Caronia Sold & Renamed

First Columbia - Then Caribia

By June 1968 a firm buyer was finally announced. The Star Line, a Panamanian and U.S. owned shipping company, would buy Caronia on the strict understanding that she would not trade out of any British port. The Franchard Corporation, owners of Star Line bought her for $3million (about £1.25million).

By July 1968, arrangements were made to transfer her to Piraeus in Greece for a complete refit. Her final Cunard Master was Capt. John Treasure-Jones, who took her the short trip from Berth 107 into No.6 dry dock where on 23 July 1968, Caronia was renamed as T.S.S. “Columbia”.

The first sign of the “no expense spared (!)” attitude that was to follow was seen during this conversion. The base of Columbia's funnel was painted in a shade of Cunard Cruising Green, found spare in a locker on board. The same paint being used to cover the Caronia name on bow and stern.

Caronia, now renamed Columbia
[Click on photo for larger image in new window]
[Photo: the late Richard Parsons (courtesy of John Hill & Malcolm Cranfield)]

“Columbia” was handed over to her new owners on 25 July 1968 and she sailed from Southampton for the last time just four days later. It has been claimed that she was paid for entirely in real cash! Whether or not this is true is a moot point, because much later Cunard would again be involved, this time in legal proceedings to deal with an outstanding mortgage on Caronia.

Renamed Again!

The refit in Greece involved bringing “Columbia” up to date with current safety regulations, including those stipulated by the U.S. Coast Guard. It was during this time that one of the partners in this purchase deal from Cunard decided to buy the others out.

Andrew Konstaninidis, backed by a consortium of U.S. bankers and businessmen, then renamed the ship “Caribia”. She would sail out of New York under the banner of the “Universal Cruise Line” offering 9 and 14 day cruises.

One of the factors that also probably forced the sale of Caronia was the state of her power plant. The major refit of 1965 had been mostly cosmetic, and little had been spent in the engine room. From various sources, I have heard that there had been problems in that department right from the very start.

From here on, the story clearly shows that the new owners, although trading heavily on the former Caronia's reputation, were nowhere near as committed to buying quality materials as her former owner had been in the previous 19 years. The cosmetic aspect of this latest refit was an inglorious mix of cheap 1960s fixtures and fittings combined with garish carpeting, none of which matched the polished veneer surroundings.

The original plan was to have the ship ready for her inaugural cruise out of New York in early December 1968. However, there were delays, mostly caused by problems in obtaining spare fan blades for her turbines from the UK. Also, rather than purchasing new boiler tubes to proper specification from the original engine manufacturers, the new owners secured these from local sources instead. This decision alone would eventually have disastrous consequences!

Preparing For A New Career

After her 1968 refit in Greece, the new “Caribia” undertook a short shakedown cruise around the Mediterranean, with calls to Naples and Lisbon, where she spent a few days in dry-dock. Her new country of registry wasn't Greece, but Panama!

Also, her trademark green livery had gone. Her hull was now painted white, topped by a gold coloured funnel capped with a narrow black band. However, according to reports, the paint quality was not up to withstanding the rigours of marine exposure, so, by the time she reached New York, her new livery was by no means pristine.

Caribia's cruising season out of New York, due to start in early December 1968, had to be postponed until early February 1969. The delays with boiler and turbine parts also meant that instead of a transit of the Atlantic at her usual speed of around 20 knots, unusually, all of Caribia's boilers were fired for this crossing.

Clearly no running-in of the new parts took place as a mad dash at full speed was made to New York in order to avoid cancellation of more cruises. One outwardly visible result of this was seen on Caribia's funnel; due to the extra heat, the colour of the poor quality gold paint had changed to a rather rusty looking hue.

The story continues with…

• Two calamitous Caribia cruises
• Caribia languishes at New York part 1
• Rob Mason's 1974 Caribia Visit
• Annette Donner's account of Caribia's final demise at Guam
• Pier 54 - An Art-Deco sale like no other!
• Photos of Pier 54 Sale items (1)
• Photos of Pier 54 Sale items (2)