SS ''Dolphin IV'' (formerly ''Zion'' of
Zim Lines
Zim Integrated Shipping Services Ltd., commonly known as ZIM ( he, צים, ''tsim''; a biblical word meaning "a fleet of ships", Numbers 24:24), is a Public company, publicly held Israeli international List of largest container shipping ...
), was built in
Germany
Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG),, is a country in Central Europe. It is the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany lies between the Baltic and North Sea to the north and the Alps to the sou ...
as
war reparations
War reparations are compensation payments made after a war by one side to the other. They are intended to cover damage or injury inflicted during a war.
History
Making one party pay a war indemnity is a common practice with a long history.
...
for
Israel
Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...
in 1956. She subsequently sailed as ''Amelia De Melo'' and ''Ithaca''. In 1978, the ship was renamed ''Dolphin IV'' when she sailed under sales and marketing agreement for
Paquet Ulysses Cruises, which was part of Paquet French Cruises. The owners of Ulysses Cruises/Florida Nautica made the decision in 1984 to handle the sales and marketing for the ship. This is when
Dolphin Cruise Lines was created. The ship has retained her name through her most recent sale to
Cape Canaveral Cruise Line in 1995.
The ship remained in operation for Cape Canaveral Cruise Line until September 2000 when it was forced out of service because it needed 3.5 million dollars in required maintenance.
The cruise line was unable to secure another vessel and it was unable to afford or receive funding for the needed repairs. As a result, the ship was forced to lay up at
Freeport, Bahamas
Freeport is a city, district and free trade zone on the island of Grand Bahama of the northwest Bahamas. In 1955, Wallace Groves, a Virginian financier with lumber interests in Grand Bahama, was granted of pineyard with substantial areas of s ...
for three years awaiting repairs. Due to the state of disrepair of fresh water and sewage holding facilities, the ship was sold for scrap in 2003.
References
Cruise ships
Ships built in Hamburg
Passenger ships of Israel
1955 ships
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