LORELEY inland passenger ship 1963

[aukepalmhof]

Built as an inland passenger ship under yard No 788 by Kölner Werft Ewald Berninghaus, Cologne, West Germany for the Nieder-und Mittelrhein (DGNM) managed by Köln-Düsseldorfer Deutsche Rheinschiffahrts A.G.
20 February 1962 ordered.
June 1962 keel laid down.
06 April 1963 launched as the LORELEY.
Displacement 648 ton., dim. 92.30 x 15.80 x 1.48m. (draught).
Powered by 2 Deutz SBA12M421,je 625 kW, 1,700 hp., twin shafts, speed 17.9 km/h upstream and 27.9 km/h downstream.
Passengers 3,400.
29 May1963 delivered to owners, building cost 4.2 million DM.

31 May 1963 christened by the wife of the former mayor of Düsseldorf, Peter Müller at St Goarshausen, she was named after the famous rock in the River Rhine.
Her maiden voyage was then to Oberwesel from where she returned to Sankt Goar.
02 June in a regular fast service between Cologne and Mainz. At that time she was the passengership on the European inland waterways which could carry the most passengers.
1964 Her passenger capacity was increased to 3,430 people.
After the 1995 season it was found that her bottom has been so corroded that she needed complete new bottom plates. The cost for repair was estimated at 500,000 DM and to spend so much money was not economical.
1995 Taken out of service, and in May 1996 removed from the German ship registry.
After laid up for four years in Cologne she was bought by the Dutch ship broker Heuvelman in s’Gravendeel, who renamed her in LORELE.
02 October 1999 under tow of the tugs ALBERT R and HERMAN the LORELE was towed to the homeport of the buyer in the Netherlands.
2000 A French company was interested in the LORELE with the plan to rebuild her in a floating restaurant on the River Seine in Paris.
The LORELE was towed to shipyard De Hoop in Lobith, Netherland for the renovation to a floating restaurant.
As a result of financing difficulties with the French company the renovation never commenced.
October 2001 the LORELE was towed to Beuningen-Weurt, Netherland and put up for sale for 650,000 Dutch Guilder.
She sank there on her berth during the winter of 2002/2003.
After she was raised she was towed to Scheepswerf Hendriks BV in Dodewaard, Netherlands where all usable parts were removed, the empty hull was towed to Haarlem, Netherlands where she was broken up by the breakers yard of Treffers in Haarlem.

Germany 1973 40pf sg1656, scott1107

Source http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Loreley_(Schiff,_1963)