MV Doulos - Chapter 1

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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

With the author onboard, MV Doulos arrives in Sydney on August 21, 2008 for her final Australian visit!

Please Note: This work is owned, protected under International © copyright laws and is the property of Reuben Goossens of ssmaritime.net. No part of this work including any of the images shown therein may be copied, or neither reproduced by any means nor reproduced in any format, be it for private or commercial usage without prior written permission from the author.

Introduction

1 - What is considered vintage in maritime circles?

In maritime circles, thirty years is considered the average life span of a passenger ship and any ship sailing longer than thirty years is considered being a classic. Being an Australian, in this in stance I will use P&O Cruises Australia’s TSS Fairstar (built as the Oxfordshire) as an example. She retired at the age of forty and departed Sydney on February 16, 1997, heading for an Indian breakers yard renamed Ripa. Her successor TSS Fair Princess (ex Cunard Line Carinthia, Sitmar Cruises Fairland and Princess Cruises Fairsea) also concluded her Australian cruise programme at the ripe age of forty-five when she returned to Sydney from her final cruise on November 10, 2000, yet she was sold to become a Casino-based cruise ship, based in Asia and was renamed TSS China Sea Discovery, but was sold in August 2005 to the breakers aged 50, being close to a record for a passenger ship. Fair Princess was considered a genuine vintage liner when she reached the half-century mark in 2005, and she was just one of a few who remained active until such a great age.

Fair Princess was considered a vintage ship at 45 years. She is seen here mid 2000

Remarkably, this fine ship could have gone on for a few more years had she been well maintenance, but during her final Asian Casino ship days she was very badly managed and the company finally went into liquidation, meaning the end of what was once a great Trans-Atlantic ocean liner and a South Pacific cruise ship!

But, when it comes to the MV Doulos we are speaking of one solitary ship that stands out above every other ship in the world. There is nothing to compare it to, for obviously the Doulos is a ship that has surpassed every ship on the globe and has almost doubled them in years. The Doulos is a ship with an amazing ninety-five year history, and amazingly this historic ship sailed the globe until she was finally decommissioned by her owners on December 31, 2010. She was placed on the market, but at the time of this update a sale has not been finalised.

Please Note: Although Part One of this work was originally written in 1999, it has been regularly updated, and this it will be reflected in Doulos’ age descriptions and details given in relation to some of her modifications in certain chapters. Part two of this work covers the time the Doulos arrived in Brisbane Australia on 31 July 2008 for her final visit to our shores whilst on her last major world voyage and it follows her around Australia and into Asia. At the end of each chapter, you will find a link to the next chapter as well as a link to MV Doulos’ Main Index.

2 – Doulos’ 1999 Australian Visit that inspired this work!

MV Doulos arriving in Sydney Australia - Sunday July 4, 1999

Photograph © copyright Ramon Williams – used with permission

Although the MV Doulos made her first call to Australia in 1989, for the author and many ship lovers alike, it was a special occasion on Sunday July 4, 1999, when the world’s oldest deep sea passenger ship still in service sailed through Sydney Heads and into Sydney Harbour on America’s Independence Day.

This elegant vintage lady gracefully slipped past the Sydney Opera House and gently manoeuvred alongside the Sydney Cove Passenger Terminal at Circular Quay, where she remained berthed until July 26. Whilst in Sydney in 1999, she had twenty official “open days,” during which some 49,880 people came to visit the ship. Some 85% of the visitors to ship come because of the news on all the media and publications around that time that the (then) 85 year old “World’s oldest active ocean-going passenger ship that was built two years after the Titanic is visiting Sydney.” Thus she became an automatic magnet to ship lovers and Sydneysiders, especially as she was berthed in the heart of the City and at Circular Quay no less for the duration! The truth is the vast majority of people did not come to visit her because she had a book shop on board or even because that the ships owners GBA - “Gutte Buche fur Alle” (Good Books for all) and OM Ships International - “Operation Mobilization” is a Christian based Outreach Ministry sailing their two ships around the world. NO, they came because the Doulos was the oldest and most historic ship on earth!

MV Doulos and her Christian Ministry:

MV Doulos was launched on August 22, 1914; just two years after the Titanic departed Southampton on that ill fated voyage. According to the Guinness Book of Records, the Doulos is the “World’s oldest active ocean-going passenger ship” and the minute anyone lays eyes on her there is no doubt that this ship is an amazing piece of maritime history one look at her supreme counter stern and you know that this is a ship that is very special!

In addition, she serves in a very special role as she sails around the world, for the Doulos is a ship that brings “Knowledge, Help and Hope” to so many needy countries around the World! I will cover this part of the ship’s duties later when we reach the Doulos chapters, but following words from the Bible could well sum it up:

“For the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the LORD, as the waters cover the sea.” Habakkuk 2:14.

Doulos’ arrival at the Sydney Passenger Terminal

Doulos in Sydney 19 July 1999

3 – MV Doulos - A brief career summary

During her 95-year career, she carried four names and has served in four very different roles. The Motor Vessel Doulos was originally built as the Steam Ship SS Medina and then sold. During her long career she had three new names appear on her bow and stern, Roma, Franca C and the of course the Doulos.

