M/s Marceli Nowotko (B54/I/1); general cargo ship built for PLO ( Polish Ocean Lines ) in the Gda?sk Shipyard under the contract concluded on September 7 , 1953 . The ship was the prototype of a long series of so-called "ten-thousanders" (B54). Launched on November 15, 1955, it was named after a communist activist, the first secretary of the Polish Workers' Party. Completed and handed over to the owner on October 31, 1956. It sailed from Gdynia on its maiden voyage on November 23 of the same year.
The ship was intended to service the Far East Line. On September 14, 1957, as the first merchant ship under the Polish flag, she called at Kobe and Yokohama. At the entrance to Yokohama, he collided with a barge sailing in tow, as a result of the accident the barge sank. In October 1968, a typhoon raging off the coast of Vietnam caused the ship to run aground near Haiphong.
After repairs made at the Vietnamese shipyard, the ship was returned to service. In March 1971, she was the first Polish ship to visit Rabaul and Port Moresby (Papua New Guinea). A few months later, he inaugurated a dedicated Line from Poland to Aystralia ports.
In 1973, the ship brought from Hobart, Tasmania, for the Central Maritime Museum in Gda?sk, preserved fragments of the wreck of the sailing ship OTAGO, which was commanded in 1888 - 1889 by Joseph Conrad-Korzeniowski. In July 1976, Marceli Nowotko collided in the Baltic Sea with the West German ship SLEIPNER, which, stranded near Rozewie, broke and was considered completely lost. Three years later, Marceli Nowotko inaugurated a regular line from Polish ports to Indonesian and Philippine ports. Sold for scrap on February 8, 1980, in the port of Moji (Japan). The Polish flag was lowered there. Resold, he was taken to Taiwan. She docked at Kaohsiung on February 29 of the same year. Scrapping began there.
The series of ten-thousanders, whose first ship was Marceli Nowotko, was at that time the pride and glory of the young Polish shipbuilding industry. This industry was just emerging in the reality of reconstruction after the terrible destruction caused by the Germans. There was also a shortage of experienced staff. Most of the Polish scientific and technical staff was murdered by the Germans and ... Russians. Professionals who miraculously managed to survive had to deal with technical and material problems as well as obstacles posed by the communist terror reigning in Poland at that time.
It seems to me that undertaking the construction and completion of this ship was an achievement comparable to FLYING A MAN TO THE MOON in those days. Many did not believe it, but it worked.
Vessel Technical Data (PARTICULARS).
Tonnage: 6,660 GRT, 3,666 NRT, 10,273 tDW
Dimensions: 153.90 x 19.42 x 8.60 [m]
Main propulsion: 1 x FIAT 688D, 8000Hp (5884 kW)
Max speed: 16 knots
Number of holds / hatches: 5/5
Passengers: 12
Classification Society: Construction started under MRS supervision (Soviet Union) completed under Polish supervision classifier - PRS .

CALL SIGN : SPKB