Paddle Steamer Resources by Tramscape : your first stop on the internet for everything to do with paddle steamers
|
|
These vessels are in
poor condition and deteriorating rapidly. There are no realistic
plans for refurbisment presented by their owners, so their survival other than
as rotting hulks is, unless something is done quickly, unlikely. PS Ryde (left) is still with us, even six years after this photo was taken - but her funnel has now fallen and her condition even further decayed ................The latest news is that the remains of Ryde will be scrapped but her engines saved and put in storage awaiting a buyer. |
|
Sept 2008 : PADDLE STEAMER ALERT : PS
PLINIO |
|
Vessel/Country |
Details |
|
Ryde |
Former Solent ferry moored near the River Medina at Binfield Marina on the Isle of Wight, UK. Gradually deteriorating after years of neglect. High and dry except at exceptional tides, massive expenditure would now be needed to restore her. The UK's Paddle Steamer Preservation Society keeps a watching interest in her fate, but any attempts to get preservationist involvement have never been made possible by the vessel's various owners. |
|
Hansa |
Dating from 1886 and in service until 1924, Hansa is the oldest Rhein paddler still afloat. She is at Cologne - stripped of superstructure. Recently mooted plans to move her to the Netherlands and install the engines of former Rhein paddler Cecilie have come to nothing so far. |
|
Plinio |
The former Lake Como paddler served as a
floating restaurant at Lago di Mezzola, with engines and
boiler removed. The 1903 Zurich-built steamer had been at
Colico between 1970 and 1999 as a restaurant and
clubhouse. Now out of use, although still owned by the owner of the
nearby Restaurant La Barcaccia, she is in severe danger because
the local authorities in charge of the Nature Reserve within which
she lies have demanded her removal by the end of September 2008
from the lakeside at Verceia.
|
|
Vysehrad |
In poor condition at Prague after an aborted refurbishment, her name was given to her operational sister, Devin. She remains the property of her original operators and they would like to see her restored to the fleet. A lack of funds has continued to be the main stumbling block and she remains tied up on the river Vltava near Prague, but all her superstructure has been removed. |
|
Propeler (ex Devin) |
Lying in a dilapidated condition alongside the bank of the Danube at Nove Pristavisko, near Rusovce on the very short part of the river lying entirely in Slovak territory near Bratislava. She spent most of her life as a ferry at Bratislava and her latter years first as a restaurant moored in Bratislava and then a night club. Has been closed on safety grounds since 2001 and then taken to her current location. |
|
Krajina |
Former Yugoslav royal and presidential "yacht" on the Danube, badly damaged by fire in January 2007 |
|
Split |
Former Danube cargo and passenger boat, withdrawn in 1992 and out of the water and deteriorating at Kladovo shipyard |
|
Giurgiu |
Until recently, earmarked for restoration in Switzerland , to recreate the vessel "Wengi" of 1856 which sailed on the River Aare. Now slipped on the Danube in Romania, her hull was found to be in good condition. The project has now been abandoned. |
|
Russian "Project 737 Steamers" |
A number of the 65 long-distance river
cruise ships of the 737 project built between 1951 and 1960
are believed to be in existence, many beached and in very
poor condition. These are as follows: |
|
Lomonosov |
The 1905 built paddler is reported as laid up in Pamyat Parizhskoi Kommuny (Nizhniy Novgorod area) and offered for sale on the internet. She is in poor condition and needing a total rebuild of her superstructure : http://library.riverships.ru/lomonosov1.htm |
|
Petofi |
The former MAHART passenger vessel lies on the Danube near Budapest, in a poor condition following a fire. Her machinery has already been removed. MAHART had originally planned to return her to service, but funds were not available. She survives, inpoor condition, on the Danube at the Neszmely Ship Museum on the Danube. She is in good hands, however, as part of the Zoltan Foundation collection (named after a paddle tug in the museum collection). Finance for her restoration is not available at the moment. |
|
Szoke Tisza |
Szoke Tisza (1917-74), the former Danube cruiser is best known as PS Felszabadulas, the name she assumed in 1950, having been IV Karoly, and between 1930 and 1950, Szent Imre. In 1958, 175 berths were built into the vessel as she was assigned to overnight cruises from Budapest. Briefly used as a canteen ship for her owners, she was sold out of the MAHART fleet in 1979 to the city of Szeged for use as a hotel. Now owned by a commercial Danube cruising company, partners in the Zoltan Foundation ship museum at Nezsmely, plans were drawn to refurbish her for Danube service, but to date, progress has been fraught with technical and financial problems. She remains laid up near Szeged |
ARE THESE VESSELS STILL IN EXISTENCE ? CAN ANYONE CONFIRM ?
|
Reederij op de Lek
II |
Thee former Dutch paddler (ex
Schoonhaven, built as Culemborg in 1895) served as the
clubhouse for the "Rhenus" Rowing club. |
|
NAVIGATE AROUND THE PADDLE STEAMER RESOURCES DATABASE
|
MAIN MENU |
USE THIS MENU OR ANY APPROPRIATE UNDERLINED HYPERLINK TO MOVE AROUND THE DATABASE |
|
Paddle Steamer
news and views. How to contact the webmaster | |
|
Operational
Paddle Steamers |
In public service and
their operating companies (includes motor paddlers) |
|
Turbine Steamers |
Clyde and other passenger
turbine
steamers, surviving ferries and ocean liners |
|
Steamer Operators, Support Groups, Vessel Campaigns,
Private Websites etc. |
