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The Moonta becomes Lydia: The Greek period (1955-1966)

After 24 years of good and loyal services within the Adelaide Steamship Co Ltd, the Moonta was put up for sale by the Australian company.

At first used as a ferry to replace the Taroona, she was bought by a Greek shipowner, Hellenic Mediterranean Lines (ELMES). ELMES took possession of the vessel in Melbourne on December 21, 1955 and the ship was renamed Lydia, after an ancient Greek province. This mythical province crossed by the Pactolus river and over which the famous Croesus reigned. A name predestined to ensure the good fortune of the newly acquired ship.

The ship then set sail for Piraeus, her new home port. In Adelaide, the Lydia took on board a Greek crew who had to familiarize themselves with the ship.

C'est déjà bien le Lydia et plus le Moonta- regardez bien les couleurs en haut du mât arrière !
Nikos Kavvadias (Νίκος Καββαδίας) à bord du Lydia

Among the men on board, the famous Greek marine writer Nikos Kavvadias (Νίκος Καββαδίας) known in particular for his very dark novel “Vardia” (The Quarter) published the year before.

The journey to Greece is made via the Coco Islands and the Suez Canal. On arrival, the ship leaves for a detailed inspection. The ship was in exceptional condition, at the level of Anglo-Saxon naval rigor!

 

According to a Greek newspaper of the time, the new owner was even delighted by the exceptional condition of the newly acquired ship, judging her to be “of a high level of cleanliness, almost exaggerated”.

The ship thus crossed half the globe again to reach the waters of the Mediterranean, which she had visited for the first time 24 years earlier.

 

Upon arrival in Greece, she passed through the Piraeus shipyards where she underwent some transformations to adapt it to her new destination: a navigation through the Mediterranean.

 

The capacity was doubled from 157 to 280 passengers, and four additional boats were installed, bringing the total number of lifeboats to eight.

 

Her aft deck was also modified to accommodate, instead of the former deck tennis area, a small dock with additional crew cabins and a sick bay.

The ship is divided into three classes: 51 passengers in first class, 106 for the “tourist” class and finally 123 in third class who are crammed into a large bunk bed dormitory located on the B deck above the forward holds.

It is also planned that the ship can carry 180 additional “embarkers” in “open air” on the front deck, and this only for short crossings. There is no indication that this possibility was never really used… It is hard to imagine the Lydia loaded to the brim with 460 passengers.

Publicity HML
Promenade deck

                                             Publicity of the Hellenic Mediterranean Line (ELMES)

In the spring of 1956, she finally returned to service on the Piraeus/Venice/Brindisi/Alexandria route, but very quickly she was assigned to another route linking Marseilles to Beirut, with stops in Genoa, Naples, Piraeus, Alexandria and Limassol (Cyprus).

 

On the return journey, she added a stopover in Port Said, at the mouth of the Suez Canal. 

As soon as she entered service, the Lydia was caught up in the turmoil of history because, in 1956, following the privatization of the Suez Canal, she would initially embark the families of Europeans who worked for the Canal Company.

The end of a golden age for these expatriates who found their way back to the metropolis.

Very soon after, it was the turn of the Egyptian Jews whom Nasser had designated as Personna non grata following the war against the state of Israel and the Franco-British operation in Suez. After these events, the Lydia returned to the tranquility of her journey around the Mare Nostrum without any notable incident.

In the early 1960′, the Lydia underwent a final refit. On this occasion, the ship received a new gray livery, a color more suited to the Mediterranean climate and commonly used in the Greek commercial navy. In addition, a windbreak was added to the front of the deck to make it more pleasant for the passagers.

At the beginning of the 1960s, the world was changing and the former first class and tourist class were merged into a single “uniclass”, more in line with the mentality of the time.

                                              Passager’s photos during the 1960′

This journey across the Mediterranean only lasted ten years and in December 1966, the Lydia returned to Piraeus after 35 years of service at sea, awaiting a buyer or more likely departure for the demolition yard…

…This is where the fabulous destiny of the ship that will become the “Paquebot des sables” (“Sand Liner”) will be played out…

 

The rest of her story : HERE

Olivier Alba

The first life of the M/V Moonta: the “Gulf Trip” (1931/1955)

On November 28 th, 1931, the MV Moonta made her first weekly rotation for the Adelaide Steamship Co LTD.  This route, the famous “Gulf Trip“, consisted of a circumnavigation around the Spencer Gulf in Australia, which she was to perform for 24 years without interruption.

