What is SS Rotterdam's status at this time. Last night listening to some
records I came across Brubeck and Desmond 1975: The Duets with
YOU GO TO MY HEAD recorded June 10, 1975 aboard the SS Rotterdam
on a Jazz Cruise in the Atlantic. Those cruises were quite popular in the 70's.

Hi Tom;

Willem van der Leek keeps a close eye on the work on the Rotterdam, and posts regular updates to his website:

http://www.vdleek.nl/Rotterdam/Rotterdam.html

In short, like any restoration job of this magnitude, it is regularly running into problems, but work seems to be ongoing. Some of the furniture from the ship may be sold (considered bad by many); and all of the asbestos has been bagged and were transported to the cargo-ship CELICA for disposal.

As an aside, the S.S. Norway (ex France) is beached at Allang, India; but the courts are preventing the startup of the scrapping process. So she is in limbo; it seems an impossibility that she would be dragged off the beach and preserved now (despite rumors to that effect); but she hasn't been cut upon either.

Latest passenger steamer to go to the breakers is the S.S. Monterey of 1952; she was fresh from her last cruise; and like many of the recent losses; was in immaculate condition down to her engine and boiler rooms.

-James Hefner
Hebrews 10:20a

Surviving World Steam Project

Hi James,

Many Thanks for the reply , I will keep the web site for future
reference. She looks beautiful in the pic on the website. Lets hope
sailing will come soon.

Tom

Tim;

Plans are not to operate the Rotterdam, but to preserve it in stationary condition as a floating hotel/museum; much like the Queen Mary in Long Beach. No business plan could sustain operating the Rotterdam with it's high fuel and crew requirements; that is reason other passenger steamships are disappearing right and left leaving only a tiny handfull behind.

-James Hefner
Hebrews 10:20a

Surviving World Steam Project

Has anybody heard anything at all in the last year about the SS Catalina?

Seems like neither of the two web sites I know about the ship http://www.savethecatalina.org/ and http://www.sscatalina.org/ have been updated in at least a year. The most recent update on either seems to be dated Jan 2006, and that didn't sound very promising.

Greg

For those of you who would like to take a look at the gradual process of destruction of the remaining wreckage of the S.S. America:

http://flare.net/users/e9ee52a/S.S.%20America1.htm