Dodi Princess

Dodi Princess was a cruise boat on Lake Volta in South Ghana.[1] It was owned by the Volta River Authority and under the management of Volta Hotels. It was the only cruise ship in Ghana.[2]

Dodi Princess on a cruise in Dodi Island on the Lake Volta
History
 Ghana
Name: Dodi Princess
Owner: Volta River Authority
Operator: Volta Hotels
Port of registry: Tema
Route: Lake Volta
Builder: Tema Shipyard
Laid down: 1977
Maiden voyage: 1977
In service: 36 years
Fate: destroyed in fire, 2013
General characteristics
Decks: 3 passenger decks
Speed: 8.6 knots (15.9 km/h; 9.9 mph)
Capacity: 350

The ship was replaced with the 176-passenger restaurant ship, Dodi Princess II, built in Akosombo, Ghana by Onur Makina of Istanbul, Turkey.

History

The ship was built in 1977 at the Tema Shipyard and christened Grains Maid.[1][2] The vessel was used mainly for the transportation of dry cargo and agricultural products including fertilizer. A typical voyage upstream would carry goods from Akosombo to Yeji in the Brong-Ahafo Region and Buipe in the northern part of Ghana and its downstream voyage would return with yam and grains to the southern part of the country.[3] Grains Maid sailed on the lake from its commissioning in the late 1970s to the late 1980s when its commercial services declined due to financial constraints. After months of low patronage of its services, the vessel was abandoned at the port of Akosombo.[3]

Conversion

In 1991, the then President of Ghana, Jerry John Rawlings commissioned German engineer, Hans Hein to convert the hull of the vessel to a tour pleasure boat for tourists. Staff of the Maritime Services Unit (MSU) of the Volta River Authority formed a team with Hein to complete the project which was commissioned in 1991, and renamed Dodi Princess. The vessel was the only cruise boat on Lake Volta.[3]

The ship had seating for 400 passengers, who were provided with barbecue meals and live entertainment on board.[4]

Structure

The ship had three decks. The first (lower) deck was an air conditioned, strictly non-smoking cocktail bar, for guests to enjoy a quiet cruise. The two upper decks were open-aired and allowed passengers to enjoy the scenery of the Lake Volta while being treated to live band performances from musicians.[3] The middle deck houses a sick bay with the upper deck having a large gridiron for barbecue.[3]

Maiden cruise

Dodi Princess made its first cruise in 1991 during the celebration of the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) conference which was hosted by Ghana.[3]

Management

The day-to-day management of Dodi Princess upon its commissioning was done by the Marine Division of the Volta River Authority. In 2005, the Division handed over the ship's management to Volta Hotels Limited because the tour business was one the core objectives of the hotel.[5] Dodi Princess generates 40 percent of the total revenue of Volta Hotels.[6]

Cruise

The ship cruised Lake Volta. A typical cruise took passengers through scenery and landed at Dodi Island.[1][6]

Fire outbreak

On 4 May 2013, the ship was destroyed by fire.[7][8] Initial assessment showed that the fire started in the kitchen in the vessel's restaurant.[6] At the time of the fire outbreak, there was nobody on board. Damages were estimated as running into several hundreds of thousands of cedis.[9][10]

Replacement

After the May 2013 destruction, Volta Hotels Limited contracted Bluefone Marine Company, a Ghanaian-based marine construction company, to reconstruct the vessel at a cost of 1.3 million dollars.[6] Bluefone Marine proposed that the vessel would be seaworthy in six months.[11]

The VRA's 2013 Annual Report stated that its subsidiary Akosombo Hotels Ltd was seeking to raise financing of over $10,000,000 to complete construction of 65–100 rooms and re-construction of the Dodi Princess.[12] However, the 2014 report stated that financing of over $20,000,000 was needed to complete construction of 65 rooms and construction of a new cruise boat, Dodi Princess.[13] The 2015 report stated that VRA had spent approximately $1.5 million on construction of a new 176-seater cruise boat, Dodi Princess II.[14]

In the end, the burnt Dodi Princess has been replaced with Dodi Princess II. Akosombo Hotels Ltd contracted Onur Makina of Istanbul, Turkey to build and deliver the 176-passenger restaurant ship in Akosombo, Ghana. The construction of Dodi Princess II has been successfully completed by the firm and the ship was put back in service on the Volta Lake in July 2019.[15]

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References
  1. "Dodi Princess Home". dodiprincess.com. Archived from the original on 9 June 2013. Retrieved 15 July 2013.
  2. "Promoting tourism in Ghana: Story of the Dodi Princess". ghanabusinessnews.com. Retrieved 11 July 2013.
  3. "Promoting tourism in Ghana: Story of the Dodi Princess". ghanaentertainment.blogspot.com. Retrieved 15 July 2013.
  4. "VRA Mourns Hans Hein". Volta River Authority. December 2015. Archived from the original on 26 September 2017. Retrieved 19 November 2018.
  5. "Lake Volta – Home to M.S. Dodi Princess – An extension of the Volta Hotel". ghana-net.com. Retrieved 15 July 2013.
  6. "Dodi Princess Set to Resume Operations in September". vraghana.com. Retrieved 15 July 2013.
  7. "VRA orders mini-Dodi to replace burnt Dodi Princess". myjoyonline.com. Archived from the original on 3 September 2012. Retrieved 15 July 2013.
  8. "New Dodi Princess to cost $1.3 million". ghanaweb.com. Retrieved 11 July 2013.
  9. "Dodi Princess Burnt To Ashes". www.dailyguideghana.com. Archived from the original on 4 March 2016. Retrieved 15 July 2013.
  10. "Fire guts Dodi Princess Boat". gbcghana.com. Archived from the original on 12 March 2014. Retrieved 15 July 2013.
  11. "Burnt Dodi Princess To Be Replaced in Six Months – VRA". peacefmonline.com. Archived from the original on 17 July 2013. Retrieved 15 July 2013.
  12. "2013 Annual Report" (PDF). VRA. p. 5. Retrieved 19 November 2018.
  13. "2014 Annual Report" (PDF). VRA. p. 32. Retrieved 19 November 2018.
  14. "2015 Annual Report" (PDF). VRA. p. 14. Retrieved 19 November 2018.
  15. "Dodi Princess is back". Graphic Online. Retrieved 28 January 2020.
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