MS Athena

For the former Viking Line cruiseferry, see MS Pearl of Scandinavia.

"MS Stockholm (1948)" redirects here. For other ships named "Stockholm", see Stockholm (disambiguation).

The Stockholm as originally constructed.
Career
Name:	1948—1960: MS Stockholm 1960—1985: MS Völkerfreundschaft 1985—1986: MS Volker 1986—1993: MS Fridtjof Nansen 1993—1994: MS Italia I 1994—1998: MS Italia Prima 1998—2002: MS Valtur Prima 2002—2005: MS Caribe 2005—present: MS Athena
Owner:	1948—1960: Swedish America Line 1960—1985: VEB Deutsche Seereederei 1985—1989: Neptunus Rex Enterprises 1989—1994: StarLauro 1994—2002: Nina Cia. di Navigazione 2002—2004: Festival Cruises 2004—present: Nina SpA
Operator:	1948—1960: Swedish America Line 1960—1966: VEB Deutsche Seereederei 1966—1985: VEB Deutsche Seereederei (summer seasons)/Stena Line (winter seasons) 1985—1994: laid up/rebuilt 1994—1995:Nina Cia. di Navigazione 1995—1998: Neckermann Seereisen 1998: laid up 1998—2001: Valtur Tourist 2001—2002: laid up 2002—2004: Festival Cruises 2004—2005: laid up 2005—present: Classic International Cruises
Port of registry:	1948—1960: Gothenburg, Sweden 1960—1985: Rostock, East Germany 1985—1989: Panama City, Panama 1989—2004: Naples, Italy 2004—present: Lisbon, Portugal
Ordered:	October 1944
Builder:	Götaverken, Gothenburg, Sweden
Yard number:	611
Launched:	9 September 1946
Christened:	9 September 1946
Acquired:	7 February 1948
In service:	21 February 1948
Identification:	Swedish Official Number 8926 (1948) Italian Official Number 1749 (1993) IMO number: 5383304
Status:	In service
General characteristics (as built)
Type:	ocean liner
Tonnage:	12,165 GRT
Length:	160.08 m (525 ft 2 in)
Beam:	21.04 m (69 ft 0 in)
Draught:	7.90 m (25 ft 11 in)
Installed power:	2 × 8-cylinder Götaverken diesels combined 12,000 hp (8,900 kW)
Speed:	17 kn (31.48 km/h)
Capacity:	390 passengers 4,700 metric tons deadweight (DWT)
General characteristics (currently)
Type:	cruise ship
Tonnage:	15,614 GRT
Decks:	8[citation needed]
Installed power:	2 × Wärtsilä 16V32 diesels 14,300 hp (10,700 kW)
Speed:	19 kn (35.19 km/h)
Capacity:	556 passengers

MS Athena is a cruise ship owned and operated by Classic International Cruises. She was built in 1948 as the MS Stockholm by Götaverken in Gothenburg for the Swedish America Line. Since her career with SAL she has sailed under the names MS Völkerfreundschaft, MS Volker, MS Fridtjof Nansen, MS Italia I, MS Italia Prima, MS Valtur Prima and MS Caribe, before beginning service under her current name.

As Stockholm she was best known for colliding with the SS Andrea Doria in 1956, resulting in the sinking of the latter ship.

Service history

At 525 feet (160.02 m) with a gross tonnage of 12,165, Stockholm was the smallest passenger ship operating on the North Atlantic route at the time. However, she was the largest ship built in Sweden at the time. Originally designed to carry 395 people, a 1953 refit expanded Stockholm's capacity to 548 people.

Collision with the Andrea Doria

On the night of July 25, 1956, at 11:10 PM, in heavy fog in the North Atlantic Ocean off the coast of Nantucket, the Stockholm and the Andrea Doria of the Italian Line collided in what was to become one of history's most famous maritime disasters.

Although most passengers and crew survived the collision, the larger Andrea Doria luxury liner capsized and sank the following morning. Owing to the collision, 50% of the Andrea Doria's lifeboats were unusable. However, a number of ships responded and provided assistance, which averted a massive loss of life like that suffered by the Titanic over 40 years earlier.

Five crewmembers on the Stockholm were killed instantly and several more were trapped in the wrecked bow. Despite its having sunk about three feet (0.9 m), the crippled Stockholm helped in the rescue and ended up carrying 327 passengers and 245 crewmembers from the Andrea Doria, in addition to her own passengers and crew. After Andrea Doria sank, Stockholm sailed to New York City under her own power and arrived on July 27. The crushed bow portion was repaired at a cost of US$1 million three months later.

File:Athena cruise ships unloading waste.jpg

MS Athena unloading waste in Brest, France.

History after the collision

On January 3, 1960, the Stockholm was sold to the East German government, who renamed the ship Völkerfreundschaft and operated her as an ocean liner until 1985. In 1985 she was transferred to a Panamanian company "Neptunas Rex Enterprises". Her name was reduced to Volker, and by the end of the year she was laid up in Southampton, England. She was later used as a barracks ship in Oslo for asylum seekers in Norway under the name Fridtjof Nansen.

The Stockholm was sold to Italian interests in 1989 and towed to Genoa, the Andrea Doria's home port. When she first arrived, the press called the Stockholm the "ship of death" (La nave della morte). She was rebuilt from the waterline up and given a modern cruise ship design. Named the Italia I, then Italia Prima, she later sailed as Valtur Prima primarily to Cuba, and was laid up there in 2001. Acquired by Festival Cruise Line in 2002 and renamed Caribe she continued to sail to Cuba. Since 2005, the Stockholm sails as the Athena and is registered in Portugal. She is now flagged out of Cyprus operating for Classic International Cruises.

On 3 December 2008 MS Athena was attacked by pirates in the Gulf of Aden. There were reported to be 29 pirate boats surrounding the ship at one stage until a US Navy P3 Orion maritime patrol aircraft circled above which led to some of the pirates to flee. The crew prevented the pirates from boarding by firing high pressure water cannons at them. No one was injured and the ship escaped without damage and continued on her voyage to Australia.

Statistics

PUBLIC ROOMS	Capacity	Deck
Olissipo Restaurant	520	Atlantic
Lotus Pool Grill	210	Calypso
Calypso Show Lounge	480	Calypso
Sirene's Bar	150	Calypso
Muses Night Club	80	Promenade
Captain's Club	30	Calypso
Tychon Card Room	40	Calypso
Ithaca Library	16	Calypso
Cyclope's Auditorium	260	Promenade

OTHER LEISURE AREAS	Deck
Emporio Boutique	Calypso
Fitness Centre	Observation
Beauty Salon	Observation
Sauna	Observation
Photo Shop	Calypso
Circe's Casino	Calypso
Chapel	Mediterranean
Medical Centre	Pacific

OPEN LEISURE AMENITIES	Deck
Swimming pool	Calypso
Elpinor Bar	Calypso
Aeolos Bar	Navigators
Barbecue	Calypso

External links

• Goldberg, Mark H. (2002). Ship Profile - MS Caribe. CruisePage.com. Accessed June 6, 2005.
• Ljungström, Henrik. Stockholm. The Great Ocean Liners. Accessed June 6, 2005.
• Official page at Classic International Cruises
• SS Maritime page detailing the name changes with photos
• Presentation of the Athena, with picture