MS Excelsior Neptune

MS Excelsior Neptune (originally, the Feliks Dzerzhinskiy) was an ocean liner owned by the Soviet Union's Black Sea Shipping Company. She was built in 1958 by VEB Mathias-Thesen Werft, Wismar, East Germany, as one of the Mikhail Kalinin series of ships. It was named after Felix Dzerzhinsky, a Soviet statesman and founder of the Soviet secret police (Cheka).

Feliks Dzerzhinskiy and Krasin at shipyard in Wismar in 1958
History
Name	Feliks Dzerzhinskiy (1958–1988) Excelsior Neptune (1988–1993)
Owner	1958–1970: Black Sea Shipping Company 1970–1988: Far East Shipping Company 1988–1991: Excelsior Third Marine Tpt. Inc. 1991–1993: Excelsior SG Co. Ltd.[1]
Operator	1958–1970: Black Sea Shipping Company 1970–1988: Far East Shipping Company
Port of registry	1958–1970: Odessa, Soviet Union 1970–1988: Vladivostok, Soviet Union[2] 1988–1991: Panama City, Panama 1991–1993: San Lorenzo, Honduras
Builder	VEB Mathias-Thesen Werft, Wismar, East Germany
Yard number	102[1]
Launched	30 December 1957
Completed	1958
Acquired	1958
In service	1958
Out of service	1993[1]
Identification	Call sign: HQEV2 IMO number: 5113436[1]
Fate	Sank at shipyard, wrecked in tow off Canton in January 1993[3]
General characteristics
Class & type	Mikhail Kalinin-class ocean liner
Tonnage	4,871 GRT[4][2] 1,358 DWT[4]
Length	122.15 m (400.75 ft)[4][2]
Beam	16.00 m (52.49 ft)[4]
Height	7.60 m (24.93 ft)[4]
Draught	5.21 m (17.09 ft)16.00 m (52.49 ft)[4]
Installed power	2 × MAN-DMR K6Z57/80 diesels, 6,192 kW (8,304 hp)
Propulsion	2 propellers
Speed	17.0 knots (31.5 km/h; 19.6 mph)[4]
Capacity	333 passengers
Crew	134[5]

The Feliks Dzerzhinskiy entered regular service with the Black Sea Shipping between Odessa and Alexandria in 1958, and after 1970 she was used by the Far East Shipping between Vladivostok and Kamchatka, and from Nakhodka to Yokohama and Hong Kong. In the late 1970s she was also used by the CTC Line for Pacific Ocean cruises out of Fremantle and Sydney.^[6]

In 1988 she was renamed Excelsior Neptune, and was sold to Chinese interests in 1992. It was planned to rebuild her as a cruise ship, along with her sister ship Excelsior Mercury (formerly the Mariya Ulyanova), but she sank in January 1993 while being towed from Hong Kong to Guangzhou.^[7]

See also

• List of cruise ships