MS Taras Shevchenko (1965)

MS Taras Shevchenko was a cruise ship owned by the Soviet Union's Black Sea Shipping Company. She was built in 1966 by V.E.B. Mathias-Thesen Werft, Wismar, East Germany. She was scrapped in 2005 in Chittagong, Bangladesh. The ship was named after Ukrainian painter and poet Taras Shevchenko.

This is about the cruise ship. For the river cruise ship, see T. G. Shevchenko (1991).
Taras Shevchenko in Quay in Sukhumi, June 1970
History
Name
  • 1966-2004: Taras Shevchenko
  • 2004-2005: Tara
Owner
Operator
Port of registry
BuilderV.E.B. Mathias-Thesen Werft, Wismar, East Germany
Yard number127
Launched16 January 1965
Completed1966
Acquired26 April 1966[1][2]
In service1966
Out of serviceNovember 2004
Identification
FateScrapped 2005
General characteristics
Class and typeIvan Franko-class passenger ship
Tonnage
Length175.80 m (576.77 ft)
Beam23.53 m (77.20 ft)
Draught8.16 m (26.77 ft)[2]
Installed power4 × Sulzer-Cegielski diesels, combined 15445 kW
Speed20,5 knots
Capacity
  • 750 passengers (as built)
  • 400 passengers (as rebuilt)
  • 714 passengers (as rebuilt)
Crew370 [2]

History

Taras Shevchenko was the third Ivan Franko-class passenger ship built by V.E.B. Mathias-Thesen Werft for the Soviet Union. Originally she was planned as the last ship of the series, but the Soviet Union's national shipping company Morflot decided to order two additional sisters, which made her the middle sister.[3] She was delivered to the Black Sea Shipping Company on 26 April 1966 and placed on cruise traffic. Sometime during her Soviet Union career the Taras Shevchenko was rebuilt with a larger forward superstructure.[4][5] In 1989 she was chartered to Jahn Reisen for a five-year period. The Soviet Union broke up during this charter, and as a result of this the Taras Shevchenko was handed over to the state of Ukraine. Following the end of the Jahn Reisen charter in 1995, she was transferred to Blasco UK and re-flagged to Monrovia, Liberia. During the same year she was rebuilt at Odesa.[6]

In 1997 Taras Shevchenko was sold to the Ukraine-based Ocean Agencies who used her for further cruise traffic. In June 1998, when she was about to depart on a three-week cruise, the ship was arrested in Piraeus, Greece due to the company's financial problems. In July 1998 the ship was laid up at Ilichevsk, where she remained for five years.[6] In 2003 she was put back into service as a cruise ship by the Ukraine-based Antarktika JSC, who used her for cruises aimed at a Ukrainian cliente. This venture was not able to attract a viable charterer, and Taras Shevchenko was sold for scrap in 2004.[6] Renamed Tara,[7][8] scrappers in Alang, India were outbid, and "Tara" was scrapped in Chittagong, Bangladesh in 2005.[9]

See also

References
  1. equasis
  2. Ward, Douglas (1995). Berlitz Complete Guide to Cruising & Cruise Ships. Oxford: Berlitz. ISBN 2-8315-1327-8.
  3. Cruisepage.com ship profiles: Marco Polo, retrieved 20. 11. 2007
  4. (in Swedish) Fakta om Fartyg: Postcard of Taras Schenchenko in original configuration Archived 2007-09-02 at the Wayback Machine, retrieved 22. 11. 2007
  5. (in Swedish) Fakta om Fartyg: Taras Schenchenko Pireus 1985, showing larger superstructure Archived 2007-09-02 at the Wayback Machine, retrieved 22. 11. 2007
  6. (in Swedish) Fakta om Fartyg: M/S Taras Shevchenko (1967), retrieved 20. 11. 2007
  7. Tara
  8. Equasis (since 01-01-2005)
  9. , retrieved 26. 3. 2022
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