Date of Issue: May 23, 2009Many thanks to Mr. George Wu (Gulfmann Stamps Collection), Taiwan, for sending me this special cover of MV Doulos with Taiwan Keelung Port temporary post office on the ship deck.
The MV Doulos is the world's oldest active ocean-faring passenger ship. She is now owned by the German charity - Gute Bücher für Alle (English: Good Books for All), and is used as a floating bookshop. The ship has previously been known as the SS Medina, the SS Roma, and the MV Franca C.
The Medina was built in 1914 by Newport News Shipbuilding and Dry Dock Company for the Mallory Steamship Company of the United States. She was a freighter serving the Atlantic; during World War II she served with the United States Coast Guard.
In 1977, Gute Bücher für Alle acquired the Franca C, and renamed her the Doulos (Greek for servant). In her current role, she is manned by a crew of 320 volunteers representing 54 countries and has visited more than 100 countries, welcoming more than 19 million people onboard!
The MV Doulos currently holds the biggest floating library in the world. Normally there is somewhere around 3000 to 5000 books on the shelf and half a million in the hold.
She is currently doing her last world tour and was planned to be de-commissioned in 2010 when the SOLAS (International Convention for the Safety of Life at Sea) regulations are due to be introduced.
Source: Wikipedia.
The Medina was built in 1914 by Newport News Shipbuilding and Dry Dock Company for the Mallory Steamship Company of the United States. She was a freighter serving the Atlantic; during World War II she served with the United States Coast Guard.
In 1977, Gute Bücher für Alle acquired the Franca C, and renamed her the Doulos (Greek for servant). In her current role, she is manned by a crew of 320 volunteers representing 54 countries and has visited more than 100 countries, welcoming more than 19 million people onboard!
The MV Doulos currently holds the biggest floating library in the world. Normally there is somewhere around 3000 to 5000 books on the shelf and half a million in the hold.
She is currently doing her last world tour and was planned to be de-commissioned in 2010 when the SOLAS (International Convention for the Safety of Life at Sea) regulations are due to be introduced.
Source: Wikipedia.
.png)
Hi,
ReplyDeleteDelighted to see the cover of MV Doulos, I had enjoyed visiting it, when it was in Mangalore some years back.
Mansoor.
I heard the MV Doulos is now permanently docked in Singapore. I was in Taiwan when it last visited in 2009, but I didn't know about that visit until I saw this very unique cover. Pity I missed the visit and the cover... Alex
ReplyDelete