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Built 1914
at Turnu Severin
Length : 39.43 m : breadth : 10.9 metres
Engines :
Compound Diagonal by
Sachsenberg (of Rosslau)
Coal fired
Borcea was originally a royal yacht for King
Ferdinand. She was later converted to a passenger ship. Siezed by the
Soviets during World War II and towed to Odessa, but returned when she
was damaged by fire. Used for cruises and holidays for communist youth
organisations until withdrawal in 1971 when she was laid up and faced
scrapping. She then had various uses including as a steam generator at
a fish-canning factory. She was designated as a national Historical
Monument in 1984 and repair work took place intermittently. A sale to
Swiss interests failed after the intervention of the Director of the
Museum of Braila and work resumed in 2000. By 2005 the structure was
fully repaired and money then allocated for a refurbishment of the
interior. This contract has erupted in controvery regarding money and
the choice of contractor, with the quality of work being claimed to be
sub-standard. She is owned by the Ministry of Education and Heritage.
She is still in operable condition and in October 2010 was restored
sufficiently to be offering schoolchildren short one-hour cruises from
Braila.
Photos
taken in 2012 with brief vessel history : http://pato.ro/2012/02/vaporul-cu-zbaturi-borcea.html