The Spencer's gulf and the "Gulf trip"

 

 

 

The “Gulf Trip” was very successful, and its extremely attractive price (only 6 pounds) was a major factor.  For this sum, one spent six full days (departure on Saturday afternoon and return on Friday morning), one covered 720 nautical miles and one stopped in 6 ports: Port-Adelaide, Port-Lincoln, Port-Pirie, Port-Augusta, Port-Hughes, then again Port-Lincoln and return to Adelaide.

Passengers had cabins with one, two or four berths. The comfort of the Moonta was another of its assets, in particular her air ventilation system present in all cabins.

The common areas (dining room, social hall, smoking room) were quite luxuriously treated with wood panelled walls.

The dining-room
The social-hall
Smoke-roon

 The Gulf Trip formula was halfway between a cruise and a regular line. Passengers embarked more often for the pleasure of the trip than for the necessity to go to a precise destination.

Parents and children enjoyed it just as much, and it was also a very classic honeymoon.

The first stop, after leaving Port-Adelaide, was Port-Lincoln. The next stop was at the bottom of the Spencer Gulf where the Moonta served Port Pirie and Port Augusta. 

 

 

 

On the way back, Port-Hugues, then Port-Lincoln again received the ship. Depending on the voyage, a few other stops could be made at Whyalla and Port-Germein, before the return to Adelaide.

 

At each of these stops, shore excursions (optional and at extra cost) were offered to the passengers. According to most of them, the only drawback of the Gulf Trip was the navigation outside the very calm waters of the Spencer Gulf, especially around the Althorpe Islands, where the Moonta‘s roll was causing an epidemic of sea sickness.

Port Lincoln is the main port on the west coast of the Gulf of Spencer, which explains the double call of the Moonta. This port was also served by the Minnipa and passengers could arrive with one ship and leave with the other. 

 

 

 

One of the classic excursions offered there took passengers to Coffin Bay, a very pretty stretch of coastline west of the city. When she arrived at the ports of call, the Moonta did not have empty holds and disembarked with a cargo of mainly food products.

On the way back, she loaded lead lingots at Port Pirie, cast iron sows at Whyalla and bales of wool all over the place.

Port-Augusta

Most of these ports on the Spencer Gulf were not deep enough, so the Moonta was accessed by long wooden booms that still exist.

Port Pirie

The Moonta was like clockwork and made her usual 51-week run each year. 

 

 

The 52nd week, the same one every year, on the first Tuesday of November, saw her set sail for Melbourne. It was in this port that she did her annual refit because it was on this date that the biggest horse race in Australia, the Melbourne Cup, was held. The company made the trip profitable with round trip tickets for the week. The passengers stayed at the hotel in town and returned to the plane for the return trip to Adelaide. In the following video, we will observe some shots where the Moonta appears at the dock in this same port:

 

Buvard publicitaire

The Moonta was very popular with its passengers and they usually bought a souvenir of their crossing on board. The choice was quite large, with napkin rings, various dishes, ashtrays, cutlery, postcards, writing paper, etc… 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The menus themselves, which were not sold, had a special place for autographs of the crew members. Everything was of course marked with the effigy of the ship. These objects are the pride of some current Australian collectors because the memory of this ship is still vivid in the popular memory. During the second world war, the menu became a little less attractive, but the Moonta remained at all times a famous and appreciated table.

 

The stay on board the Moonta was organized like that of a real cruise ship. Distracting passengers was a constant concern of the crew. The restoration was of high quality, an essential rule known to all shipowners. The bar was well stocked and the piano in the social hall in great demand. Differents sports activities were offered during the day: deck tennis, shuffleboard, little-horse racing, in particular.

The evenings were filled with a variety of activities: costume balls, musical hooks (the “Amateur Hours”) and endless games of “housie housie”, the equivalent of our lotto. Excursions on land were a perfect part of this program. One could discover the blast furnaces of Whyalla or the mountains of the Flinders Ranges in the hinterland. A ritual event was very popular: the big ball offered to the “gulf trippers” on Tuesdays, at the Port-Augusta stopover, which took place in the town’s village hall.

Today, the only ships carrying passengers, with the exception of ferries, are cruise ships. In the 1930’s, on the contrary, only liners were built and operated on regular crossings. The Moonta and her Gulf Trip, disregarding her function of transporting goods, already prefigured this specialization in cruising. The two following videos give an overview:

That’s where she was most appreciated, that’s where she had most of her clientele. And that was something very unusual for the time. She was a real trailblazer.

 

 

 

 

In the early 1950s, competition from land transportation, with the development of cars, began to compete severely with the Adelaide Steamship Company’s freight and passenger business in the Gulf of Spencer. The Gulf Trip fare had been gradually increased after the war (it was 15 Australian pounds in 1955) but this was not enough to make the operation profitable

 

 

It was decided to reduce the fleet and it was the Moonta that first paid the price.

