Volendam, the second of the season's cruise ships, makes its first call here next Friday.
Like last week's maiden calling, Monfalcone-built Dawn Princess, it is also a product of Italy's state-owned shipbuilding enterprise, Fincantieri-Cant.
Nav.Italiani S.p. A, but came from their Breda yard at Venice..
The ship joined the Holland America Line's cruise ship fleet following its completion in October, 1999.
Currently scheduled to make 10 visits this season, Volendam replaces the very popular, 55,451gt, 1993-built Statendam which made 22 visits from December 30, 2005, to February 23, 2008.
Holland America made its cruise ship debut here 14 years ago with Statendam's sister ship Maasdam.
To date there have been 37 visits by six of their vessels.
At, 60,906gt, Volendam will be the largest unit of the fleet to call here.
The 237m-long ship has 1824 berths in 720 cabins and has five decks plus seven superstructure decks.
The 22-knot, diesel-electric vessel is powered by five Sulzer, Vee 4-stroke, 12-cylinder diesels, that drive five generators connected to two electric motors turning two shafts.
Total power is 43,200kW (58,730hp).
Owned by HAL Antillen NV and registered at Rotterdam, the ship is the third in the fleet to have carried this name, but only the first to have been ordered by the line.
The first was purchased on the stocks while under construction at the Govan (Glasgow) yard of Harland & Wolff Ltd.
A 15,434gt, 15-knot, twin-screw, turbine steamer, with accommodation for 1800 passengers in three classes, it was launched on July 6, 1922.
Its maiden voyage from Rotterdam to New York commenced on November 4, 1922.
Volendam had the good fortune of being at sea when Germany invaded the Netherlands.
It subsequently worked from British ports after being taken over by the Ministry of War Transport and placed under Cunard management.
On August 30, 1940, when carrying British child refugees to Canada, the ship was torpedoed without loss of life, by a U-boat when 200nm southwest from Bloody Foreland.
The ship was then beached on the Isle of Bute.
Refloated and repaired Volendam returned to service 10 months later as a troopship.
The ship returned to Rotterdam in July, 1945, and after being partly reconditioned was employed carrying Dutch troops to Indonesia in 1946.
During 1947-48, the ship undertook a number of emigrant sailings to Australia on behalf of the Netherlands Government.
The ship returned to the Rotterdam-New York service in 1948.
After making its last voyage, to Quebec in October, 1951, it was sold in 1952 to Dutch shipbreakers for demolition at Hendrik Ido Ambacht.
Of almost identical size, the second Volendam was also a twin-screw turbine steamer.
It had been completed in September, 1958 by the Ingall's yard at Pascagoula as Brasil for Moore-McCormack Lines New York-South American service.
But the ship's career was never as successful as that of its former namesake.
After being laid up at Baltimore in September, 1969, it was sold to Holland America and renamed Volendam in 1972.
Laid-up again in January, 1974, it was chartered out in 1975 as Monarch Sun before returning to HAL to operate as the 679-berth Volendam from 1978-84.
From then on, it was a succession of name changes, starting with Island Sun in the C.Y.
Tung fleet, then Liberte (1985), Canada Star (1986), Queen of Bermuda (1988), Enchanted Seas (1990) and Universe Explorer (1996).
In late 2004, a refit was cancelled when structural problems were discovered and under the name Universe the ship arrived at Alang for demolition on December 5, 2004.
