MV Georgios Express
ex Georgios B, Roi Baudouin
Nigel Thornton Collection
Steel twin screw motor vessel, built by Cockerill’s of Hoboken for the Belgian Marine Administration’s Ostend service in 1965 (Yard No. 828). Engined by Sulzer Bros. Ltd., Winterthur
Technical Data
- Length on deck: 117.84m (386.7 ft) (overall), 110.62m (362.9 ft) (between perpendiculars)
- Breadth of hull: 15.98m (52.4 ft) (extreme)
- Depth: 5.31m (17.4 ft) (moulded)
- Draught: 4.00m (12.4 ft) (maximum)
- Tonnage: 3,241 gross (1965), 3,023 (1972)/1,762 net, 1,318 (1983)/477 deadweight, 809 (1983)
- Engines: Two 12-cylinder Sulzer two-stroke single acting diesels
- Power: 7,061 kW
- Speed: 21 knots
- Capacity: 850 passengers, 160 cars (1965), 1,700 passengers, 190 cars (1972)
- Call Sign: ORAD, SWAT
- IMO Number: 6510851
- Registry: Oostende/ Belgium 🇧🇪, Piraeus/Greece 🇬🇷
- Sister Ship: Princesse Astrid (1440)
History
February 13th 1965: Launched.
Although in early life very similar to her sister the ROI BAUDOUIN could be distinguished by the shape of vents between the bridge and funnel which also had a deeper black top on PRINCESSE ASTRID.
Roi Baudouin (Left) & Princesse Astrid (Right)
© David Ingham (both)
June 1965: Delivered to Belgian Marine Administration, Oostende, Belgium.
Postcards
June 13th 1965: Commenced service between Ostend – Dover.
Nigel Thornton Collection (both)
© A G Jones (Left) and © Tony Garner (Right)
May 29th 1968: Inaugural arrival at Parkeston Quay thereafter seasonal sailings only to the port.
Nigel Thornton Collection (Left) © Malcolm Cranfield (Harwich, 20/06/1971) (Right)
Courtesy of Jim Ashby
Edmund Ziegler Collection
September 10th 1973: Final sailing to Harwich following closure of the route between Ostend – Harwich.
November 1970: Belgian Marine joined the Sealink consortium. Trading as Sealink
November 1st 1971: Belgian Marine became the Belgian Maritime Transport Authority – Regie voor Maritiem Transport (RMT).
December 1972 – April 14th 1973: Had her passenger accommodation rebuilt at Schiedam, Holland.
Before (Left) After (Right) Rebuild
© Michael Woodland (Left) © Karel Goutsmit (Right)
April 1973: Resumed Dover – Ostend.
© Fotoflite (Left) and © Ken Larwood (Right)
July 1982: Laid up in Ostend.
August 1982 – October 14th 1982: Chartered to Sealink UK Ltd, and operated between Dover – Calais. Also operated between Folkestone – Boulogne.
© Ken Larwood (both)
© Michael Woodland
Nigel Thornton Collection, Boulogne 1982 (Left) and © Ken Larwood (Folkestone) (Right)
© Courtesy of the family of Gerry Stevens, Sealink Manager, Boulogne, 1974-89′(Left) Nigel Thornton Collection (Right)
© Brian Fisher
December 1982: Laid up in Ostend.
Princesse Astrid & Roi Baudouin – (Laid up in Ostend)
April 15th 1983: Sold to Ventouris Group, Piraeus, Greece.
June 1983: Renamed GEORGIOS B, left Ostend for Piraeus.
Nigel Thornton Collection
July 1983: Renamed GEORGIOS EXPRESS.
© Andreas Wörteler (Left) 🆕 © Courtesy of Mike Louagie (Right)
August 1983: Rebuilt in Piraeus.
1989: Commenced service between Piraeus – Santorini.
© Ton Grootenboer (Left) and © Ken Larwood (Right)
October 1995: Owing to financial problems for her owners she was laid up in Piraeus.
2000: Commenced service for Aghios Georgios Ferries.
© Antonis Lazarus
2000: Laid up.
2001: Laid up at Eleusis, Greece.
© Ton Grootenboer
© Peter J Fitzpatrick (Savvas Breakers yard 08/2002)
© Aleksi Lindström
July 2003: Sold for breaking in Greece.
March 2008: Sold to Indian breakers.
March 24th 2009: Under tow, left Elefsis, the yards of Savvas brothers in Elefsina, for scrap in Aliaga in Turkey.
© Selim San (both)
All information is believed to be correct and no responsibility is accepted for any errors or omissions. All items included in this article are subject to © copyright. We would like to take this opportunity of thanking: Malcolm Cranfield, Brian Fisher, Peter J Fitzpatrick, Fotoflite, Tony Garner, Ton Grootenboer, Ted Ingham, Ken Larwood, Antonis Lazarus, Aleksi Lindström, Mike Louagie, Selim San, Andy Stevens, Michael Woodland and Andreas Wörteler for their assistance in producing this feature.
Article © Nigel Thornton and Ray Goodfellow (Dover Ferry Photos Group)
