SS Orsova, a 1503-passenger ocean liner, was built by Vickers Armstrong Shipbuilders Ltd. of Barrow-in-Furness, England, launched on 14 May 1953 and entered service in 1954 for the Orient Steam Navigation Company for UK to Australia services via the Suez Canal, the voyage taking four weeks. After 1955, the return trip was eastward via Auckland, Suva, Honolulu, Vancouver, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Panama, Trinidad and Cherbourg.
She had a gross tonnage of 28,790 tons. Length: 220 metres. Breadth: 28 metres. Cruising speed: 22 knots. Maximum speed: 26 knots. Propulsion: twin screw, double reduction turbine. Maiden voyage from Tilbury to Sydney: 17 March 1954. Orsova had no masts. Her funnel was capped with a distinctive ‘Welsh bonnet’ flue extension. She was built with an all-welded hull, the first passenger liner to be so constructed,[1] and her bulkhead and wall linings were plastic-clad. Originally her hull was painted in the Orient Line’s corn colour, but in her later years this was changed to P & O’s all white.
She was named after Orșova, which is a port city on the Danube in southwestern Romania's Mehedinți County. It is situated just above the Iron Gates, at the point where the Cerna River meets the Danube. Orsova's bow featured the Iron Gates as a figure head. This section of the bow opened inwards to reveal a powerful searchlight, used mostly for manouevering in harbours. The "Iron Gate" symbol also featured on the forward bulkhead of the First Class Midships Arena Games deck.
Orsova had First and Tourist Class sections with separate dining rooms either side of the Galley.
Radio Call Sign: GNDL (Golf November Delta Lima)with sub-contracted Marconi radio operators.
Ship's Complement: All Officers were British. Deck and Engine Room crew were British. Purser's Dept (Cabin Stewards, Restaurant staff, Galley, Laundry, etc) were a combination of British and Goanese.
Typical Voyage (1968): Outward leg - Southampton-Bermuda-Port Everglades-Panama-Acapulco- Los Angeles-San Francisco-Vancouver-Hawaii-Fiji-Auckland-Sydney Then either cruising from Sydney for six weeks or Round Pacific Sydney-Singapore-Hong Kong-Kobe-Yokohama-Hawaii-Vancouver-San Francisco-Los Angeles-Hawaii-Fiji-Auckland-Sydney Home leg - Sydney-Brisbane-Singapore-Penang-Colombo (with Goanese crew change) Durban-Port Elizabeth-Cape Town-Madeira-Southampton.
On 24 May 1956, Orsova ran aground off Port Phillip Bay, Melbourne, for twelve hours. In the 1960s, the Orsova carried many thousands of economic refugees from Greece and Italy to Australia. The 30-foot draft vessel was transferred to sister company P & O (Peninsular and Oriental Steam Navigation Company) in 1966.
In 1966, the Gulf Oil Corporation identified Whiddy Island in Bantry Bay, Ireland, as the most suitable site for its new oil terminal. Construction started in 1967 and the terminal was completed in 1969. Orsova was chartered by Gulf Oil in the spring of 1969 to act as a floating hospitality and accommodation ship for the formal opening of the Bantry Bay Oil Terminal. Leaving Southampton she called at Cobh in Ireland to collect the many guests to be taken to the Bay for the ceremony. These included the then Taoiseach, Jack Lynch, together with many ambassadors to the Republic. They were then returned to Cobh and Orsova returned to Southampton for spring cruising.
In the early 1970s, she was primarily involved in cruises. She was scrapped off Taiwan in 1974–75.