The Hospital Ship "Gil Eannes", designed and built at Viana do Castelo Shipyard in 1955.
She served on the Newfoundland and Greenland seas giving medical assistance to the portuguese cod fishing fleets. She also delivered mail, was used as a towboat and icebreaker, and supplied provisions and fishing gear...
From 1963 she began to serve as a refrigerated cargo ship and also passenger ship between fishing sorties. She made her final trip to Newfoundland in 1973.
After that date, she had no further use and was shunted from berth to berth in Lisbon, being sold for scrap in 1997.
Stirred by the inglorious fate of such an emblematic hospital ship, the community of Viana do Castelo decide to bring her back to her birthplace, rescuing her from the scrapyard, and berthing her permanently at Viana Port, after extensive repairs.
She is now the property of the Gil Eannes Foundation, composed of several local organizations and is open to the public since 1998, serving as a maritime museum, conference room, exhibition center and youth hotel.
LOA 98,45 mts.
GT 3 467 T.