MS Athena Cruise Ship and Tugs in the Western Entrance of Dover Harbour, Kent, UK

Stormy weather ahead: a gunmetal-grey early morning view of the MS Athena in the process of berthing at Cruise Terminal 3 (CT3) on the Admiralty Pier of the Western Docks, aided by two bollard-pull tugs: DHB Doughty (on the right; IMO 9190468).

This Dover Harbour photo was taken at 6.31 am on Tuesday, 7th of September, 2010, from the lighthouse end of the Prince of Wales Pier.

The Athena arrived from Honfleur (France) on the last day of her 2010 Summer Season (chartered by Page and Moy).

The English Channel and Admiralty Pier are behind the ship.

The MS Athena was built in 1948 as the MS Stockholm by Götaverken (Gotaverken) in Gothenburg, Sweden, for the Swedish America Line (SAL). Since her career with SAL she has also sailed under the names MS Völkerfreundschaft (MS Volkerfreundschaft), MS Volker, MS Fridtjof Nansen, MS Italia I, MS Italia Prima, MS Valtur Prima and MS Caribe.

As Stockholm she was best known for colliding with the SS Andrea Doria in 1956, resulting in the sinking of the latter ship:

"On the night of July 25, 1956, at 11:10 PM, in heavy fog in the North Atlantic Ocean off the coast of Nantucket, the Stockholm and the Andrea Doria of the Italian Line collided in what was to become one of history's most famous maritime disasters."

Ships details (2):

Name: 1948 - 1960: MS Stockholm, 1960 - 1985: MS Völkerfreundschaft, 1985 - 1986: MS Volker, 1986 - 1993: MS Fridtjof Nansen, 1993 - 1994: MS Italia I, 1994 - 1998: MS Italia Prima, 1998 - 2002: MS Valtur Prima, 2002 - 2005: MS Caribe, 2005 - present: MS Athena
Owner: 2004 - present: Nina SpA
Operator: 2005 - present: Classic International Cruises
Port of registry: 2004 - present: Lisbon, Portugal
Ordered: October 1944
Builder: Götaverken, Gothenburg, Sweden
In service: 21 February 1948
Identification: Swedish Official Number 8926 (1948), Italian Official Number 1749 (1993)
Status: In service

General characteristics:

Type: Ocean liner
Tonnage: 12,165 GRT
Length: 160.08 m (525 ft 2 in)
Beam: 21.04 m (69 ft 0 in)
Draught: 7.90 m (25 ft 11 in)
Installed power: 2 × 8-cylinder Götaverken diesels, combined 12,000 hp (8,900 kW)
Speed: 17 kn (31.48 km/h)
Capacity: 390 passengers, 4,700 metric tons deadweight (DWT)

General characteristics (currently):

Type: Cruise ship
Tonnage: 15,614 GRT
Decks: 8
Installed power: 2 × Wärtsilä 16V32 diesels 14,300 hp (10,700 kW)
Speed: 19 kn (35.19 km/h)
Capacity: 556 passengers
Call Sign: CQRV
MMSI: 255801380
IMO number: 5383304

More info on the original MS Athena Cruise Ship and Tugs in the Western Entrance of Dover Harbour webpage.

John Latter / Jorolat

Dover Blog (Social Psychology)