SS Viet-Nam
SS Viet-Nam was an ocean liner built in Dunkirk, France for Messageries Maritimes in 1953. Viet-Nam was built along with two sister ships, SS Cambodge and SS Laos. She mainly provided passenger service between France, the Middle East, Southeast Asia, and Japan.
Viet-Nam was renamed Pacifique in 1967, and was sold to Malaysian owners in 1970 for use as a pilgrim ship to Mecca. Pacifique was destroyed by fire and capsized at Singapore in 1974, and was broken up at Kaohsiung, Taiwan, in 1976.
Construction
The French shipping company Messageries Maritimes ordered three identical ships to be built around the late 1940s to provide passenger and mixed-freight service on a route between Marseilles and Yokohama via ports in South Asia. The first to be completed was Viet-Nam in 1952, which was built by Société des Ateliers & Chantiers in Dunkirk, Nord, in northern France. The name was derived from Vietnam. She was launched on 14 October 1951, then completed and delivered to Messageries Maritimes in July 1953. The second and third ships of the class, and, were completed in 1953 and 1954.Viet-Nam and her sisters were mid-sized liners. The ship was, long with a beam of. She was powered by twin Parsons geared turbines, which gave her a cruising speed of. Viet-Nam could carry 279 passengers on 7 decks — 117 in first class, 110 in second class, and 52 in third class.
Career
Viet-Nam departed on her maiden voyage on 17 July 1953. Her route linked Marseilles with various ports along the Suez Canal, Red Sea, Indian Ocean, South China Sea, and western Pacific Ocean. From Marseilles, she sailed across the Mediterranean Sea and through the Suez Canal and Red Sea to Port Said and Suez in Egypt, Aden in Yemen; Djibouti; across the Indian Ocean to Bombay, India; Colombo, Sri Lanka; and the island of Singapore; through the South China Sea to Saigon, Vietnam; Manila, Philippines; Hong Kong, and along the Pacific coast of Asia to finally reach Kobe and Yokohama in Japan. In 1961, Viet-Nam was refit, increasing the space of the vessels third class cabin space, and increasing her tonnage to 13,473. In 1966, Viet-Nam was chartered to Club Mediterranée for use as a cruise ship, but was unsuccessful due to financial issues. Viet-Nam served just three cruises under charter before the Six-Day War closed the Suez Canal, putting an end to the charter.On 29 September 1967, Viet-Nam was renamed Pacifique, and continued regular passenger service until 1970, when Viet-Nam and her sister ship Laos were sold to Abeto SA. Renamed Princess Abeto, the vessel was rebuilt to carry over 1,600 Muslim pilgrims to Mecca. Viet-Nams other sister ship, Cambodge, was bought by Sun Lines, a Greek cruise line, converted into a cruise ship, and ultimately scrapped at Alang, India, in 2003. Princess Abeto was renamed Malaysia Baru in 1971, and Malaysia Kita in 1972.