Our HAMBURG MAXIM blog updated

Our HAMBURG - MAXIM GORKIY blog is still active with regular updates. Since February it has been visited already by more than 3500 different HAMBURG / GORKIY friends who saw more than 7700 pages... You are most welcome to check our tribute to a very fine passenger ship of the sixties being broken up in Alang...
Click on he ship's name above for the blog's link.
Texto e imagens /Text and images copyright L.M.Correia collection. For other posts and images, check our archive at the right column of the main page. Click on the photos to see them enlarged. Thanks for your visit and comments. Luís Miguel Correia

MAXIM GORKIY off the beach...

The MAKSIM GORKIY leaving Lisbon in black & white and the Soviet Union livery on 13 June 1987.

The MAXIM GORKIY is the next passenger ship to be beached at Alang the next coming days. She is just waiting for the right tide for that final full speed ahead ride into the sands of Alang.
What a shame nobody in Hamburg could succeed with the project to preserve the ship as a living museum and hotel under the original name of HAMBURG.
I am really sad with this situation. I enjoyed so much this magnificent final passenger liner and cruise ship of the 1960s I first saw in Lisbon in May 1969 on her maiden cruise.
In the photo published with this post the HAMBURG is seen on her final call in Lisbon, docking at Alcântara terminal on 25 May 2008, 39 years later and following so many pictures over the years. More photos and information in our HAMBURG / MAXIM GORKIY blog here.
Texto e imagens /Text and images copyright L.M.Correia. For other posts and images, check our archive at the right column of the main page. Click on the photos to see them enlarged. Thanks for your visit and comments. Luís Miguel Correia

Countdown for the MAXIM GORKIY

My friend Holger informs that "Today is the big day of the final countdown for the MAXIM GORKI / HAMBURG. Today there is a meeting between the investors and the people of the city Hamburg. I hope they find a positive end of this never ending story. The chance to buy this ship is ending today at 15:00. I hope, we'll bring our lady home."
So let's all wish a positive ending to the efforts now underway in Germany, and in many other countries also, in order to give the German / Russian lady a much deserved reprieve. And I want to visit Hamburg again and be able to stay aboard the Hotel-Schiffe HAMBURG...
The photograph shows the MAKSIM GORKIY docking in Lisbon in 1990. More photos and informations in our new blog dedicated to the German Lady in waiting.

Texto e imagens /Text and images copyright L.M.Correia. For other posts and images, check our archive at the right column of the main page. Click on the photos to see them enlarged. Thanks for your visit and comments. Luís Miguel Correia

MAKSIM GORKIY reflaged in Lisbon

The MAKSIM GORKIY changed her soviet registry to the Bahamas while in Lisbon on 24 December 1991.
She was doing the usual Christmas & New Year cruise with German passengers under charter to Phoenix Reisen and I was able to take this unusual photo showing the new port of registry "NASSAU" and the ship's name still in cyrilic characters. The photograph was taken from the Rocha passenger ship terminal veranda, a facility now closed due to security measures... More photos and informations on this ship in our new site on the HAMBURG / MAXIM GORKIY...
Texto e imagens /Text and images copyright L.M.Correia. For other posts and images, check our archive at the right column of the main page. Click on the photos to see them enlarged. Thanks for your visit and comments. Luís Miguel Correia

HELP SAVE THE HAMBURG / MAXIM GORKIY

Print and sign this petition form. Send it to Dr. Andreas

busecke@web.de

Please help to persuade the municipal authorities of Hamburg that the «MAXIM GORKIY» former «T.S. HAMBURG» has to go back home to Hamburg! Click to open the above file to print it, collect signatures for the petition and send it back to DR. ANDREAS BUSECKE to his fax nr. (+ 49) 4921 32922. It is URGENT, the ship is expected to arrive to India TODAY!!! Thank you!!!

