Old liner still popular

Alex de Vos
More than 16,000 visitors braved the cold this month to catch a glimpse of the world’s oldest passenger liner docked at Cunningham Pier.
Built in 1914 at Newport in the United States as a cargo ship, she sailed under the name of the SS Medina until 1948. Her original steam engines were replaced and after a refit, her name changed to the Roma until 1952 and then the Franca C in 1959 when she was converted to a passenger ship.
In 1977 the ship was renamed the Doulos, a Greek word meaning ‘servant’ and she now travels the world selling books and supporting local communities.
German charity organisation Good Books for All operates the ship, the floating humanitarian project carrying more than 500,000 books.
Captain Ashley McDonald, from Ballarat, has worked on the 6800 tonne ship for more than six years and describes the experience as “challenging and rewarding”.
“It’s challenging in some aspects because you don’t have a lot of space,” Captain McDonald said.
“But it has the advantages of visiting different countries and meeting different people.”
He said about 350 volunteers from 48 countries run the Doulos.
“Some of them have certain expectations when they get on board – they think they’re going to be doing lots and lots of practical work,” Captain McDonald said.
“Then they find out running a ship is hard work and they find themselves doing menial tasks they thought they’d never have to do and for a long period of time.”
Aside from keeping the ship afloat and selling books, he said the crew also worked in orphanages and helped build homes for the poor when docked in Third World countries.
“It’s character-building and they get to see the needs around the world, both physical and spiritual needs and they get a great deal of fulfilment.”
Captain McDonald said he was “thrilled” with the number of visitors in Geelong and believed the biggest drawcard was the ship’s age.
“The books on the ship are a great resource and it’s a big attraction in many countries but Australia has plenty of books,” he said.
“I think the age of the ship is more significant here. In a lot of countries like Africa, the fact it’s an old ship is not a big deal for them, but the fact it’s got books on board is.”
The ship is on its last tour of Australia before it is decommissioned in 2010.
“But there are plenty of people who believe strongly enough in what we’re doing to help replace the ship,” he said.
The Doulos weighs anchor on Sunday and sails to Albany in Western Australia.