The end of an era: the friendship of the peoples goes on board!

The end of an era: the friendship of the peoples goes on board!

Nantucket, USA - The "Astoria", once known as "international friendship", goes on her last trip. This ship was not only the first vacation ship of the GDR, but also the oldest active cruise ship in the world. Today, on May 28, 2025, this historic ship will ultimately go down in the annals of shipping history after numerous experiences and changes. It had a total of twelve names and drove under the flag of five nations.

The "Astoria" was originally known as "Stockholm" and had her maiden voyage on February 21, 1948 from Gothenburg to New York. However, the ship got into the history books when it collided with the Italian passenger ship "Andrea Doria" on July 25, 1956. In this accident, 46 passengers of the "Andrea Doria" and five passengers of the "Stockholm" died - a catastrophic event that caused great media interest and had numerous legal consequences. During the collision, the "Andrea Doria" quickly absorbed water and tipped aside, so that many rescue boats could not be used. The next morning the ship sank off the Nantucket coast after 1660 people were saved. The "Andrea Doria" is still considered the last great passenger ship that sank on transatlantic route.

The renaming and the time in the GDR

After the accident, the "Stockholm", which was significantly damaged by the incident, was repaired and received a new foredeck. The GDR acquired the ship in 1960 for 20 million Swedish crowns and renamed it in “friendship between internationality”. For many tourists it became a popular destination until it started its last cruise for the German Seereederei (DSR) from December 21, 1984 to January 24, 1985 to the West Indies.

The "international friendship" spent the following three decades in action, even if it was involved in a further incident on January 21, 1983 when she collided with a fire brigade ship of the Federal Navy. In 2016/17, the ship served as the location for the casting show "Germany’s Next Top Model". At least until the corona pandemic, which the Maritime industry hit strongly.

the way to finiteness

In 2020, the “Astoria”, now under Portuguese flag, was pulled out of circulation due to financial problems and the bankruptcy of Classic Maritime Voyages. An attempt to auction the ship in the following year failed because the minimum bid of 10 million euros was not reached. Experts doubt that a new cruise with this historic ship is realistic because it has significant damage. In June 2023, the "Astoria" is to be auctioned again, with an estimated scrap value of a maximum of $ 2.75 million

The collision of the "Andrea Doria" with the "Stockholm" is a warning example of the dangers at sea and the challenges of shipping. Despite the drastic security improvements in today's shipping, which have become possible thanks to new technologies and strict international security regulations, the shadow of significant shipping gap remains present. 24 full -fledged cruise ships have dropped in the past 100 years, but most incidents did not occur during regular passenger operation, but during repairs or on the way to scraping. Andrea Doria thus remains part of this tragic history in the maritime world.

ubungsim Modern shipbuilding have meant that cruises are now considered one of the safest types of travel. However, the return of the "Astoria" onto the market is a sad conclusion of an era in which these legendary ships told stories of adventure and tragedy.

The reporting on the "Astoria" and your last trip can be found in more detail at Nordkurier . Information on the technical details of the "Andrea Doria" are available on Wikipedia . Interesting statistics and the security of modern cruise ships can be found at Schiffsradar