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| Mv Roi Baudouin / Georgios B / Georgios Express | |||
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© Fotoflite, Roy Thornton Collection Steel twin screw motor vessel, built by Cockerill’s of Hoboken for the Belgian Marine Administration’s Ostend service in 1965 (Yard No. 828). Engined by Sulzer Bros. Ltd., Winterthur. Launched February 13th 1965. D i m e n s i o n s / T e c h n i c a l D a t a IMO Number - 6510851 Registry - Oostende, Belgium (1965 - 1983), Piraeus Length on deck - 117.84m (386.7 ft) (overall) 110.62m (362.9 ft) (between perpendiculars) Breadth of hull - 15.98m (52.4 ft) (extreme) Depth - 5.31m (17.4 ft) (moulded) Draught - 4.00m (12.4 ft) (maximum) Tonnage - 3,241 gross (1965), 3,023 (1972) 1,762 net, 1,318 (1983) 477 deadweight, 809 (1983) Engines - Two 12-cylinder Sulzer two-stroke single acting diesels Power - 7,061 kW Speed - 21 knots Capacity - 850 passengers, 160 cars (1965) 1,700 passengers, 190 cars (1972) Call Sign - ORAD (1965 - 1983), SWAT (July 1983 -) H i s t o r y / R e m a r k s February 13th 1965: Launched.June 1965: Delivered to Belgian Marine Administration, Oostende, Belgium.June 13th 1965: Commenced service between Ostend - Dover. May 29th 1968: Inaugural arrival at Parkeston Quay thereafter seasonal sailings only to the port. September 10th 1973: Final sailing to Harwich. © Ted Ingham November 1970: Belgian Marine joined the Sealink consortium. Trading as Sealink November 1st 1971: Belgian Marine became the Belgian Maritime Transport Authority - Regie voor Maritiem Transport (RMT). December 1972 - April 14th 1973: Had her passenger accommodation rebuilt at Schiedam, Holland. April 1973: Resumed Dover - Ostend. © Fotoflite, Roy Thornton Collection July 1982: Laid up in Ostend. August 1982 - October 15th 1982: Chartered to Sealink UK Ltd, and operated between Dover - Calais. © Brian Fisher November 1982: Operated between Folkestone - Boulogne. Roy Thornton Collection December 1982: Laid up in Ostend. April 15th 1983: Sold to Ventouris Group, Piraeus, Greece. June 1983: Renamed GEORGIOS B, left Ostend for Piraeus. July 1983: Renamed GEORGIOS EXPRESS. Roy Thornton Collection (left) and Andreas Wörteler Collection (right) August 1983: Rebuilt in Piraeus. 1989: Commenced service between Piraeus - Santorini. October 1995: Owing to financial problems for her owners she was laid up in Piraeus. © Ton Grootenboer 2000: Commenced service for Aghios Georgios Ferries. © Antonis Lazarus 2000: Laid up. © Ton Grootenboer July 2003: Sold for breaking in Greece. 11th March 2008: Having been laid up in Greece for 7 years it is reported that the vessel has been re-sold for scrapping in India. An SOS appeal has been launched to try and save the Roi Baudouin and return her to Ostend, Belgium for preservation as a museum ship. "THIS IS A MAJOR DISTRESS CALL FOR For the time being the only information available is the name and address of her former shipowner who preserved her for the last 7 years laid up before taking the decision to sell her for scrap at the 11th of March 2008 NOT KNOWING that some other countries might be interested in having her back. Please contact him urgently as he is the only one who can give you more information regarding the brokers who bought the "ROI BAUDOUIN" for scrap, so that you may come in touch with them and delay or prevent them from sending her to India before it's too late. | |||
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All information is believed to be correct and no responsibility is accepted for errors and omissions. | |||
We would like to thank: Ton Grootenboer, Ted Ingham, Brian Fisher, Andreas Wörteler and Antonis Lazarus for there assistance in producing this feature. | |||
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