M.F. LEV TOLSTOY

Black Sea Shipping Company (BLASCO)

Soviet Union, Ukraine

 

Photo taken in Kusadasi, Turkey, 1984.

 

Built: 1981 by Stocznia Szczecinska SA, Warskiego, Poland

Technical:  

Overall length: 134.5 m

Beam: 21.0 m

Draft: 5.60 m

Gross Tonnage: 12811 tons

Passengers: 350

Power: 4 Sulzer diesels, 17400 HP

Service Speed: 20.0 knots

Operating Routes: Europe, Mediterranean and Black Sea.

Sister (or similar) Ships: M.F. Konstantin Simonov, M.F. Dimitry Shostakovitch, M.F. Konstantin Chernenko (Later, M.F. Russ, (1988)), M.F. Mikhail Sholokhov, M.F. Mikhail Suslov (Later, M.F. Pyotr Pervyy (1989)), M.F. Georg Ots, M.F. Ankara, M.F. Iskenderun, M.F. Samsun.

Former Names: None

Later Names: M.S. Natasha (1995), M.S. Palmira (1998), M.S. Jasmine (2002)

Owners:
- 1981-1995: Black Sea Shipping Company, Odessa, Ukraine.
- 1995-1996: BLASCO IK, under Liberian flag.
- 1996-1998: Black Sea Shipping Company, Odessa, Ukraine
- 1998-2001: SCL Overseas Ltd., British Virgin Islands, chartered to Neckermann Seereisen, Germany (2000) and Hansatouristik, Germany (2001).
- 2001- Present: Abcus Shipping Ltd., La Valetta, Malta. Chartered to Mano Maritime of Haifa, Israel in 2002.

History and Current Status: She sailed under the hammer and sickle of the Black Sea Shipping Company of the Soviet Union between 1981 and 1992, offering European and Mediterranean cruises. She got renovated at Lloyd-Werft of Bremerhaven, Germany in 1991. After the fall of the Soviet Union, sho started sailing under the Ukrainian flag with the same name. In 1995, when the financial situation of BLASCO went unstable, she got transferred to BLASCO IK and continued sailing under a new name, MS Natasha. In 1996, she got retransferred to BLASCO, Ukraine. In 1998, SCL Overseas Ltd of BVI purchased her and chartered her to Neckermann Seereisen and Hansatouristik for European and Mediterranean low-budget cruises, serving a mostly German clientele under a new name, MS Palmira. She got renovated and modernized in 1999 at Gdansk, Poland. In 2001, she was chartered to Hansatouristik for summer but she then got laid up in September 2001, in Perama, Greece, after her ownership changed to Abcus Shipping Ltd. (Zenith Cruise Line) of Malta. The company was originally going to charter her to Mano Maritime of Israel right away, but this was postponed because of the Palestinian/Israel crisis and also because M.S. (The) Iris was already being operated on the same route. On May 9th, 2002, M.S. Palmira is supposed to leave Perama and start performing Mediterranean cruises and liner services between Odessa and Haifa under the new name, M.S. (The) Jasmine.

UPDATE, July 19th, 2002: As reported by Patrick Wetter of DeMalo & Partners, Luxembourg:" Our well-liked PALMIRA now presents itself for the new cruising-season in the Mediterranean Sea. A lot has been done during the winter-season to upgrade the comfort and facilities onboard the 12000 grt ship which is the former LEV TOLSTOY from the Black Sea Shipping Company in Odessa. After major refurbishments in Perama, the ship has now new carpets and floors in the main lounges and reception-area. Real wood has been used in the Veranda Bar and in the disco to replace the old carpets and tiles on the floor and a new window-decoration has been added. The aft sun-deck on boat-deck level has been enlarged and has got a whirlpool while the fitness-room has been transformed into a casino. On the boat-deck as well, the former officer-cabins were transformed into passenger-cabins, some with view to the bow. A fine addition on the platform-deck is the new shopping area. The hospital has been moved to this deck as well. With its new name The JASMINE, the ship is cruising together with its sistership The IRIS (ex KONSTANTIN SIMONOV) on a regular Odessa-Haifa-Odessa schedule as well as performing Mediterranan cruises. the ship's technical manager is, like before, Vival Marine from Odessa. The crew remains ukrainian as well. As with the IRIS, Mano Maritime Ltd. has chartered the ship right now while the 3rd sistership PALOMA (ex DMITRIY SHOSTAKOVICH)is operated by Hansa Touristik. ".

(email all info about her to ata.bilgili@dartmouth.edu)

Notes: Lev Tolstoy represents a very succesfull ferryboat design history by the famous Polish shipyard of Stocznia Szczecinska SA. The success lies in the multi-purpose design, easily updateable and convertible from a ferry configuration to a cruise liner configuration. After the fall of the Soviet Union, which pretty much defeated the purpose of having a ferry/cruise combination in one design, many of these ferries were converted to cruise only vessels. Today, many of these ships are operating as cruise liners, offering budget cruises to a mostly European clientele. The first time I saw Lev Tolstoy corresponds pretty much to a time when I was deciding to follow a naval architecture career and with her chine, boxy shape, large watertight doors and large funnel, Lev Tolstoy was offering something good to investigate. Later on in the eighties, the Turkish Maritime Lines also ordered three ships of the same class from Poland and I was lucky enough to sail on M.F. Ankara from Istanbul to Izmir on a very happy occasion. Hopefully, Lev Tolstoy will continue her succesfull career into the 21st century.

Links:

- Micke Asklander's M.F. Lev Tolstoy page.
- Ferry Gallery's MS Palmira page.
- Aleksi Lindstrom's MS Palmira page.
- Stephanie Diez's MS Palmira page.
- Timo Selkala's MS Palmira.
- Arttu Laaksonen's MS Palmira.
- Kreuzfahrt-4u.de's MS Palmira and MS Paloma page.
- MS Paloma and MS Palmira being repaired and maintained at Malta Drydocks..
- Neckermann Seereisen.
- Neckermann Seereisen's MS Palmira page.
- Hansatouristik.
- Expedia.com's MS Palmira page.
- Mano Maritime, Haifa, Israel.

Line Drawings: From the book "Soviet Bloc Merchant Ships" by Bruno Bock and Klaus Bock, 1981.

Other Pictures: