MV ''Astoria'' is a ship that was constructed as the transatlantic

ocean liner An ocean liner is a type of passenger ship primarily used for transportation across seas or oceans. Ocean liners may also carry cargo or mail, and may sometimes be used for other purposes (such as for pleasure cruises or as hospital ships). The ...

''Stockholm'' for

Swedish American Line Swedish American Line (, abbr. SAL) was a Swedish passenger shipping line. It was founded in December 1914 under the name Rederiaktiebolaget Sverige-Nordamerika and began ocean liner service from Gothenburg to New York City, New York in 1915. ...

, and rebuilt as a

cruise ship Cruise ships are large passenger ships used mainly for vacationing. Unlike ocean liners, which are used for transport, cruise ships typically embark on round-trip voyages to various ports of call, where passengers may go on Tourism, tours k ...

in 1993. Ordered in 1944, and commenced service in 1948, at 77 years old, she is the oldest deep water passenger liner available for service, though currently not active pending sale. As ''Stockholm'', she was best known for an accidental collision with ''Andrea Doria'' in July 1956, resulting in the sinking of the latter ship and 46 fatalities off the coast of

Nantucket Nantucket () is an island in the state of Massachusetts in the United States, about south of the Cape Cod peninsula. Together with the small islands of Tuckernuck Island, Tuckernuck and Muskeget Island, Muskeget, it constitutes the Town and Co ...

, Massachusetts, United States. During her seven decades of service she has passed through several owners and sailed under the names ''Stockholm'', ''Völkerfreundschaft'', ''Volker'', ''Fridtjof Nansen'', ''Italia I'', ''Italia Prima'', ''Valtur Prima'', ''Caribe'', ''Athena'', and ''Azores'' before beginning service as ''Astoria'' in March 2016. ''Astoria'' sailed with Cruise & Maritime Voyages until 2020 when the company suspended operations due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

and has been laid up since.

MS ''Stockholm''

The ship was ordered in 1944, and launched 9 September 1946, as ''Stockholm'' by

Götaverken Götaverken was a Swedish shipbuilding company that was located on Hisingen, Gothenburg. It was founded in 1841, and ceased building ships in 1989. History The company was founded in 1841 by Scottish businessman Alexander Keiller (Gothenburg), Ale ...

Gothenburg Gothenburg ( ; ) is the List of urban areas in Sweden by population, second-largest city in Sweden, after the capital Stockholm, and the fifth-largest in the Nordic countries. Situated by the Kattegat on the west coast of Sweden, it is the gub ...

for the Swedish America Line (SAL). The ship was designed by Swedish American Line designer, Eric Christiansson, who worked as the technical director at parent company Broström. She was the fourth ship named ''Stockholm'' for Swedish American Line, but the second of the four to actually sail under the name (See: MS ''Stockholm'' (1941)). When ''Stockholm'' III was sold to the Italians, the proceeds were initially left aside, but were later used to finance the construction of the ship after the 1941 Stockholm was sunk during the war. At with a gross register tonnage of 12,165, ''Stockholm'' at the time was the smallest passenger ship operating on the

North Atlantic The Atlantic Ocean is the second largest of the world's five oceanic divisions, with an area of about . It covers approximately 17% of Earth's surface and about 24% of its water surface area. During the Age of Discovery, it was known for ...

route, but the largest passenger ship built in

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. It borders Norway to the west and north, and Finland to the east. At , Sweden is the largest Nordic count ...

, with the largest diesel propulsion unit yet built in Sweden. Originally designed to carry a total of 395 passengers, divided between first and tourist class, and a cargo capacity of 3,000 tons. Interiors were completed by Swedish artists, including Kurt Jungstedt. When delivered, the ship would replace the aging SS ''Drottningholm'', and run an alternating transatlantic service with MS ''Gripsholm''. She made he
maiden voyage
on February 21, 1948, under the command of Captain Waldemar Jonsson, from Gothenburg arriving in New York on March 1. The ''Stockholm'' would continue to sail the transatlantic route, later joined by the new MS ''Kungsholm'' (1952). A 1953 refit expanded ''Stockholm's'' capacity to 548 people by infilling the outdoor aft and forward end of "A" Deck with passenger cabins. Due to the small size, and not handling the North Atlantic seas very well during the colder months, the Swedish American Line scheduled her for occasional cruises starting in 1953 out of

Morehead City, North Carolina Morehead City is a port city in Carteret County, North Carolina, Carteret County, North Carolina, United States. The population was 8,661 at the 2010 United States Census, 2010 census. Morehead City celebrated the 150th anniversary of its foundi ...

cruising to

Havana Havana (; ) is the capital and largest city of Cuba. The heart of La Habana Province, Havana is the country's main port and commercial center.Nassau, and

Bermuda Bermuda is a British Overseas Territories, British Overseas Territory in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic Ocean. The closest land outside the territory is in the American state of North Carolina, about to the west-northwest. Bermuda is an ...

