MV Doulos
Encyclopedia
The MV Doulos Phos was the world's oldest active ocean
Ocean
An ocean is a major body of saline water, and a principal component of the hydrosphere. Approximately 71% of the Earth's surface is covered by ocean, a continuous body of water that is customarily divided into several principal oceans and smaller seas.More than half of this area is over 3,000...
-faring passenger ship
Passenger ship
A passenger ship is a ship whose primary function is to carry passengers. The category does not include cargo vessels which have accommodations for limited numbers of passengers, such as the ubiquitous twelve-passenger freighters once common on the seas in which the transport of passengers is...
. She is now owned by Mr. Eric Saw, Director and Chief Executive of BizNaz Resources International Pte Ltd in Singapore. She was previously owned by the German charity Gute Bücher für Alle
Gute Bücher für Alle
Gute Bücher für Alle is a German charity, which operates floating bookshops. It is best known as the owner of the MV Doulos, the world's oldest active ocean-faring passenger ship....
(Good Books for All), and was used as a floating bookshop. The ship has previously been known as the SS Medina, the SS Roma, and the MV Franca C.
The Doulos ended at the end of 2009 in Singapore, with the ship being handed over to her new owners on March 18, 2010.
History
The Medina was built in 1914 by Newport News Shipbuilding and Dry Dock CompanyNorthrop Grumman Newport News
Newport News Shipbuilding , originally Newport News Shipbuilding and Drydock Company , was the largest privately-owned shipyard in the United States prior to being purchased by Northrop Grumman in 2001...
for the Mallory Steamship Company of the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
. She was a freighter
Cargo ship
A cargo ship or freighter is any sort of ship or vessel that carries cargo, goods, and materials from one port to another. Thousands of cargo carriers ply the world's seas and oceans each year; they handle the bulk of international trade...
serving the Atlantic; during World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
she served with the United States Coast Guard
United States Coast Guard
The United States Coast Guard is a branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the seven U.S. uniformed services. The Coast Guard is a maritime, military, multi-mission service unique among the military branches for having a maritime law enforcement mission and a federal regulatory agency...
.
The Panama
Panama
Panama , officially the Republic of Panama , is the southernmost country of Central America. Situated on the isthmus connecting North and South America, it is bordered by Costa Rica to the northwest, Colombia to the southeast, the Caribbean Sea to the north and the Pacific Ocean to the south. The...
nian company Naviera San Miguel SA acquired the Medina in 1948; they renamed the ship the Roma, and converted her into a passenger ship with cabins for 287 people, and dormitories for an additional 694 people.
In 1952 Naviera San Miguel resold the Roma to Linea Costa
Costa Cruises
Costa Cruises is a British-American owned Italian cruise line, based in Genoa, Italy.Founded in 1924, the company originally operated cargo ships, until the introduction of passenger services in 1947, with regular services between Italy and South America...
, an Italian
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
company. At this time the SS Roma, a steamship, was converted into a motor vessel and renamed the MV Franca C. She carried passengers between Italy
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
and Argentina
Argentina
Argentina , officially the Argentine Republic , is the second largest country in South America by land area, after Brazil. It is constituted as a federation of 23 provinces and an autonomous city, Buenos Aires...
. In 1959, the Franca C was adapted into a cruise liner
Cruise ship
A cruise ship or cruise liner is a passenger ship used for pleasure voyages, where the voyage itself and the ship's amenities are part of the experience, as well as the different destinations along the way...
, principally cruising the Mediterranean.
Dale Rhoton
Dale Rhoton is an author of several books on Christian apologetics and missions and a founding member of Operation Mobilisation, with which he served many years with in the Middle East and Eastern Europe. Rhoton is President Emiretus of OM Ships.Rhoton met George Verwer at Maryville College...
(1978–1981). Under Gute Bücher für Alle ownership, she was manned by a volunteer crew and made sea port visits worldwide.
On August 11, 1991, during the final night of the MV Doulos stop in the southern Philippine port of Zamboanga City
Zamboanga City
The City of Zamboanga : is a highly urbanized, independent and a chartered city located in Mindanao, Philippines....
, two of her foreign crewmembers were killed when a grenade thrown by the Abu Sayyaf
Abu Sayyaf
Abu Sayyaf also known as al-Harakat al-Islamiyya is one of several military Islamist separatist groups based in and around the southern Philippines, in Bangsamoro where for almost 30 years various Muslim groups have been engaged in an insurgency for an independent province in the country...
members exploded on stage during a performance by its Christian
Christian
A Christian is a person who adheres to Christianity, an Abrahamic, monotheistic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus of Nazareth as recorded in the Canonical gospels and the letters of the New Testament...
volunteers. Four locals were killed and 32 others were injured, including several crew members of the missionary ship.
The MV Doulos held the biggest floating library in the world. Normally there were somewhere between 3000 to 5000 books on the shelves and half a million in the hold.
She made her last world tour in 2009 with a planned de-commissioning in 2010 before the SOLAS
International Convention for the Safety of Life at Sea
The International Convention for the Safety of Life at Sea is an international maritime safety treaty. The SOLAS Convention in its successive forms is generally regarded as the most important of all international treaties concerning the safety of merchant ships.- History :The first version of the...
regulations were to be introduced.
However, a survey conducted by the ship's classification society RINA
Registro Italiano Navale
"For over 140 years at the service of the shipping and industrial world."RINA was founded in Genoa in 1861 under the name REGISTRO ITALIANO NAVALE, by the "Associazione della Mutua Assicurazione Marittima" [established in Genoa in 1857 by ship managers and shipowners , to cover risks related to...
found that there were numerous significant problems and works with the ship's machinery, structure, and systems that would need to have been completed by December 31, 2009 in order for the ship's certificates to be re-issued and the ship to continue sailing. Because the shipyard servicing the Doulos would not accept the ship for repairs until September 2010 and the cost of the work would be a total in excess of 10 million euros, and the limited ministry that the MV Doulos would have after the repairs, OM decided to end Doulos Ministry at the end of 2009, instead of 2010 as originally planned.
On March 18, 2010, Doulos was handed over to her new owner, Mr Eric Shaw, Director and Chief Executive of BizNaz Resources International Pte Ltd in Singapore. The new owners plan on preserving the historic ship. She will be renamed Doulos Phos, or Servant Light, in this process.
Preservation plans
Decks A and B will be used as the hotel part of Doulos Phos. Two restaurants capable of seating 250 people each will be located on the Promenade deckPromenade deck
The promenade deck is a deck found on several types of passenger ships and riverboats. It usually extends from bow to stern, on both ddd,çsides, and includes areas open to the outside, resulting in a continuous outside walkway suitable for promenading, thus the name.On older passenger ships, the...
(where her dining room originally was) and the boat deck. Other future amenities include a deli
Delicatessen
Delicatessen is a term meaning "delicacies" or "fine foods". The word entered English via German,with the old German spelling , plural of Delikatesse "delicacy", ultimately from Latin delicatus....
, cafe
Café
A café , also spelled cafe, in most countries refers to an establishment which focuses on serving coffee, like an American coffeehouse. In the United States, it may refer to an informal restaurant, offering a range of hot meals and made-to-order sandwiches...
, wine and juice bars, a bookshop, banquet hall, meeting rooms, a bible school and a maritime museum
Maritime museum
A maritime museum is a museum specializing in the display of objects relating to ships and travel on large bodies of water...
. An amphitheater seating up to 70 people has been proposed.
Further reading
- Elaine Rhoton. (1997) The Doulos Story. Carlisle: OM Publishing ISBN 1850782695