Separated, SS AMERICA, 1993

oil on canvas, 21 1/2" x 31"

$25,000

SS America which launched in 1939, was thought by many to be perfect ocean liner, not too big so as to overwhelm, not too flashy or pretentious so as to intimidate. She charmed her passengers with comfortable interiors that combined warmth and sophistication, without being stuffy, beauty and grace without the glitz and glitter. In her 54 years of operation she served most notably in passenger service as the SS America, and as the Greek-flag SS Australis. In the late 1980s, the ship was sold for $2 million for scrapping. The scrap merchant made an initial deposit of $1 million, and began work. Following the demolition of the lifeboats and lifeboat davits, the scrappers defaulted on payments, and pulled out and under name Alfredoss/Noga would continue in this state in Eleusis (Greece) until 1993. In October 1992, the ship was sold yet again, with the intention of being refitted to become a five-star hotel ship off Phuket, in Thailand, and re-named SS American Star. The ship was placed for 68 days in dry-dock and received 12 years certification for service as floating hotel. The tow contract was entrusted to Marman, a Wijsmuller sister company, and the total agreed amount was $920,000 for the tow of the SS American Star from Piraeus, Greece, to Phuket, Thailand. The Salvage Association-approved tug was a Ukrainian flag tug, Neftegaz 67. Week before Christmas Eve 1993 by eight in the evening SS American Star had left Piraeus Roads for Thailand but, after less than twenty hours after departure due to very bad weather towing convoy return to port of departure to waiting for better weather condition. The SS American Star and towing her Neftegaz 67 sailed again on New Years’ Eve, December 31st 1993, with full success.

The daily reports for fifteen days until January 14th were excellent. On Saturday, January 15, the weather turned and the tow line was cut, on Sunday the tug crew succeeded in attaching the emergency tow line, but, unfortunately the very bad weather and the winds of “12 Beaufort” caused the cut of the emergency tow line. In order to save the vessel, Ukrainian sailors were sent on board the American Star and tried to connect two polypropylene ropes to the tug in order to stay close. Unfortunately, this was broken too, and finally the sailors had to be evacuated by helicopter and sent to Las Palmas. The same day two more tugs from Las Palmas were next to American Star to assist Neftegaz 67 in the vessel's salvage. Early in the morning of the next day, Tuesday, the 18th of January, the vessel went aground on the west coast of Fuerteventura in the Canary Islands, and almost 48 hours later, she was broken in two. This was the end of the very famous SS America and, the work and dreams of so many people involved for more than a year had been lost too.

Years later, in March of 2008, Hong Kong’s worst maritime accident in 36 years occurred when the offshore supply vessel Naftegaz-67 sank with the loss of 18 lives following a collision with the bulk carrier "Yao Hai".