Original lifeboats and tenders of cruise ship Rotterdam arrive home

Refurbished HAL ship to follow

ROTTERDAM - Two lifeboats, originally part of the 1959-built cruise ship Rotterdam V, have come home to the port of Rotterdam. They were shipped from Seattle, Washington, for years the home of Holland America Cruises, now part of Carnival Cruises. The boats were donated by the company.

The two lifeboats again will be placed aboard the former cruise ship, now being refurbished in Gibraltar and set to berth next year in its former home port. The ‘Rotterdam V’ made its last voyage in 1997, from Vancouver to Ft. Lauderdale. It had been contemplated to scrap the liner, until she was given a new lease on life as the cruise ship ‘Rembrandt.’

Four of the tenders of the Rotterdam V will be moved to the Dutch city as well to be refurbished. They will be used again to ferry passengers, in this case the visitors of the ship which will be docked at the third Katendrechtse Hoofd. Refitting and updating the four tenders will be a student project of the Albeda College, a Rotterdam vocational school.

The former liner and cruise schip Rotterdam V, which also ferried emigrants to North America, once again will named ‘Rotterdam’ when she returns home next Summer. She is brought back to its original state, including the ship’s shopping arcade Lijnbaan, named after the downtown Rotterdam mall.