THESE ARE SAMPLES OF PROTEST YOU MAY SEND BY FAX TO THE FOLLOWING FAX NUMBERS:

• Hamburg Port Authority: (+ 49) 40 – 42847 – 2325
• Senatskanzlei Hamburg: (+ 49) 40 – 42831 – 2820
• CDU-Bürgerschaftsfraktion: (+ 49) 40 – 42831 – 2603
• Ole von Beust, 1. BM: (+ 49) 40 – 42831 – 2403
• Axel Gedaschko, Wirtschaftssenator: (+49) 40 – 42841 – 1620
• Hans Lafrenz, CDU: (+49) 40 – 8971 21729
• Jürgen Bruns-Berentelg, HafenCity Hamburg GmbH: (+49) 40 – 37472626
• Hamburg Cruise Center, Herr Dirk Moldenhauer: (+ 49) 040 – 30979889
• Hamburg Marketing GmbH: (+49) 40 – 4111 10615
• Radio Hamburg: (+49) 40 - 33 97 14 – 628
• NDR Fernsehen: (+49) 40 – 447 602
• Hamburg 1 Fernsehen: (+49) 40 – 41442 – 444
• Hamburger Abendblatt: (+49) 40 – 347 261 – 10
• BILD Hamburg: (+49) 40 – 347 – 23474
• Hamburger Morgenpost: (+49) 40 - 80 90 57 – 284
• Die Zeit: (+49) 40 - 3280 – 5003
• Die Welt: (+49) 40 - 34 72 45 21

Texto e imagens /Text and images copyright L.M.Correia. For other posts and images, check our archive at the right column of the main page. Click on the photos to see them enlarged. Thanks for your visit and comments. Luís Miguel Correia

SAVE THE T.S. HAMBURG in Hamburg

Print this form and fax it the addresses below in Germany. The MAXIM GORKIY / HAMBURG has to be preserved.

More information may be found on the following links:

• Club of the former cooks and of the friends of the ship: [HERE];
• The local newspaper: [HERE].

You may also send your protest to the following EMAIL ADDRESSES:

• oeffentlichkeitsservice@bk.hamburg.de
• briefe@abendblatt.de
• ole.vonbeust@sk.hamburg.de
• hans.lafrenz@cduhamburg.de
• info@hpa.hamburg.de
• info@ndr.de (local television)
• info@zdf.de (national television)

The MAXIM GORKIY photographed in September 2008 by Andreas Busecke in Geiranger on the final Norwegian cruise

Let's help the German ship enthusiast in their final effort to rescue the famous passenger cruise ship MAXIM GORKIY from the Alang scrap yards.

The following message was sent by our Friend [Andreas Busecke]:

«Dear friends, of course you heard about the destiny of the beautiful Maxim Gorkiy, former T.S. Hamburg. She's now on the way to be scrapped in India.
In Hamburg, the birthplace and past homeport of the ship, an action group has started the last attempt to preserve this historic liner. A group of investors has promised to transform the ship into a maritime hotel, museum and meeting point in the port of Hamburg, subject to the condition that the city of Hamburg offers a pier in the centre of the port.
The municipal authorities seem to be not aware of the importance of this classic liner - especially for Hamburg. After the Second World War, it was the first and also the last transatlantic liner built in Hamburg - and She is still in pretty good shape. It is an example of Excellency in German/Hamburg shipbuilding. Please help to persuade the municipal authorities that the former TS Hamburg has to come back to Hamburg!
Print the supplement, collect signatures for the petition and send back to me by fax. It is URGENT, the ship is expected in India within 2 days.
Thanks to all shiplovers,
sincerely

Andreas Busecke»

For other posts and images, check our archive at the right column of the main page. Click on the photos to see them enlarged. Thanks for your visit and comments. Luís Miguel Correia

A TRIBUTE TO THE T. S. HAMBURG

Now that the MAKSIM GORKIY has left the Mediterranean for ALANG, I have started a new site dedicated to this magnificent ship and her original fleet mates of German Atlantic Lines here:

http://lmc-hamburg.blogspot.com
To start with I have just loaded original general deck and engine room arrangements published in 1969 by the magazine SHIPPING WORLD AND SHIPBUILDER, an article describing the new liner HAMBURG of 1969 as well as some memorabilia.
Texto e imagens /Text and images copyright L.M.Correia. For other posts and images, check our archive at the right column of the main page. Click on the photos to see them enlarged. Thanks for your visit and comments. Luís Miguel Correia

