MS Club 1

Salamis Filoxenia in Kos in 2013
History
Name:	1975–1995: Gruziya 1995–1999: Odessa Sky 1999: Club 1 1999–2009: Van Gogh 2009 onwards: Salamis Filoxenia
Namesake:	Gruziya: Georgian Soviet Socialist Republic Van Gogh: Vincent van Gogh
Owner:	1975–1995: Black Sea Shipping Company 1995–1998: Blasco UK 1998–2009: Club Cruise 2009 onwards: Salamis Lines
Operator:	1975–1995: Black Sea Shipping Company 1995–1996: Blasco UK 1996–1999: laid up/rebuilt 1999: Club Cruise 1999–2002: Nouvelles Frontieres 2002–2007: Travelscope 2008: Van Gogh Cruises 2008: Metropolis Tur
Port of registry:	1975–1991: Odessa,  Soviet Union 1991–1995: Odessa,  Ukraine 1995–1996: Monrovia,  Liberia 1996–1999: Odessa,  Ukraine 1999–2006: Kingstown,  Saint Vincent and the Grenadines 2006–2009: Majuro,  Marshall Islands 2009 onward: Limassol,  Cyprus
Builder:	Wärtsilä Turku Shipyard, Finland
Cost:	$ 25 million
Yard number:	1213
Launched:	18 October 1974
Acquired:	30 June 1975
Identification:	IMO 7359400
Status:	In service
General characteristics (as built)
Class and type:	Belorussiya-class cruiseferry
Tonnage:	16,331 GRT
Displacement:	3,004 DWT
Length:	156.27 m (512 ft 8 in)
Beam:	22.05 m (72 ft 4 in)
Draught:	5.90 m (19 ft 4 in)
Depth:	16.31 m (53 ft 6 in)
Decks:	9
Ice class:	ICE-C
Installed power:	2 × Wärtsilä-Pielstick 18PC2V diesels combined 13240 kW
Propulsion:	Two propellers
Speed:	21 kn (38.89 km/h) (service speed)
Capacity:	1009 passengers 504 passenger berths 256 cars
Crew:	216
General characteristics (as Salamis Filoxenia)
Class and type:	none
Type:	Cruise ship
Tonnage:	15,402 GT 2,452 DWT
Decks:	7 (passenger accessible)
Capacity:	506 passengers (795 maximum)

MS Salamis Filoxenia is a cruise ship owned by the Cyprus-based Salamis Cruises. She was built in 1975 by Wärtsilä Turku Shipyard as the Belorussiya class-cruiseferry Gruziya for the Black Sea Shipping Company, Soviet Union. She was rebuilt into a cruise ship during the 1980s. In 1995 she was renamed Odessa Sky and in 1999 briefly Club 1 before renamed Van Gogh later in 1999. In 2009 she was acquired by her current owner and renamed Salamis Filoxenia.

The Gruziya was one of five cruiseferries built between 1975 and 1976 for the Black Sea Shipping Company for intra-Soviet Union service on the Black Sea. The ships were built to the same standards of technology and passenger accommodation as cruiseferries built outside the Eastern Bloc at the time. As built she was able to accommodate 1009 passengers (504 with cabin berths) and 256 cars. In practice her passenger capacity was excessive in comparison with her car capacity, but her relatively high standard of accommodation made her popular as a cruise ship, and during the 1980s she was rebuilt as a cruise ship. The precise year of her rebuildings is unknown, with different sources stating either 1984 or 1988 as the year of the refit.

In 1999 the ship was rebuilt at Bremerhaven, Germany, before entering service for Club Cruise.

After she was delivered to the Black Sea Shipping Company, the Gruziya was used on ferry service between the Crimean Peninsula and the Caucasus, as well as cruising. For cruise service she was often chartered to operators outside the Eastern Block, but she did also make cruises aimed at Soviet passengers. Following the conversion into a cruise ship she was (naturally) used exclusively for cruising.

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Wikipedia