But originally, she was built as a simple US freighter, transporting fruit and vegetables to US ports. After a thirty-four-year wartime and civil career, she was sold and rebuilt as an austere migrant & refugee ship. Later she had several further renovations and she became first a trans-Atlantic liner, and then a luxury cruise ship. When she was a good sixty three years old, she was sold to a non denominational Christian organisation GBA - “Gutte Buche fur Alle” / OM Ships International – Operation Mobilization to become a floating book exhibition/shop and a Christian outreach vessel to the world, and she continued sailing the globe until being decommissioned on December 31, 2010 in Singapore.

During her distinguished life she has been registered in the United States, Panama, Italy and currently in Malta. MV Doulos had been continually upgraded by OM and she remains in top condition and has all the latest safety and satellite technology! Today, the Doulos meets all the International SOLAS (Safety Of Life At Sea) regulations and she will be able to sail around the world until the new 2010 SOLAS regulations come into effect with a full crew and complement of around 350 staff. However, after negotiations with RINa and MMA in Malta on 16 and 17 March 2009, it has been decided that this historic liner could possibly continue (subject to official approval in writing by RINa and MMA) sailing past that date and even up to her 100thjbrithday on August 22, 2014. However, this is subject to further inspections and approval.

This feature contains her entire history, from the day she was built and it takes you to her most recent world voyage which included her Farewell Voyage around New Zealand and Australia. As the author was fortunate not only to be able to spend a month, but also sail on this remarkable ship, you will note that there is a “NEW - Doulos – 2008” section, which contains hundreds of brand new photographs by the author and others of areas that have never been photographed or seen before.

A special thank You in relation to Part One - 1999

July 1999: I hereby wish to thank the following: The Captain of the Doulos, Captain Graeme Bird (now retired), Doulos’ Project co-ordinator, Marlieske Smilde, the wonderful Douloid’s, being the volunteer staff and crew from around the world, for their outstanding hospitality and co-operation for giving me the freedom of the ship whilst she was in Sydney. Also, a hearty thank you to Mr. Richard Beaumont who has sadly now retired from being Doulos' OM National Director in Australia, thank you Richard for all your wonderful assistance you were a wonderful example of what GBA and OM stood for, a far cry from the directors that occupy the offices in Germany today who almost sold her to the Indian breakers and they would have had I not intervened!

My time aboard the Doulos in 2008

August 2008: I was fortunate for my superb time onboard the Doulos not only whilst she was in Brisbane from August 1^st, but also to sail on her from Brisbane to Sydney and then celebrate her 94^th birthday on 22 August even cut her 94th Birthday cake! In addition, there was great joy to meet quite a few ex SS Roma passengers in Brisbane who came onboard, but in Sydney, sadly there was just one. You will find two pages online with details and they are interesting pages indeed (see the main index). These wonderful people came to Australia on this historic liner when she was the SS Roma back in 1950, which brought them to a land that gave them hope, and today this continues to do just that as the Doulos is a ship that brings hope to the world! During my time on the Doulos as a “Ministry Guest” I gave maritime lectures, as well as several Bible studies showing the other side of this maritime historian as I am also a Pastor. Whilst on board I was able to take hundreds of photographs and many of these can be seen on the 2008 - Part Two of this feature.

A special thank You for Part Two - 2008

There are some very special people I wish to thank the following on board the Doulos. The ship’s Director, Dr. Daniel Chae who was always so helpful and he has a great desire to see the ship survive! We had I fine time together discussing the ship and the Scriptures during my time on board! However, how can I ever forget my delightful host and now good friend on board, Sven Benseler and his lovely wife Mirjam and their delightful children, Joshua & Samuel. They made my stay on board very special and I soon became part of the Doulos family! Also, there was the delightful ship’s journalist Marl Terilli, who took great care of me whilst I was on board and thank you for the delightful times we had chatting during mealtime with your husband at supper time. Not to forget, two very special people, Dominic Bothello the Chief Engineer who always made me smile and I always want more time with this wonderful man and his delightful family! And the ever effervescent Filipe the Project Coordinator, who was a delightful young man with a heart desire to learn more and more and to take in all that, is good! May the LORD bless you and thank you for all that you have given me! I also wish to thank Captain Ashley McDonald who was most generous with his time, allowing me on the Bridge as we departed Brisbane and giving me an interview in his private quarters. I recall discussing the future of the Doulos relating my vision, now in 2010 this vision has come to a realisation as the ship has indeed been sold to an Asian country and will become a maritime museum, hotel, restaurant, tourist venue and a Christian Centre and Bible School in Singapore!

To all the crew and staff on board, thank you for your outstanding hospitality and cooperation, and for giving me the freedom of the ship whilst I was with you on the historic Doulos, a ship I have been personally associated with since 1971.

Go to Chapter One - Part One – SS Medina - 1914 – 1940 (Including Word War I)

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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If you have enjoyed this feature and you feel you might have something of interest to add, be it a story or some photographs, I would appreciate hearing from you!

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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.

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