Bound for alang

[Doc Vernon]

Vistafjord in Genoa with Maxim Gorki 1983.jpg

Update: Our good friend Luis Miguel Correia over in Lisbon sent current information on the Vistafjord/Caronia/Saga Ruby. We posted recently that the 44-year-old ship sailed out to Thailand as the Oasia and was to be refitted as a floating hotel in Burma. But those plans never materialized. We then reported that she was sold to Indian scrap merchants and was towed across the Indian Ocean, to Alang for final demolition.


But Luis reports that as the slightly renamed Oasis, the ship was plodding along at 8 knots under her own power in mid April. Once at Alang, she would be driven aground and then the scrapping would begin.


In the attached photo, the ship is seen as the Vistafjord, berthed at Genoa in 1983, and with another bygone cruise ship, the Maxim Gorky (ex-Hamburg) in the foreground,

[Des Taff Jenkins]

Hi Vernon.
That brought back some memories, second trip to sea in 49 we called into Genoa, I can't remember whether we discharged any cargo or loaded some, maybe discharged, as that soon after the war I don't think Italy had recovered enough to be exporting, we were on our way to Aus, with a cargo of cars, at that time they must have been Austin sevens ha ha.
Cheers Des

[Captain Kong]

Anne and I sailed on her when she was the Caronia, from Cape Town to Southampton in December 2001, a lovely ship., vi Walvis Bay and Swakopmond by bus, Ascension Island, Tenerife and Madeira.
She was sold soon after to become the SAGA RUBY.

Cheers
Brian

[Bryan Portwig]

Oasis x Saga Ruby at the breakers

oasis.jpg

[happy daze john in oz]

Looks a bit short and shaken there.

[j.sabourn]

That looks like Brian on the painting barge alongside, has he got job and finish,? have heard Brian they are changing the colour of the boottopping so may take a bit longer. JS

[happy daze john in oz]

No John, he is in the bar making sure there are no left overs.

[j.sabourn]

Thats a point John what happened to all the half empty or half full glasses left, were they put back into the barrels or bottles ? or were they mysteriously consumed by those with alcoholic tendencies. Im sure all those who make voyages as fare paying passengers would find it of interest. Cheers JS

[John Arton]

Off thread, but
The head bar tender on the Empress of Canada was always the first down the crew gangway on docking in Liverpool, he carried two big cricket bags full of spirits which he would flog to pubs. Apparently you get 35 shots of every bottle of spirits but the optics on board always dispensed short measures so the dregs in each bottle of individual spirits were drained into one bottle until he had a full bottle which he could then flog off to the pubs, after leaving one bottle behind for the customs, just one of the many scams that went on onboard the empress's, with back handers being received by senior staff and shore supers, especially in the catering side.
Rgds
J.A.

[happy daze john in oz]

In the days we owned the pubs there would always be overspill when pouring a pint.
That went into a tray and at the end of the day those trays were emptied back into the barrels.
Kegs actually all with a screw top that required a special tool to open them.
Got one made up by an unsuspecting customer, recon in any year it would save me about ten kegs of beer.