Gullfoss
1950
(Risawoleska RI-269)
- Type: Ferry
- Displacement: 3,858 tons
- Dimensions: 355 x 48 x 18 ft.
- Machinery: 12 cyl. B&W diesels, 4025 bhp, single screw = 15.5 knots
- Passengers: 211 (105 first class, 62 second class, 44 third class)
- Cars: 420
- Builder: Burmeister & Wain, Copenhagen, 1949
- Service: Built for Eimskip for ferry operations between Iceland, Denmark, and Scotland. She replaced an earlier Gullfoss (1915), both named after the much-visited Gullfoss waterfall. Planned for 1939, her construction was delayed by WWII. Some days after launching, she suffered a dust explosion, which killed four shipyard workers and injured two.
On 14 May 1950 Gullfoss made her maiden voyage from Copenhagen carrying 164 passengers, arriving in Reykjavik on 20 May, to a special welcome.
During the 1950s and 1960s she ran in summer on the Copenhagen-Edinburgh/Leith-Reykjavik route and via Hamburg in winter. In winter she also ran cruises. By the early 1970s she operated only during the summer, and she was withdrawn from service in 1972 due to airline competition. She evacuated Heimaey in the Vestmannaeyjar (Westman Islands) in Jan 1973 when Eldfell volcano erupted.
In Nov 1973 she was converted to carry 1100 pilgrims and renamed Mecca in Jan 1974, running on the Red Sea routes to Jeddah for Orri Navigation. Caught fire 19 Dec 1976, drifted onto a reef, and sank the next day.
Up