. In February 1955, she was used to deport Arne Pettersen, the last person to go through

Ellis Island Ellis Island is an island in New York Harbor, within the U.S. states of New Jersey and New York (state), New York. Owned by the U.S. government, Ellis Island was once the busiest immigrant inspection and processing station in the United State ...

, to

. A later refit in 1956/57 added a cinema to the deck forward end of the main superstructure, and an outdoor pool aft. With both MS ''Kungsholm'' and the new MS ''Gripsholm'' (1957) sailing, the smaller ''Stockholm'' was started to be seen as too small and not meeting the current standards of the line. The ship was sold in May 1959 to, at the time, an unidentified German company. The ship would finish out the year sailing with Swedish American Line to New York, before being transferred in 1960 to the new company.

Collision with ''Andrea Doria''

On the night of July 25, 1956, at 11:10 p.m., in heavy fog in the North

Atlantic Ocean The Atlantic Ocean is the second largest of the world's five borders of the oceans, oceanic divisions, with an area of about . It covers approximately 17% of Earth#Surface, Earth's surface and about 24% of its water surface area. During the ...

off the coast of

, ''Stockholm'' and ''

Andrea Doria Andrea Doria, Prince of Melfi (; ; 30 November 146625 November 1560) was an Italian statesman, ', and admiral, who played a key role in the Republic of Genoa during his lifetime. From 1528 until his death, Doria exercised a predominant influe ...

'' of the

Italian Line Known as Italian Line and from 1992 Italia Line, whose official name was Italia di Navigazione Società per Azioni, S.p.A., was a passenger shipping line that operated regular transatlantic crossing, transatlantic services between Italy and the ...

collided in what was to become one of history's most notorious 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 ''Andrea Doria''

lifeboats Lifeboat may refer to: Rescue vessels * Lifeboat (shipboard), a small craft aboard a ship to allow for emergency escape * Lifeboat (rescue), a boat designed for sea rescues * Airborne lifeboat, an air-dropped boat used to save downed airmen ...

were unusable. However, a number of ships, including SS ''Ile de France'', responded and provided assistance, which averted a massive loss of life. Five members of ''Stockholm''s crew were killed instantly, and several more were trapped in the wrecked bow. Despite having lost about of

freeboard In sailing and boating, a vessel's freeboard is the distance from the waterline to the upper deck level, measured at the lowest point of sheer where water can enter the boat or ship. In commercial vessels, the latter criterion measured relativ ...

, the crippled ''Stockholm'' helped in the rescue and ended up carrying 327 passengers and 245 crew members from ''Andrea Doria'', in addition to her own passengers and crew. After the ships had separated, and as ''Stockholm'' crew members were beginning to survey the damage, one of the crew came across Linda Morgan, who had been thrown from her bed on ''Andrea Doria'' as the two ships collided and landed on ''Stockholm''s deck, suffering moderate but not life-threatening injuries. After ''Andrea Doria'' sank, ''Stockholm'' sailed to

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

under her own power and arrived on July 27. There, the crushed bow portion was rebuilt at a cost of

US$ The United States dollar (Currency symbol, symbol: Dollar sign, $; ISO 4217, currency code: USD) is the official currency of the United States and International use of the U.S. dollar, several other countries. The Coinage Act of 1792 introdu ...

1 million three months later at

Bethlehem Shipyard Bethlehem Steel Corporation Shipbuilding Division was created in 1905 when the Bethlehem Steel Corporation of Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, acquired the San Francisco-based shipyard Union Iron Works. In 1917, it was incorporated as Bethlehem Shipbuil ...

Brooklyn Brooklyn is a Boroughs of New York City, borough of New York City located at the westernmost end of Long Island in the New York (state), State of New York. Formerly an independent city, the borough is coextensive with Kings County, one of twelv ...

, New York. An inquiry followed the events, with a settlement reached after 6 months between the Italian Line and Swedish American Line. However, Stockholm's commander, Captain Gunnar Nordenson, was absolved of all guilt because Andrea Doria's captain Piero Calamai gave the order to turn to port at the meeting, when according to standard he should have turned to starboard.