Save the MAXIM GORKIY / HAMBURG

A group of German entrepreneurs and ship enthusiasts is still trying to purchase the passenger liner MAXIM GORKIY, sold for scrap in India and now crossing the Suez canal bound for Alang, despite the negative support of the Hamburg Port Authority.
http://forum-schiff.de/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=983&st=0&sk=t&sd=a&start=110
http://www.kreuzfahrten-treff.de/shiplovers-corner-f7/bye-bye-maxim-gorki-t175-s400.html
http://www.club-ts-hamburg.eu/seiten/aktuell/sonderseite_maxim.htm
Texto e imagens /Text and images copyright L.M.Correia. For other posts and images, check our archive at the right column of the main page. Click on the photos to see them enlarged. Thanks for your visit and comments. Luís Miguel Correia

MAXIM GORKIY para a sucata

Tudo indica que a campanha de compra e preservação do paquete MAXIM GORKIY que vem sendo desenvolvida na Alemanha não irá chegar a bom termo depois de a autoridade portuária de Hamburgo ter negado um espaço para atracação no centro da cidade junto dos navios RICKMER RICKMERS e CAP SAN DIEGO, apesar de diversos investidores se terem interessado pelo projecto de transformação do navio em hotel e museu flutuante, obtendo 10 milhões de euros para a compra do antigo paquete alemão.
O MAXIM GORKIY foi construído em Hamburgo no final dos anos sessenta com o nome HAMGURG, fazendo viagens transatlânticas e cruzeiros para a German Atlantik Lines. O navio era o orgulho da frota mercante da então Alemanha Federal, mas um conjunto de factores negativos afectou a sua exploração comercial originando a venda à União Soviética em 1974.
O MAXIM GORKIY ex HANSEATIC, ex-HAMBURG terminou no final de Novembro um fretamento ao operador de cruzeiros Phoenix Reisen e foi imobilizado no Pireu, acabando por ser vendido a sucateiros da India em Janeiro último.
O navio deixou o Pireu a 28 de Janeiro para Limassol e Port Said, onde entrou a 31 de Janeiro para passar o canal do Suez e seguir para Alang.
Um dos mais emblemáticos navios de passageiros do anos 1960, o MAXIM GORKIY merece ser preservado, pelo que na Alemanha continuam os esforços no sentido de ainda se conseguir a compra do navio.
Contactos na Alemanha associados à tentativa de preservação do MAXIM GORKIY:
http://forum-schiff.de/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=983&st=0&sk=t&sd=a&start=110
http://www.kreuzfahrten-treff.de/shiplovers-corner-f7/bye-bye-maxim-gorki-t175-s400.html
http://www.club-ts-hamburg.eu/seiten/aktuell/sonderseite_maxim.htm

Texto e imagens /Text and images copyright L.M.Correia. For other posts and images, check our archive at the right column of the main page. Click on the photos to see them enlarged. Thanks for your visit and comments. Luís Miguel Correia

MAXIM GORKIY TO RETURN TO HAMBURG?

