to her 1956 appearance. The ship is significant because it collided with and led to the sinking of the Andrea Doria, is the second oldest passenger ship in active service, the only SAL ship built in Sweden, and the last surviving former ship in the Swedish American Line fleet. Possible locations for preserving the ship include Gothenburg, Stockholm, and Nantucket.

 

[Dave Gittins]

I have mixed views on this. Many want to save old ships, but few want to pay for them. They can be a very expensive way of building a hotel.

The other thing is that the ship as she stands is very little like the ship that sank Andrea Doria. In 2010 I was able to go right alongside her in my rubber duck and check her out. Her hull is now all welded and her superstructure is nothing like it was originally. The boats and davits are totally different. The Italians added the sponsons to the stern. They are meant to improve stability. As built, Stockholm was a a very poor ship, with a bad reputation for rolling. A passenger was killed by one of her wilder efforts. Stabilisers were added and helped a bit. As a bonus, the sponsons are said to improve the flow around the stern and improve fuel economy. It's a bad sign that she has been through so many names and owners.

If you want an old ship, we have Doulos Phos safely preserved as a hotel in Indonesia. She looks very good, but again, she's not much like her original form, when she was a freighter. I was on board her many years ago and she was much hacked about. They'd just added some new machinery and to get it in they simply cut a big hole in one side and later welded it up.

If I had a fantasy, it would be to see SS United States safely preserved in good condition. She's still the fastest real liner ever built.

 

[Encyclopedia Titanica]

restored to her 1956 appearance

Good idea!

 

[PRR5406]

There's really no point in saving this tired, old, ship. It's exceptionally expensive to maintain a dead ship and what you see today is essentially not the "Stockholm". The history of the accident is only, perhaps, in the fabric of the inner-most girders or flooring. Passed from owner to owner, including the East German government, always gutted and rebuilt in a new idealogy or style. Even her replacement bow was completely amputated and replaced. If her lifeboats are original, and I doubt it, save those. Maybe her wheel?
Goodbye, old girl. Valhalla awaits you.

 

[TOWER3]

I have mixed views on this. Many want to save old ships, but few want to pay for them. They can be a very expensive way of building a hotel.

The other thing is that the ship as she stands is very little like the ship that sank Andrea Doria. In 2010 I was able to go right alongside her in my rubber duck and check her out. Her hull is now all welded and her superstructure is nothing like it was originally. The boats and davits are totally different. The Italians added the sponsons to the stern. They are meant to improve stability. As built, Stockholm was a a very poor ship, with a bad reputation for rolling. A passenger was killed by one of her wilder efforts. Stabilisers were added and helped a bit. As a bonus, the sponsons are said to improve the flow around the stern and improve fuel economy. It's a bad sign that she has been through so many names and owners.

If you want an old ship, we have Doulos Phos safely preserved as a hotel in Indonesia. She looks very good, but again, she's not much like her original form, when she was a freighter. I was on board her many years ago and she was much hacked about. They'd just added some new machinery and to get it in they simply cut a big hole in one side and later welded it up.

If I had a fantasy, it would be to see SS United States safely preserved in good condition. She's still the fastest real liner ever built.

What does rhe MV Doulos have going for it that the Astoria does not have.

 

[Arun Vajpey]

The MV Astoria (Stockholm), which is being withdrawn from the Cruise & Maritime Voyages fleet this year should be preserved as a hotel and museum ship rather than scrapped and restored to her 1956 appearance. The ship is significant because it collided with and led to the sinking of the Andrea Doria, is the second oldest passenger ship in active service, the only SAL ship built in Sweden, and the last surviving former ship in the Swedish American Line fleet. Possible locations for preserving the ship include Gothenburg, Stockholm, and Nantucket.

The (former) Stockholm certainly has a history as being part of the World's first radar assisted collision. I agree that it should be preserved in some way but I don't agree about the idea of 'restoration to its post-crash 1956 appearance. Perhaps the Swedish government might be interested in buying it out and placing it as a museum piece.

 

[TOWER3]

I also think that Johnny Sid, who preserved the MV Bore and tried to save Kungsholm (1966) should work on preserving the Stockholm (1948). I felt that the should be restored to what it was like in 1956 before the collision with the Andrea Doria.

 

[Dave Gittins]

Arun, Doulos has nothing much going for her, except that she dates from 1914. She was originally a freighter but was made into a real liner, complete with swimming pool. Like Astoria, she's been hacked about until little original remains.

 

[PRR5406]

I'm certain the Swedish government wants nothing to do with such a controversial artifact. As a museum piece, restore the bridge to its old configuration and place it in a maritime academy. Basically, the "Stockholm" remains a symbol of poor navigation, a cover-up, and the terribly gory deaths of people both in the bow and on the "Doria". I wouldn't mind owning a small piece of the original ship, but really, the "Stockholm" has been gone for decades.
I find it odd, the "Andrea Doria" remains the most intact of all the Italian Line vessels!

 

[TOWER3]

The (former) Stockholm certainly has a history as being part of the World's first radar assisted collision. I agree that it should be preserved in some way but I don't agree about the idea of 'restoration to its post-crash 1956 appearance. Perhaps the Swedish government might be interested in buying it out and placing it as a museum piece.

In addition to Gothenburg, Stockholm, and Nantucket, New York City and Rostock might be good places to preserve the MV Astoria.