ssMaritime.net
MV Doulos
“A
Ship Like no Other”
By Reuben Goossens
An American 1914
built ship that sailed 95 Years into History
SS
Medina (1914-1948) was sold and renamed: SS
Roma (1948-1952)
MS
Franca C (1952-1977)
- MV Doulos - (1977-2010)
Doulos
Phos –
(2010 - ) now located permanently in Singapore
--MV Doulos--
Part One
Doulos sails into Brisbane on July 31, 2008
Photographs by © Copyright 2008 Reuben Goossens
– ssmaritime.net
MV Doulos has just
passed under the Gateway Bridge and continues up the Brisbane River
Although the Doulos was a day late arriving due to having to delay her
departure somewhat bad weather conditions in Wellington New Zealand, she had
the perfect arrival to Brisbane with a bright
and sunny Brisbane
winters day. The Brisbane
River was as placid as could possibly
be and even more so, it looked cleaners that I have seen it in years! The
photograph above was taken with a tele-lens as she
had just passed under the Gateway
Bridge under the guidance of the Pilot
and a single tug. The photographs tell their own story, for we see a ship that
is a miracle in its own right, for she will be 94 years of age on August 22,
and yet she will sail on for a few more years yet. Built just two years after
the Titanic, well, we are reminded that some worker wrote on her hull,
“Even God can’t sink her.” An Iceberg certainly did! However,
on the Doulos they also have a saying, “Only God can keep the Doulos
afloat.” And certainly, with the massive maintenance work that is carried
out by the ships Christian owners and the wonderful volunteers onboard, she is
in a wonderful condition. I attended the official opening on the 1st of August onboard and
I found the Doulos, not having been onboard since 1999, looking just superb,
and even better than before!
But now, sit back and enjoy the photographs!
The Australian
Flag can be seen forward. The crew and staff are mostly
on the starboard side
with flags of the world as they will dock on that side
Crew & staff with their
flags on the starboard side
Photograph
by & © 2008 Trevor Coppock - http://www.seapixonline.com
A sunny day and a
smooth River
Doulos’ famous
Counter stern is clearly shown in this view
The Doulos has arrived
at Australia
finest Cruise Terminal – “Portside”
Home of a range of
Cafes and Restaurants, shops, a supermarket and even a cinema
A fine view of her
sharply raked bow
Doulos has its own
fleet of mini busses on board
A
series of views of the ship
Note the timber stairs
seen between the lifeboats - these are original 1914 SS Medina stairs
Under this cover is the
massive bookshop
Lifeboat
machinery is kept in superb condition!
The Bridge is the
original 1914 SS Medina Bridge, but was raised several decks up
when the ship was
rebuilt into a passenger ship in 1949
The fleet of mini
busses will soon come ashore
Note the satellite
dome. The Doulos may be a 94 year old ship, but this old girl is “really
with it!”
In this photograph and
in the one below we again see the original SS Medina stairs
The row of windows show
the main Lounge deck, below is the Restaurant deck, with Boat deck & the
Book shop above.
All photographs (except
the one marked otherwise) were taken by and are © copyright 2008 Reuben Goossens
Go to Part Two - Doulos
in Brisbane – Aug 1 to 19
Return
to the Author’s – MV Doulos “A Ship Like No Other” Main Index
PLEASE
NOTE:
Doulos was
decommissioned by OM Ships in December 2009 whilst she was in Singapore
Read my … “MV Doulos Preservation
Campaign” page for details
…
on how my campaign saved
her for the future to become the Doulos Phos.
***************************************************
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Commenced in Passenger Shipping
industry in May 1960
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Story
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Photographs on ssmaritime and associate
pages 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.
Copyright: “MV Doulos - A Ship Like No Other” is owned, protected
under the International © copyright laws and is the property of Reuben Goossens
of ssmaritime.net. No part of this work
including any of the images shown may be copied or reproduced by any means or
reproduced by any format whatsoever, be it for private or commercial usage,
without prior written permission from the author.
ssMaritime is owned and © Copyright 2010 -
by Reuben Goossens - All Rights Reserved
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