MV Gullfoss

MV Gullfoss was a ferry operating between Iceland, Denmark, and Scotland from 1950 to 1972. She replaced another Gullfoss. They were named after the much-visited Gullfoss waterfall.

MV Gullfoss unloading at Reykjavik in 1968
History
Iceland
Name: MV Gullfoss
Owner: Eimskipafelag Islands
Operator: Eimskipafelag Islands
Port of registry: Reykjavík
Route: Reykjavik-Leith-Copenhagen-(winter only) Hamburg
Builder: Burmeister & Wain, Copenhagen
Yard number: 702
Launched: 8 December 1949
Maiden voyage: 14 May 1950
In service: 1950
Out of service: 1973
Renamed: MV Mecca
Homeport: Reykjavík
Fate: Sunk 1976
General characteristics
Type: Passenger Steamer.
Tonnage: 3,858Brt 1,850Dwt
Length: 108.2 m (355 ft)
Beam: 14.55 m (47.7 ft)
Draught: 5.4 m (18 ft)
Propulsion: 12 cyl, B&W diesel, 4025 hp
Speed: 15.5 knots (17.8 mph)
Capacity: Passenger: 209 (105 1st, 62 2nd and 44 3rd class)[1]
1968 Arthur's Seat and Leith Harbour
leaving Leith in 1968

In 1939 Eimskip planned to replace the 1915[2] Gullfoss, but World War II intervened.

Some days after launching, Gullfoss suffered a dust explosion, which killed four shipyard workers and injured two.

On 14 May 1950 Gullfoss made her maiden voyage from Copenhagen, Denmark, carrying 164 passengers, arriving in Reykjavík, Iceland, on Saturday, 20 May, to a ministerial welcome.

During the 1950s and 1960s Gullfoss ran fortnightly in summer on the Copenhagen-Edinburgh/Leith-Reykjavik route and three times weekly via Hamburg, West Germany, in winter. In winter she also ran cruises. In 1950 and 1951, Compagnie Générale Transatlantique chartered her for service from Bordeaux, France, to Casablanca, French Morocco. In 1953 she was in the Mediterranean and in 1967 cruised from Iceland to the Azores, Madeira, Casablanca, and Lisbon. Several cruises went to Amsterdam and London and around Iceland.

In 1963, Gullfoss was damaged by fire whilst being maintained at her builder's yard and in 1966 she collided with MV Malmöhus near Copenhagen.[3]

By the early 1970s Gullfoss operated only during the summer, and she was withdrawn from service in 1972 due to airline competition. She evacuated Heimaey in the Vestmannaeyjar (Westman Islands) in January 1973 when Eldfell volcano erupted.

In November 1973 she was converted to carry 1,100 pilgrims and renamed Mecca. In January 1974 she arrived in Jeddah. Saudi Arabia, and operated the 160 nmi (300 km) route between Jeddah (the port for Mecca, 86 km (53 mi) away), Hodeidah, Yemen, and Port Sudan, Egypt, for Orri Navigation until she caught fire in the Red Sea on 19 December 1976, drifted onto a reef, and sank the next day.[4][5]

See also

Eimskip Timetable covers

References
  1. COASTERS & OTHER SHIPS REVIVED » GULLFOSS – 1950 – IMO 5138046. 7seasvessels.com (18 November 2012).
  2. Hf. Eimskipafelag Islands Archived 2 October 2013 at the Wayback Machine. Heimsnet.is.
  3. M/S GULLFOSS (1950). Faktaomfartyg.se.
  4. MS GULLFOSS - Eimskipafelag Islands. Ships Nostalgia.
  5. Edinburgh History - Recollections - Sailing to Leith. Edinphoto.org.uk.

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