Seatrade Insider 2/12/2008: A number of German shipping executives including Hamburg Cruise Centre director Dirk Moldenhauer and Dr Stefan Behn, member of the board of Hamburger Hafen und Logistik AG (HHLA) are supporting an idea to bring Maxim Gorkiy back to Hamburg to be used as a floating hotel and congress centre berthed on the Elbe River in the city centre.
The ship was launched in the city in 1968 as Hamburg and her godmother was Marie-Luise Kiesinger, wife of Germany's then Chancellor Kurt Georg Kiesinger.
According to local newspaper Hamburger Abendblatt Hans Lafrenz, member of the federal state parliament of Hamburg, is also named as a supporter of the project as is a Dusseldorf-based investor, although it is unclear what the costs will be.
The newpaper quotes Dr Behn saying that 'the ship is still in brilliant shape' having retained much of its original interior from the late 1960s.
Maxim Gorkiy is also considered to be one of the symbols of Germany's Reunification: In December 1989, a few weeks after the fall of the Berlin Wall - she served as a floating conference venue for the heads of state of the USSR and the US, Mikhail Gorbachev and George Bush, off Malta.
More recently the ship has gained popularity operating on charter to Bonn-based Phoenix Reisen. The long-term charter of the steam-turbine ship expired last weekend when her final voyage in Phoenix livery ended in Venice.
The ship was to have been taken into drydock this month for work including SOLAS 2010 updates, and to emerge for her maiden voyage as Marco Polo II next April for new owner, the ,new' Orient Lines. but last month the company reported the relaunch of Orient Lines has now been put off until the world financial situation improves.
Imagens /images copyright L.M.Correia collection. For other posts and images, check our archive at the right column of the main page. Click on the photos to see them enlarged. Thanks for your visit and comments. Luís Miguel Correia

MAXIM GORKIY em Leixões 30-09-2008

O navio de cruzeiros russo de bandeira da Bahamas MAXIM GORKIY fez ontem, 30 de Setembro, a sua última escala em Portugal, ao visitar Leixões em viagem de Bremerhaven e Falmouth para Melilla e o Mediterrâneo num cruzeiro de 18 dias que termina a 14 de Outubro em Veneza. Fotografias enviadas por Fernando Leal, a quem agradecemos a atenção.
The cruise ship MAXIM GORKIY photographed at Leixões on 30 September 2008 by Fernando Leal. The classic cruise ship was doing her final call on a Portuguese port under the current name.
Texto de /Text copyright L.M.Correia. For other posts and images, check our archive at the right column of the main page. Click on the photos to see them enlarged. Thanks for your visit and comments. Luís Miguel Correia

FROM MAXIM TO MARCO

The classic beauty of the turbine steam driven cruise ship MAXIM GORKIY registered in black & white while at anchor in Geiranger, Norway, on 23 September 2008.
Built by Howaldtswerke in Hamburg in the late sixties as HAMBURH, her career as flagship of the Federal German Merchant Navy was a short one and in 1974 she became the proud Soviet Passenger Shipping fleet flagship under the current name. Apart from a short spell of cruising from New York in 1974, the MAXIM GORKIY has been cruising always under charter to the German market, and this is coming to an end as Phoenix Reisen of Bonn has terminated the charter after 20 years of operation due to the older age of the ship and the cost of running her under steam. After the final cruise in the Mediterranean, to end in late November, the MAXIM GORKIY will be renamed MARCO POLO II and after a refit starts a new career under the livery of reborn Orient Lines next Spring.
Texto e imagens /Text and images copyright L.M.Correia. For other posts and images, check our archive at the right column of the main page. Click on the photos to see them enlarged. Thanks for your visit and comments. Luís Miguel Correia

The SS HAMBURG in post cards

The HAMBURG in original post cards. She looked at her best in original Deutsche Atlantik Linie livery, but has sailed most of her already long life as the MAXIM GORKIY, since 1974, first as the Soviet flagship and more recently as a Phoenix Reisen ship.
Text copyright L.M.Correia. Images from the LMC collection. For other posts and images, check our archive at the right column of the main page. Click on the photos to see them enlarged. Thanks for your visit and comments. Luís Miguel Correia

THE HAMBURG DISTINCTIVE FUNNEL

In 1969 the German shipping company Deutsche Atlantik Linie introduced their final pasenger ship, the SS HAMBURG. She is still sailing as one of the last active steam turbine passenger cruise ships as the MAXIM GORKIY, but there are rumours about her future replacement by a newbuilding.

When built as the red funneled HAMBURG she had a most innovative funnel that was also used by several Hamburg Sud container ships and by a small Indian built passenger cargo liner obviously influenced by the German stricking design.

Text and images copyright L.M.Correia. For other posts and images, check our archive at the right column of the main page. Click on the photos to see them enlarged. Thanks for your visit and comments. Luís Miguel Correia