Australian National Line; T.S.M.V.
Empress of
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With Reuben Goossens
Maritime Historian, Cruise‘n’Ship
Reviewer, Author & Maritime Lecturer
Please Note: All ssMaritime and
other related maritime/cruise sites are 100% non-commercial and privately
owned. Be assured that I am NOT associated with any shipping or cruise
companies or any travel/cruise agencies or any other organisations! Although
the author has been in the passenger shipping industry since 1960, although is
now retired but having completed around 680 Classic Liners and
Cargo-Passengers Ships features I trust these will continue to provide classic ship
enthusiasts the information the are seeking, but above all a great deal of
pleasure!
Australian
National Line
T.S.M.V. Empress of Australia
Later: MV Empress, Royal Pacific
T.S.M.V.
Empress of
Author’s
private collection
Australian National Line ordered a new
ship to be built for their
T.S.M.V. Empress of
The Empress of Australia was a true roll-on roll-off passenger ferry
and was designed to carry 91 cars or a mix of 51 cars and 33 semi trailers. She
operated between
The Empress of Australia is seen here in Orr's dry dock
Photograph by & © David Francis (
David Francis from who sent me the above photograph, wrote: “I had a stint on her as a JAP
(Junior Asst. Purser). My sea going career
lasted for about 10 voyages and as it was during winter and the seas of
Empress of
Statistics:
Tonnage:………………..12,037
Length:…………………..443ft
Width:…………………….40ft
Draught:…………………20ft
Engines:…..............M.A.N. - Type Diesels
Screws:……….….……..Twin
+ Side thrusters (unique for the time)
Speed:………….………..17
knots – 19 ½ knots maximum during sea trials
Passengers:……….…..250
Cars:………………….…..91
cars – or 53 cars & 33 semi trailers
Other:………………….…Fully
Stabilized
A delightful photograph of this beautiful ship
Thank you
Author’s private collection
With the popularity of the service, late in
1984 it was decided to replace the Empress of Australia by a newer and more
economical vessel the 12,515
MS Abel Tasman is seen here laid up ready to sail just
prior to her positioning voyage to
However this was delayed due to local strikes and she did
not depart until May 18
Photograph
The superb Australian Empress of
The
Rebuilding of an “Empress”
MV Empress seen in
In 1987 her ownership was changed to Congreve
Shipping Corp of
1989 she was reregistered under the new
ownership of Falcon Maritime Co,
However this did not seem to eventuate as mid conversion her owners decided to turn her into a traditional cruise ship and use her for extended cruises, thus new cabins were fitted in the vehicle decks. The conversion was undertaken by the Avlis Shipyards which originally commenced in September 1989 and was finally completed mid 1991.
Dry-Dock and
Completion
A
fine bow view whilst being rebuilt at the Chalkis dry-dock in
1990
*Provided by the moderator & photographer
Seen
in the Chalkis
dry-dock in 1990.
As a cruise ship the Empress was one of the first cruise ships to have
two rudders and screws
*Provided by the moderator & photographer Kostas Gatsos of WWW.Nautilia
The
Empress was also one of the first to have bow thrusters
MV Empress seen at the Avlis
Yards in
Author’s private collection
Please Note: I
am looking for further photographs of her completed – email me please
Although she is still under construction, here we see her
funnel being raised
Upon completion the Empress was listed as
13,176
Records show that by 1990 she was she was owned by Starlite Cruises, but she was reregistered to Sun Cruises Maritime by Tony Travel & Agency Ltd Piraeus.
MV Empress
MV
Empress ready to set sail
*Provided
by the moderator & photographer Kostas Gatsos of WWW.Nautilia
*Provided by the moderator & photographer
Kostas Gatsos of WWW.Nautilia
MV Empress as advertised during her Mexican cruise days
From an advertisement
The bow of the Empress seen in the Locks of the
*Provided by the moderator & photographer
However her stay at
The Starlite Cruises MV Empress
is seen floodlit whilst in port
*Provided by the moderator & photographer
In December 1991 it was decided to rename the
Upon arrival she began to operate a series of
three and four day gambling cruises out of
Above
and below: MV Royal Pacific crew 1992
Bar Manager, Chief house keeper,
Staff Captain, Captain, A/B Engineer, Hotel Manager, Chef, A/Engineer, Chief
Electrician
*Both the above images
were provided by the moderator & photographer
Strangely enough it would be in August 1992
that her cruise schedule was altered to include a number of weekend cruises
“To Nowhere.” The very first of these cruises was scheduled to
depart on the evening of Friday August 21 and for all on board this would
indeed be a “Voyage to remember!”
MV Royal
Pacific departed
The Chief Engineer told the enquiry later that
“the engine room was flooded within minutes.” The damage was so
extensive that the ship rapidly heeled
over as water rapidly entered into her hull section and into the cabins on her
lower and then higher decks, decks that originally had been the car roll-on
roll-off decks, that during the conversion had been reconstructed and filled
with accommodations, and this had been done to all the correct maritime
architectural guidelines and specifications, and it was determined that this
was in no way responsible for the ships rapid sinking.
The Captain handled the situation in an
orderly and correct manner and he quickly ordered to “abandon ship”
and all lifeboats were launched. Survivors were picked up by passing ships. Sadly, the Royal Pacific sank
within 10 to 15 minutes at Latitude: 02° 27.148 N / Longitude: 101° 36.304 E to a Depth of 16.1m as I already stated in Malaysian waters.
Survivors were very quickly picked up by boats that were dispensed from
Tragically three people drowned during the
rescue and six others remain
officially reported as missing. However, it assumed that they are trapped
inside the hull as the ship heeled over so rapidly and filled with water at
great speed. At the time of the collision, the Royal Pacific was just 12 miles
out of
This is an image of the Royal Pacific as seen in a Greek
Newspaper reporting her sinking on August 24 1992
*Photograph Greek News
On January 4, 2009 I received an email from
“I would like to inform you that the Captain of Royal Pacific that fateful night was my uncle, Captain Tasos Papayannis who passed away 4 years ago. I heard many stories regarding the accident and sinking of the ship. Until his death he could not overcome the loss of 9 souls, although he was not blamed for the accident. Please keep up the good work for us ship lovers.”
I thank Alexandros for his input, I am sure that many will find it valuable, and also for the many who will have met the Captain during his long service at sea!
Now this is a great way to remember her – At full
speed ahead!
“Blue
Water Liners sailing to the distant shores.
I watched them come, I watched them go and I watched them die.”
****************************
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Photographs on ssmaritime and associate
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addition there are some images that have been provided by Shipping Companies
and private photographers or collectors. Credit is given to all contributors.
However, there are some photographs provided to me without details regarding
the photographer/owner concerned. I hereby invite if owners of these images
would be so kind to make them-selves known to me (my email address may be found
on www.ssmaritime.com only), in order that due credit may be
given.
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Goossens - All Rights Reserved.