Wreckage from collision

Ship's bell

Years following the collision, ''Andrea Doria'' became a popular dive site. In 1959, ''Stockholm''s damaged ship's bell was recovered from the wreck site. Today it is displayed onboard in the ship's lobby.

Discovery of the bow wreckage

In September 2020, New Jersey–based Atlantic Wreck Salvage announced that their ship, D/V ''Tenacious'', had discovered ''Stockholm''s bow and anchors. The divers made the confirmation based on the presence and unique style of both anchors, internal bow reinforcements, accordion-style crumpling on the wreckage in the same pattern as seen in photos of ''Stockholm'' after the collision, and the location of the wreckage near ''Andrea Doria''s final resting place.

East German ship ''Völkerfreundschaft''

On 3 January 1960, ''Stockholm'' was transferred to the

East German East Germany, officially known as the German Democratic Republic (GDR), was a country in Central Europe from its formation on 7 October 1949 until its reunification with West Germany (FRG) on 3 October 1990. Until 1989, it was generally vie ...

government for 20 million

Swedish krona The krona (; plural: ''kronor''; sign: kr; code: SEK) is the currency of Sweden. Both the ISO code "SEK" and currency sign "kr" are in common use for the krona; the former precedes or follows the value, the latter usually follows it but, espec ...

, renaming the ship ''Völkerfreundschaft'' (" friendship between nations") operating under the line

Deutsche Seereederei AIDA Cruises is a German cruise line founded in the early 1960s and organized as a wholly owned subsidiary of Costa Crociere S.p.A., which in turn belongs to Carnival Corporation & plc. Based in Rostock, Germany, AIDA Cruises caters primarily to ...

(German Shipping Company), a precursor of

AIDA Cruises AIDA Cruises is a German cruise line founded in the early 1960s and organized as a wholly owned subsidiary of Costa Crociere S.p.A., which in turn belongs to Carnival Corporation & plc. Based in Rostock, Germany, AIDA Cruises caters primaril ...

. ''Völkerfreundschaft'' made her new maiden voyage on February 23, 1960, and was home-ported in

Rostock Rostock (; Polabian language, Polabian: ''Roztoc''), officially the Hanseatic and University City of Rostock (), is the largest city in the German States of Germany, state of Mecklenburg-Vorpommern and lies in the Mecklenburgian part of the sta ...

, Germany, eventually operating in tandem with the newly built ''

Fritz Heckert Friedrich "Fritz" Carl Heckert (28 March 1884 – 7 April 1936) was a German people, German trade unionist and politician who co-founded the Spartacus League and the Communist Party of Germany. He was a member of the Reichstag (Weimar Republic), ...

''. When the Berlin wall went up in 1961, all ports were restricted to communist countries only, which greatly limited sailing routes. The ship made trips to Cuba, and would be one of the two ships that was en route to Havana during the

Cuban Missile Crisis The Cuban Missile Crisis, also known as the October Crisis () in Cuba, or the Caribbean Crisis (), was a 13-day confrontation between the governments of the United States and the Soviet Union, when American deployments of Nuclear weapons d ...

, where she was suspiciously watched by US military planes and vessels. The ship was already halfway to Havana, and it was necessary to continue to resupply and refuel. Carrying German and Czech holidaymakers, she passed through the American blockade line, accompanied by a United States Navy destroyer at a distance of two nautical miles. The vessel reached Havana unscathed, quickly turning back to East Germany after her arrival. In 1964 the ship was put under the management of the

Free German Trade Union Federation The Free German Trade Union Federation ( or ''FDGB'') was the sole national trade union centre of the German Democratic Republic (GDR or East Germany) which existed from 1946 to 1990. As a mass organisation of the GDR, nominally representing al ...

, but would be chartered out to western European countries for a majority of the year. This would be expanded in 1967, with

Stena Line Stena Line is a Swedish Shipping line, shipping line company and one of the world's largest ferry operators. It services Denmark, France, Germany, the United Kingdom, Ireland, Latvia, the Netherlands, Poland, Finland and Sweden. Stena Line is a ...

chartering the ship for Swedish passengers for half of the year, doing within annually until the ship was sold in 1985 due to its age and continued losses, which reached 70 million

East German mark The East German mark ( ), commonly called the eastern mark ( ) in West Germany and after German reunification, reunification, was the currency of the East Germany, German Democratic Republic (East Germany). Its ISO 4217, ISO 4217 currency code w ...

s between 1975 and 1980.

