MS Achille Lauro

	Achille Lauro in Piraeus, Greece
History
Name	Willem Ruys (1947–1965); Achille Lauro (1965–1994);
Namesake	Willem Ruys; Achille Lauro;
Owner	1947–1965: N. V. Koninklijke Rotterdamsche Lloyd, Vlissingen, Netherlands; 1965–1989: Achille Lauro FU G. & C.; 1989–1994: Star Lauro S.P.A.;
Operator	Royal Rotterdam Lloyd (1947–1964); Flotta Lauro Lines (1965–1989); StarLauro (1989–1994);
Port of registry	1947–1965: Rotterdam, Netherlands; 1965–1994: Naples, Italy;
Ordered	7 May 1938
Builder	Koninklijke Maatschappij "De Schelde" Shipbuilding
Yard number	214
Laid down	25 January 1939
Launched	1 July 1946 (Delayed due to WWII)
Christened	by HM Queen Wilhelmina
Completed	21 November 1947
Maiden voyage	2 December 1947
Out of service	30 November 1994
Identification	Call sign: PIQF → IBHE; IMO number: 5390008;
Fate	Sank on 2 December 1994 off the coast of Somalia due to fire on board.
General characteristics
Tonnage	21,119 GRT as built; 23,629 GRT after refurbishment;
Length	642 ft (196 m)
Beam	82 ft (25 m)
Draft	29.3 ft (8.9 m)
Decks	9 (6 passenger accessible)
Installed power	2 × Sulzer/ Winterthur + 6 × Sulzer/de Schelde; 32,000 bhp (24,000 kW);
Propulsion	2 propellers
Speed	22.0 kn (40.7 km/h)
Capacity	869 passengers (as built); 1,372 passengers;
Crew	300

The MS Achille Lauro was an Italian cruise ship registered in Naples and built between 1939 and 1947 in the Netherlands under the name of Willem Ruys.^[4] It burned in the Indian Ocean off Somalia in 1994.^[2]

She was hijacked by the Palestinian Liberation Front, where Jewish American Leon Klinghoffer was shot dead and thrown overboard from this cruise ship in 1985.^[5]

References