Taras Shevchenko (ship)

MS "Taras Shevchenko" was a cruise ship owned by the Soviet Union's Black Sea Shipping Company. She was built in 1967 by V.E.B. Mathias-Thesen Werft, Wismar, East Germany. She was scrapped on 2005 in Alang, India. It was named after Ukrainian painter and poet Taras Shevchenko.

History

"Taras Shevchenko" was the third "Ivan Franko"-class 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. [ [http://www.cruiseserver.net/travelpage/ships/or_marco.asp Cruisepage.com ship profiles: Marco Polo] , retrieved 20. 11. 2007] She was delivered to the Black Sea Shipping Company on 26 April 1967 and placed on cruise traffic.sv icon [http://www.faktaomfartyg.se/taras_shevchenko_1967.htm Fakta om Fartyg: M/S Taras Shevchenko (1967)] , retrieved 20. 11. 2007] Sometime during her Soviet Union career the "Taras Shevchenko" was rebuilt with a larger forward superstructure. [sv icon [http://www.faktaomfartyg.se/taras_shevchenko_1967_b_1.htm Fakta om Fartyg: Postcard of Taras Schenchenko in original configuration] , retrieved 22. 11. 2007] [sv icon [http://www.faktaomfartyg.se/taras_shevchenko_1967_b_2.htm Fakta om Fartyg: Taras Schenchenko Pireus 1985, showing larger superstructure] , retrieved 22. 11. 2007] 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 Odessa.

In 1997 "Taras Shevchenko" was sold to the Ukraine-based Ocean Agencies for 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. 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 successful, and "Taras Shevchenko" was sold for scrap in 2004.Fact|date=December 2007 Re-named "Taras", the ship scrapped in India in 2005.

References

External links

* [http://www.simplonpc.co.uk/SovietPCs1.html Simplon Postcards: Soviet Shipping Page 1: Soviet Built Ships]