Appearance in East German disaster movie

''Völkerfreundschaft'' made an appearance as the luxury liner ''Astoria'' in the 1979 East German Film Die Rache des Kapitäns Mitchell. In the movie, she collides with a coal freighter in fog and threatens to sink. Captain Mitchell, portrayed by

Dieter Mann Dieter Mann (20 June 1941 – 3 February 2022) was a German actor, director, university professor, and radio personality. In his career, he acted in several theater productions and in over 140 film and television productions. Between 1984 and 19 ...

, organizes the orderly rescue of passengers.

Incidents during East German service

The ship saw multiple incidents during her service under the Deutsche Seereederei. In 1968, the Bundesmarine

submarine chaser A submarine chaser or subchaser is a type of small naval vessel that is specifically intended for anti-submarine warfare. They encompass designs that are now largely obsolete, but which played an important role in the wars of the first half of th ...

''Najade'' rammed the vessel during its rescue of East German defector Manfred Semmig, who had fallen into the sea while attempting to escape the vessel via a clothesline. The ship had made an unexpected turn after Semming had fallen into the sea, resulting in a collision as ''Najade'' attempted to avoid running over the man. Tilting nearly 30 degrees after its collision with ''Völkerfreundschaft,'' ''Najade'' recovered and safely rescued the defector. This was followed by an incident in 1970 where a machinist and three medical researchers leapt off the Cuba-bound ship near the Florida Keys and was rescued by a small boat driven by the machinist's brother. On January 21, 1983, the ship collided with West German Navy submarine ''U-26'' in the Baltic Sea off the

Fehmarn Belt Fehmarn Belt () (, former spelling ''Femer Bælt''; ) is a strait connecting the Bay of Kiel and the Bay of Mecklenburg in the western part of the Baltic Sea between the German island of Fehmarn and the Danish island of Lolland. Ferries ...

. Sailing on surface in rough seas, the commander of the submarine ordered the boat to be navigated via periscope and without the use of radar – a common procedure at the time during the Cold War in the vicinity of naval vessels of the Warsaw Pact. A court of lay judges in Kiel later judged that this accident could have been avoided with radar. Damages to ''U-26'' cost multiple millions of West German Marks in repairs.

Norwegian barracks ship ''Fridtjof Nansen''

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 Southampton is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and unitary authority in Hampshire, England. It is located approximately southwest of London, west of Portsmouth, and southeast of Salisbury. Southampton had a population of 253, ...

, England. In 1985 the ship was renamed ''Fridtjof Nansen'' was later used as a barracks ship in

Oslo Oslo ( or ; ) is the capital and most populous city of Norway. It constitutes both a county and a municipality. The municipality of Oslo had a population of in 2022, while the city's greater urban area had a population of 1,064,235 in 2022 ...

for

asylum seekers An asylum seeker is a person who leaves their country of residence, enters another country, and makes in that other country a formal application for the right of asylum according to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights Article 14. A pers ...

in Norway.

Rebuilding into a modern cruise ship

In 1989, ex-''Stockholm'' was officially sold to the Italian Star Lauro Lines, who intended to convert the liner into a luxury cruise ship. The ship was still under charter as the ''Fridtjof Nansen'', and so remained in Oslo until 1993. The ship was towed to a shipyard in

Genoa Genoa ( ; ; ) is a city in and the capital of the Italian region of Liguria, and the sixth-largest city in Italy. As of 2025, 563,947 people live within the city's administrative limits. While its metropolitan city has 818,651 inhabitan ...

, Italy, ''Andrea Doria'' home port; but when she arrived, the press labeled her "the ship of death" (''La nave della morte'') due to the collision with ''Andrea Doria''. During conversion, it was discovered that the ex-''Stockholm'' was in very good condition. She was completely gutted on the interior, and rebuilt from the promenade deck up. New diesel engines were installed, and a new bridge was built, extending the superstructure forward. The aft decks were built up, giving her a more modern cruise ship profile. A large ducktail was added that significantly altered the stern appearance. Although not very recognizable from her original appearance as ''Stockholm;'' many elements such as the bow and anchor, hull window arrangement, passenger lifts and stair locations, and the distinct double porthole dining room windows, were all visible traits from the original ''Stockholm'' design.

