A postcard of SS Galileo Galilei
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History | |
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Name: |
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Owner: |
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Operator: |
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Port of registry: | |
Ordered: | 1960 |
Builder: | Cantieri Riuniti dell' Adriatico, Monfalcone, Italy |
Yard number: | 1982 |
Launched: | 2 July 1961 |
Acquired: | March 1963 |
Maiden voyage: | 23 March 1963 |
In service: | 23 March 1963 |
Out of service: | 20 May 1999 |
Fate: | Sunk 21 May 1999 |
Notes: | Sister ship to SS Guglielmo Marconi |
General characteristics (as built) | |
Tonnage: | |
Length: | 213.65 m (700 ft 11 in) |
Beam: | 28.71 m (94 ft 2 in) |
Draught: | 8.60 m (28 ft 3 in) |
Installed power: |
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Propulsion: | Twin propellers |
Speed: | 24 knots (44 km/h; 28 mph) (service) |
Capacity: |
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General characteristics (following 1984 refit) | |
Capacity: | 1,262 passengers |
Notes: | Otherwise the same as built |
General characteristics (following 1990 refit) | |
Tonnage: | 30,440 GRT |
Capacity: | 1,428 passengers |
Notes: | Otherwise the same as built |
Coordinates: 4°37′1″N 99°54′6″E / 4.61694°N 99.90167°E
SS Galileo Galilei was an ocean liner built in 1963 by Cantieri Riuniti dell' Adriatico, Monfalcone, Italy for Lloyd Triestino's Italy—Australia service. In 1979, she was converted to a cruise ship, and subsequently sailed under the names Galileo and Meridian. She sank in the Strait of Malacca in 1999 as the Sun Vista.
Ordered by Lloyd Triestino in 1960,Galileo Galilei was built in Italy for the Australian immigrant route. Galileo Galilei was launched on 2 July 1961. On 23 March 1963, the ship entered service for Lloyd Triestino, doing Mediterranean cruises before departing on its official maiden voyage from Genoa, Italy to Sydney, Australia on 22 April 1963. In November of the same year, she was joined on the route by her sister ship SS Guglielmo Marconi. Originally the ships traveled to Australia via the eastern route, passing through Suez Canal in both directions, but in the later years the return trip to Europe was via the Panama Canal. They also routed to Australia via the Cape of Good Hope in the late 1960s and early 1970s.