TS Maxim Gorkiy

Not to be confused with Soviet cruiser Maxim Gorky.

TS Maxim Gorkiy in Helsinki, Finland in June 2006.
History
Name
  • 1969–1973: Hamburg
  • 1973–1974: Hanseatic
  • 1974–1992: Maksim Gorkiy[1]
  • 1992–2009: Maxim Gorkiy
Namesake
Owner
Operator
  • 1969–1973: German Atlantic Line
  • 1973–1974: laid up
  • 1974–1988: Black Sea Shipping Company
  • 1988–2008: Phoenix Reisen[2][3]
Port of registry
OrderedNovember 1966[4]
BuilderHowaldtswerke-Deutsche Werft, Hamburg, West Germany[2]
Cost£ 5.6 million[5]
Yard number825[2]
Launched21 February 1968[2]
Acquired20 March 1969[2]
Maiden voyage28 March 1969[2]
In service28 March 1969[2]
IdentificationIMO number: 6810627
FateScrapped in Alang, India
General characteristics (as built)[2]
TypeOcean liner/cruise ship[6]
Tonnage
Length194.72 m (638 ft 10 in)
Beam26.57 m (87 ft 2 in)
Draught8.27 m (27 ft 2 in)
Depth16.40 m (53 ft 10 in)[7]
Ice class1 A[8]
Installed power
PropulsionTwin propellers[5]
Speed22 knots (41 km/h; 25 mph)
Capacity
  • 790 in planned liner service
  • 652 in cruise service[6]
General characteristics (2006)[5]
TypeCruise ship
Tonnage
Decks10 (passenger accessible)
Speed18 knots (33 km/h; 21 mph)[8]
Capacity788 passengers[2]
Crew340

TS Maxim Gorkiy was, until 30 November 2008, a cruise ship owned by Sovcomflot, Russia, under long-term charter to Phoenix Reisen, Germany.[3] She was built in 1969 by Howaldtswerke-Deutsche Werft, Hamburg, West Germany for the German Atlantic Line as TS Hamburg. In late 1973 she was very briefly renamed TS Hanseatic. The following year she was sold to the Black Sea Shipping Company, Soviet Union and received the name Maksim Gorkiy in honour of the writer Maxim Gorky, renamed to Maxim Gorkiy after the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991.[2][9]

On 20 August 2008 Maxim Gorkiy was sold to Orient Lines.[10] She was due to enter service with her new owners on 15 April 2009 under the name TS Marco Polo II,[11][12] but in November 2008 the relaunch of the Orient Lines brand was cancelled.[13] On 8 January 2009 the ship was sold for scrap,[14] and she was beached at Alang, India on 26 February 2009.[15]

Although never used as such, the ship was originally planned as a dual ocean liner/cruise ship, for service between Hamburg and New York City as well as cruising.[4][5][6] She was the first major passenger liner built in Germany since 1938.[4] On entering service for the Black Sea Shipping Company, she became the first four-star cruise ship operated under the Soviet flag.[16]

Several variants of the ship's name were used through her career. Some sources refer to her with the prefix TS (turbine ship) instead of SS (steamship),[3][4] while her final name Maxim Gorkiy was also written as Maksim Gorkiy and Maxim Gorki.[2][4] She should not be confused with any of the Soviet era cruise liners of the Ivan Franko class, the so-called "poet" or "writer" class, including the now scrapped Marco Polo.

  1. ^ Maksim Gorkiy – IMO 6810627
  2. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n Micke Asklander. "T/S Hamburg (1969)". Fakta om Fartyg (in Swedish). Retrieved 10 February 2008.
  3. ^ a b c d Doug Newman (27 November 2007). "Maxim Gorkiy Departure Confirmed". At Sea with Doug Newman. Retrieved 10 February 2008.
  4. ^ a b c d e Boyle, Ian. "Hamburg – Maxim Gorkiy". Simplon Postcards. Retrieved 10 February 2008.
  5. ^ a b c d Ward, Douglas (2006). Complete Guide to Cruising & Cruise Ships. Singapore: Berlitz. pp. 389–390. ISBN 981-246-739-4.
  6. ^ a b c Dawson, Philip (2005). The Liner: Retrospective and Renaissance. Conway. pp. 215–217. ISBN 978-1-84486-049-4.
  7. ^ "Maksim Gor'kiji". The Soviet Fleet. infoflot.ru. Archived from the original on 28 October 2007. Retrieved 4 March 2008.
  8. ^ a b "Maxim Gorkiy". Sovcomflot. Archived from the original on 23 July 2011. Retrieved 11 February 2008.
  9. ^ de Boer, Bart (15 September 2007). "Maxim Gorkiy – Living history". Ship Parade. Retrieved 11 February 2008.
  10. ^ "Orient Lines buy Maxim Gorkiy". Cruise Business Review. Cruise Media Oy Ltd. 20 August 2008. Retrieved 20 August 2008. [dead link‍]
  11. ^ "2009 Cruise Itinerary Calendar". Orient Lines. Archived from the original on 22 January 2009. Retrieved 20 August 2008.
  12. ^ "Marco Polo II > Ship Info". Orient Lines. Archived from the original on 6 August 2002. Retrieved 20 August 2008.
  13. ^ "Orient Lines delays launch". Cruise Business Review. Cruise Media Oy Ltd. 19 November 2008. Archived from the original on 5 December 2008. Retrieved 20 November 2008.
  14. ^ ""Space Ship" To Be Scrapped". Maritime Matters. 8 January 2009. Archived from the original on 22 August 2008. Retrieved 9 January 2009.
  15. ^ "Gorkiy Gallows". Maritime Matters. 26 February 2009. Archived from the original on 25 December 2007. Retrieved 27 February 2009.
  16. ^ Ulrich, Kurt. Monarchs of the Seas. Tauris Parke. p. 191. ISBN 1-86064-373-6.