Maltese Prince

[shipstamps]

Famagusta Harbour, the principal port of Cyprus, is the subject depicted on the 40 mils stamp of the island. The view of the harbour has been taken from the Venetian ramparts of the Citadel, the setting of Shakespear's "Othello ", and shows at the foot of the ramparts, alongside the quay, the motorship Maltese Prince, of the Prince Line, London.

According to superstition dating back to the days of sail, and one particularly observed by clipper shipowners, it was deemed bad luck to announce the name of a ship in advance of her launch. As long ago as 1942 however the Prince Line management decided and made known its intention to name its first Mediterranean vessel Maltese Prince as a tribute to the island with which the firm has had many years of association. The tribute was fulfilled four years later when the small motorship took the water at Burntisland Shipbuilding Company's yard on July 29, 1946.
She sailed on her maiden voyage from London on January 4, 1947.
The first motorship in the fleet to be specially constructed exclusively for the Mediterranean, she was not by any means the first vessel of the fleet to be driven by oil engines. The first vessels of this type operated by them were the Brazilian Prince and Castilian Prince some 20 years earlier. First motorships actually built for the company were the Malayan Prince, Javanese Prince, Japanese Prince, Chinese Prince and Asiatic Prince fitted with Burmeister and Wain type engines in 1926. Only the Malayan Prince survived the war.
The Maltese Prince has a gross tonnage of 2,361, and a deadweight of 3,520 tons. She is 313ft. between perpendiculars, with a beam, of 46.5ft. There are three cargo holds, and `tween deck holds are served by three hatches. Cargo is handled by six steam winches suitable for operating six 5-ton derricks and one 25-ton derrick, and the cargo space is ventilated by a special cool air plant. Passenger accommodation is situated on the bridge deck and consists of 12 single-berth cabins, while a spacious "social room" with bar is also on this deck, and is panelled in figured sycamore with pilasters of unstained mahogany. The officers are provided with a separate lounge on this deck.
A rather imposing staircase, panelled in figured unstained mahogany, leads to the entrance hall on the lower deck, where there is the dining saloon, panelled in figured mahogany with Pommeli features and panel beading. The navigating and engineer officers and cadets are accommodated on this deck and are provided with a separate dining saloon. The crew accommodation is aft, with a "social room" provided for them on the aft deckhouse top. The main engine is the standard welded frame Doxford opposed piston design with three cylinders 560 mm. in diameter developing 2,600 i.h.p., giving the vessel an average service speed of about 13 knots.
During the 10 years in which the vessel has operated the management's decision to ignore the old superstition regarding the christening ceremony has been fully vindicated for nothing of an unusual nature has happened to the ship or her passengers. The only time the vessel has been mentioned in the news seems to have been in August 1948 when after leaving Manchester with a mixed cargo for the Mediterranean, she returned to the Alfred Dock, Birkenhead, after a small fire in the after hold had been discovered when the ship was passing the Mersey Bar. The outbreak was confined to four cases of footwear at the top of the hold and was dealt with by the crew. The ship was carrying 12 passengers, most of whom were asleep when the outbreak occurred and it had been extinguished before they knew anything about it.
Cyprus SG182 Sea Breezes 7/56

[D. v. Nieuwenhuijzen]

MALTESE PRINCE was built in 1946 by Burntisland Shipbuilding Co. at Burntisland with a tonnage of 2361grt, a length of 334ft 6in, a beam of 46ft 6in and a service speed of 10 knots. She was completed in December 1946 for trading to the Mediterranean. In 1963 she was sold to the Constellation Shipping Co. of Limassol, renamed CORONIS and placed under the management of G. M. Lignos. Four years later, in 1967, she was acquired without a change of name by Cia de Nav. Diamondi S. A. with N. Cotzias (Shipping) Ltd of Pireaus as managers. She was laid up in Perama Bay during 1972 and broken up at Istanbul in 1973.
(Cyprus 1955, 40 m. StG.182; 1960 40 c. StG.197)
Internet.