Cruise ship

''Italia I – Italia Prima – Valtur Prima''

Following the completion of the refit in 1994, ship was named ''Italia I'', then ''Italia Prima'', she later sailed as ''Valtur Prima'' primarily to Cuba, and was laid up in Havana following the

September 11 Attacks The September 11 attacks, also known as 9/11, were four coordinated Islamist terrorist suicide attacks by al-Qaeda against the United States in 2001. Nineteen terrorists hijacked four commercial airliners, crashing the first two into ...

''Caribe''

The ship was chartered by

Festival Cruises Festival Cruises (known as First European Cruises in North America) was a Greece-based cruise line that operated between 1994 and 2004. It was founded in 1992 by the Greek entrepreneur George Poulides using second-hand ships. The company acquired ...

in 2002 for a five-year period and was renamed ''Caribe.'' Although Festival Cruises intended to sail to Cuba on seven-day cruises, the plans fell through and the ship was sold to a Portuguese-based operator in 2004.

''Athena''

In 2005 the ''Caribe'' was renamed ''Athena'', being registered in Portugal. She was reflagged to Cyprus operating for Classic International Cruises. On a transatlantic cruise in October 2006 the ship was caught in two violent hurricanes, causing a fatality and passengers threatening mutiny. The ship later safely arrived in Halifax, before continuing on to New York. Upon arrival, the

New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

approximated her arrival to '''the convict sentenced to 50 years for murder who completes his sentence and revisits the scene of the crime.

Pirate attack

On December 3, 2008 ''Athena'' was attacked by

pirates Piracy is an act of robbery or criminal violence by ship or boat-borne attackers upon another ship or a coastal area, typically with the goal of stealing cargo and valuable goods, or taking hostages. Those who conduct acts of piracy are call ...

in the

Gulf of Aden The Gulf of Aden (; ) is a deepwater gulf of the Indian Ocean between Yemen to the north, the Arabian Sea to the east, Djibouti to the west, and the Guardafui Channel, the Socotra Archipelago, Puntland in Somalia and Somaliland to the south. ...

. Reportedly, 29 pirate boats surrounded the ship at one stage until a

US Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the naval warfare, maritime military branch, service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is the world's most powerful navy with the largest Displacement (ship), displacement, at 4.5 millio ...

P-3 Orion The Lockheed P-3 Orion is a four-engined, turboprop anti-submarine and maritime surveillance aircraft developed for the United States Navy and introduced in the 1960s. It is based on the L-188 Electra commercial airliner by Lockheed; it is e ...

maritime patrol aircraft circled above which caused 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, continuing her voyage to Australia. In 2009 the ship was chartered to German cruise operator Phoenix Reisen and repainted in the company colors with a turquoise funnel and company logo. On September 17, 2012, reports announced that she and her fellow ship ''Princess Danae'' were detained in

Marseille Marseille (; ; see #Name, below) is a city in southern France, the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Departments of France, department of Bouches-du-Rhône and of the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur Regions of France, region. Situated in the ...

, France, for unpaid fuel bills.

''Azores''

Early in 2013 ''Athena'' was bought by the recently created Portuguese cruise company Portuscale Cruises and renamed ''Azores''. As soon as her acquisition was confirmed, she was taken to a shipyard in Marseille, where she was revamped. She then entered Portuscale Cruises service after completing a charter for Berlin-based Ambiente Kreuzfahrten, from whom she was chartered to Classic International to join her fleetmate ''Princess Daphne''. Azores at Pier 25 in Tallinn 19 May 2014

The charter began in March 2014 with a cruise from

Lisbon Lisbon ( ; ) is the capital and largest city of Portugal, with an estimated population of 567,131, as of 2023, within its administrative limits and 3,028,000 within the Lisbon Metropolitan Area, metropolis, as of 2025. Lisbon is mainlan ...

, Portugal, to

Bremerhaven Bremerhaven (; ) is a city on the east bank of the Weser estuary in northern Germany. It forms an exclave of the Bremen (state), city-state of Bremen. The Geeste (river), River Geeste flows through the city before emptying into the Weser. Brem ...

, Germany, and concluded in November 2014 in Genoa, Italy. After Portuscale's collapse, the administrator of the ship's formal owner, Island Cruises—Transportes Marítimos, Unipessoal Ltda., secured a charter to Cruise & Maritime Voyages (CMV). Her first voyage was from

Avonmouth Docks The Avonmouth Docks are part of the Port of Bristol, in England. They are situated on the northern side of the mouth of the River Avon, Bristol, River Avon, opposite the Royal Portbury Dock on the southern side, where the river joins the River S ...

to the Caribbean in January 2015. In April 2015, she was blocked from port due to unpaid debts, stranding passengers aboard until the issue was resolved.

