''Amerikanis'', formerly ''Kenya Castle'', was a UK-built steam turbine

ocean liner An ocean liner is a passenger ship primarily used as a form of 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). C ...

that became a Greek-owned

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 know ...

Building

Harland and Wolff Harland & Wolff is a British shipbuilding company based in Belfast, Northern Ireland. It specialises in ship repair, shipbuilding and offshore construction. Harland & Wolff is famous for having built the majority of the ocean liners for the ...

built ''Kenya Castle'' in

Belfast Belfast ( , ; from ga, Béal Feirste , meaning 'mouth of the sand-bank ford') is the capital and largest city of Northern Ireland, standing on the banks of the River Lagan on the east coast. It is the 12th-largest city in the United Kingd ...

Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ga, Tuaisceart Éireann ; sco, label=Ulster-Scots, Norlin Airlann) is a part of the United Kingdom, situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, that is variously described as a country, province or region. North ...

, completing her in 1952 for the

Union-Castle Line The Union-Castle Line was a British shipping line that operated a fleet of passenger liners and cargo ships between Europe and Africa from 1900 to 1977. It was formed from the merger of the Union Line and Castle Shipping Line. It merged with ...

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. She had one-class accommodation for about 530 passengers, and considerable refrigerated and general cargo capacity. She was the second of a trio of sister ships built between 1950 and 1953, the others being and .

Passenger and cargo service to Africa

''Kenya Castle'' began service on Union-Castle's route around Africa from London in March 1952. However by 1962, due to dwindling patronage, the voyages were terminated at

Durban Durban ( ) ( zu, eThekwini, from meaning 'the port' also called zu, eZibubulungwini for the mountain range that terminates in the area), nicknamed ''Durbs'',Ishani ChettyCity nicknames in SA and across the worldArticle on ''news24.com'' from ...

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the north by the neighbouring count ...

. ''Kenya Castle'' and her sister ships then retraced their (now all eastward) journeys back to Britain ''via'' the Suez Canal. During an early 1960s refit the passenger complement was reduced to 446, while technical upgrades included the ship's funnel being raised by the fitting of a streamlined, ventilated dome. Faced with continual decline in demand for its services, Union-Castle withdrew all three sister ships from the Africa trade in 1965–67, each vessel having operated for around 15 years. ''Kenya Castle'' was laid up in the

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in early 1967, while her sisters went for scrap.

Conversion and cruising career

In July 1967 the

Chandris Chandris Line was a Greece-based shipping company founded in 1960 by Anthony Chandris to operate ocean liners between Greece and Australia.#Plowman, Plowman (2006–1). pp. 5–6. Initially the company also traded under the names ''Greek Australia ...

shipping family (now

Celebrity Cruises Celebrity Cruises is a cruise line headquartered in Miami, Florida and a wholly owned subsidiary of Royal Caribbean Group. Celebrity Cruises was founded in 1988 by the Greece-based Chandris Group, and merged with Royal Caribbean Cruise Line ...

), bought ''Kenya Castle'' and renamed her ''Amerikanis'' ("American maiden"). She went to

Greece Greece,, or , romanized: ', officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the southern tip of the Balkans, and is located at the crossroads of Europe, Asia, and Africa. Greece shares land borders wit ...

to be refitted as a full-time

. Her cargo holds were replaced with additional cabins, increasing passenger capacity to about 920. She became known for being the first passenger ship to have a television in every cabin. All public rooms were refurbished in contemporary European style. Her hull was repainted white. Other than the removal of cargo handling gear, ''Amerikanis'' retained much of her original profile. Costa cruise ship docked on Lake Mabel at Port Everglades

Costa cruise ship docked on Lake Mabel at Port Everglades

While intended to work trans-Atlantic cruises in her first season, delays to her refit caused ''Amerikanis'' to go directly into an autumn 1968 programme between

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

and

Bermuda ) , anthem = " God Save the King" , song_type = National song , song = "Hail to Bermuda" , image_map = , map_caption = , image_map2 = , mapsize2 = , map_caption2 = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = , ...

. She later moved to the Caribbean, based at

Puerto Rico Puerto Rico (; abbreviated PR; tnq, Boriken, ''Borinquen''), officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico ( es, link=yes, Estado Libre Asociado de Puerto Rico, lit=Free Associated State of Puerto Rico), is a Caribbean island and Unincorporated ...

for the northern winter and operating

Mediterranean Sea The Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean, surrounded by the Mediterranean Basin and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Western and Southern Europe and Anatolia, on the south by North Africa, and on the ...

cruises in the summer. Retaining her name, ''Amerikanis'' was leased to the Italian operators

Costa Cruises S.p.A. (), operating as Costa Cruises, is an Italian cruise line founded in 1854 and organized as a wholly owned subsidiary of Carnival Corporation & plc since 2000. Based in Genoa, Italy, the cruise line primarily caters to the Italian cruise ...

(vessel remained owned by Chandris) from 1980 to 1984. For this charter her funnel was re-painted yellow with Costa's trademark blue "C". After regaining the distinctive white Chandris "X" ("Ch" – for Chandris – in the Greek alphabet) on her blue funnel, ''Amerikanis'' served for another 12 years.

Disposal

In 1996 ''Amerikanis'' was laid up in Greece while decisions were made about her future. Nothing materialized and she was sold for scrap in 2001, arriving at Alang breakers yard in India, on 12 June 2001.

References

External links

* by a former employee {{DEFAULTSORT:Amerikanis, SS 1951 ships Passenger ships of Greece Passenger ships of the United Kingdom Ships built by Harland and Wolff Ships built in Belfast Ships of Costa Cruises Ships of the Union-Castle Line Steamships of Greece Steamships of the United Kingdom