''Astoria''

In March 2016 the ship was renamed ''Astoria'' by Cruise & Maritime Voyages and from May 2016 until March 2017 was subchartered to French tour operator Rivages du Monde. Since 2016, ''Astoria'' is the last remaining vessel of the former Swedish American Line still afloat, after the former ''Kungsholm'' was scrapped in 2016. In June 2016, it was announced that ''Astoria'' would be leaving the CMV fleet after her final cruise on April 27, 2017 from London Tilbury. In February 2017, CMV announced that ''Astoria'' would remain in the CMV fleet until 2018. She would offer a mini-season from London Tilbury, before being charted by Rivages du Monde during the summer months. ''Astoria'' was scheduled to begin winter cruising the

Sea of Cortez The Gulf of California (), also known as the Sea of Cortés (''Mar de Cortés'') or Sea of Cortez, or less commonly as the Vermilion Sea (''Mar Vermejo''), is a marginal sea of the Pacific Ocean that separates the Baja California peninsula from ...

from the port of Puerto Peñasco (Rocky Point) Mexico from December 2019, but this sailing only took place until January 2020 due to unspecified delays in dry dock. The 2020 cruise season was intended to be the last for ''Astoria'' in the CMV fleet. During the

Covid-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

and the bankruptcy of CMV, 47 crew members of the Astoria began a hunger strike demanding the wages owed to them and repatriation home in mid-June, after weeks of appealing to CMV proved fruitless. Subsequently, the vessel was arrested by UK

Maritime & Coastguard Agency The Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MCA) is an executive agency of the United Kingdom that is responsible for implementing British and international maritime law and safety policy. It works to prevent the loss of lives at sea and to prevent mar ...

officers in June 2020 following reports she was about to set sail and leave UK jurisdiction without arranging the repatriation of foreign crew members stranded in the UK by the

. CMV entered administration in 2020. ''Astoria'' was later moved to

Rotterdam Rotterdam ( , ; ; ) is the second-largest List of cities in the Netherlands by province, city in the Netherlands after the national capital of Amsterdam. It is in the Provinces of the Netherlands, province of South Holland, part of the North S ...

in December 2020 and put up for auction on 1 March 2021, with a minimum sale price of €10 million, but received no offers until July 2021. The ship remained in custody pending decisions by owners and creditors.

Sale and continued dormancy

In July 2021, the ship was purchased by The Roundtable LLC, a Puerto Rico–based affiliate of

Brock Pierce Brock Jeffrey Pierce (born November 14, 1980) is an American entrepreneur known primarily for his work in the cryptocurrency industry and as the co-founder of Tether (cryptocurrency), Tether. As a child actor, he starred in the Disney films ''The ...

, who also acquired ''Funchal''. The new owner intended to return ''Astoria'' to service, and convert ''Funchal'' to a

hotelship A hotelship is a passenger ship which is used for a period as a hotel. A botel or boatel is a boat that serves as a hotel or hostel. Currently there are few permanent hotel ships. The word is a portmanteau of boat and hotel. Botels may range fr ...

. After the ship broke loose of her moorings in February 2022 and crashed into the container ship ''Seatrade Orange'' during a storm, in March those plans were abandoned and the ship was again made available for sale, never having left port in Rotterdam. By December 2022, the ship was listed on sale in the online yacht sale platform Yachtworld for merely $5 million. After rumours of a scrap sale, ''Astoria''s owner confirmed in January 2023 that they were still attempting to make a sale for continued trading. As of April 2025, the ship remains laid up in Rotterdam.

References

External links

Film: MS Stockholm Maiden VoyageTribute to Swedish American LineInside historical cruise ship MV Astoria , Fully explored
{{DEFAULTSORT:Astoria Maritime accidents involving fog Ocean liners Cruise ships of Portugal Maritime incidents in 1956 Piracy in Somalia 1946 ships Ships built in Gothenburg Merchant ships of Sweden Passenger ships of Sweden Merchant ships of East Germany Passenger ships of East Germany Merchant ships of Panama Passenger ships of Panama Merchant ships of Italy Passenger ships of Italy Merchant ships of Portugal Passenger ships of Portugal Maritime incidents in the United States Ships of Swedish American Line