Her last Gulf Trip ended on Febuary 4 th, 1955.

A few months later, another career began under the Greek flag of the Hellenic Mediterranean Line, but that is another story…

 

The rest of her story:  Here

 

                    Jacques Hiron                            

 
 
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The Adelaide Steamship Company Ltd, first owner of the M/V Moonta

The Adelaide Steamship Company, the first owner of the Moonta, was one of Australia’s largest shipping companies and one of South Australia’s most successful commercial ventures.

The wool, wheat and mineral trade made South Australia a rich part of the British colonial empire in the 19th century. Commodity exports were booming, but their shipment from South Australia was long hampered by the small size of the shipping companies and inter-colonial rivalries.

The flag of the company

In 1875, a group of pastoralists and businessmen took it upon themselves to tackle the problem head on and created the Adelaide Steamship Company. Its creation was aimed at ensuring the transportation of their products as well as to make a profit from the freight.

 

A passenger transport service was also created (often by mixed liner) to facilitate the movement of people on this immense continent almost devoid of efficient land communication routes.

A publicity in an Adélaïde newspaper in 1882

For more than 100 years, the Adelaide Steamship Company’s fleet would dominate the transportation of passengers and goods over a wide area of Australia stretching from the city of Darwin to Townsville. The Company employed nearly 800 seamen at its peak.

During wartime the company’s ships were requisitioned for world campaigns (troop transport, armaments, hospital ships) and in peacetime they offered many Australians the trip of a lifetime.

The Wandilla - Hospital-ship

For more than 50 years, from 1910 to 1960, the “Gulf trip” on the ships of the Adelaide Steamship Company was a unique way to discover the south of Australia. This trip became mythical because it inaugurated the concept of cruising where liners were still considered as simple means of transportation. Very early on, the company based its advertising on the pleasure of the trip rather than on its simple utilitarian aspect. The circular route of the “Gulf Trip”, allowed to come back to its starting point after a 6 days cruise for a very advantageous rate.

M/V Minnipa
The Morialta
Le Moonta

The company’s ships, including the MOONTA, were extremely popular with newlyweds, for whom the Gulf Trip ships offered the opportunity for a cheap honeymoon. The seven-day trip cost £6 in 1939. The motto of the Adelaide Steamship was a program in itself: “Festina lente” (hasten slowly)

Ships like the Minnipa, Moonta and Morialta provided many Australians with the romantic and unforgettable setting for this moment in their lives. Today in Australia, one does not count any more the number of children who were conceived during this voyage and on board one of the small liners of the company.

The memory of the Moonta is still very vivid today, as shown by the attachment of many Australians to this ship. 

The building of the company in Adélaïde

 

During the interwar period, the company was at its peak. In addition to the renewal of its Gulf Trip ships, it ordered two larger liners which undoubtedly became the flagships of the fleet: the Manunda and the Manoora.

Its fleet was also composed of a myriad of cargo ships of varying sizes.

The Manoora
The Manunda

 

 

At the beginning of the 1950s, the development of land transport was going to compete with the passenger ships of the company which reduced this branch of its activity by disarming and selling the Moonta in 1955.

On January 1, 1964, its fleet was merged with that of McIlwraith McEacharn Ltd. in a new company named Associated Steamships Ltd. The Adelaide Steamship Company held 40% of the shares of the new company.

This new company innovated again by developing and fitting out in 1964 the first container ship built in the world: the MV Kooringa.

The MV Kooringa

In 1977, following financial setbacks and risky investments, the Adelaide Steamship Company decided to withdraw its interests from the conglomerate, retaining only the tug and tow operations.

The Adelaide Steamship Company was at that time one of the oldest industrial companies in Australia. It changed its name in 1997 to Adsteam Marine Ltd, keeping in its new logo the red eight-pointed star of the former name.

In 2006, the company was acquired by the largest shipping company in the world: AP Moeller Maersk. Today, all that remains of the Adelaide Steamship Co Ltd are yellowed photos, souvenirs… and a liner that has been stranded for more than 50 years on a beach in the south of France…

                        Alba Olivier

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De bien belles journées du patrimoine 2022

Les journées du patrimoine  des samedi 17 et dimanche 18 septembre 2022, ont été l’occasion d’une présence en force de l’Association des Amis du Moonta-Lydia à bord du paquebot.

Pour tenir bon face à l’abordage de presque 2 000 passagers durant le Week-end, l’association avait organisé un roulement par demi-journée pour se repartir les différents postes à bord à savoir: le Stand de l’association au niveau du grand escalier, la buvette sur la plage avant, ainsi que l’organisation des deux visites guidées journalières.

Ces deux visites guidées ont eu beaucoup de succès au point que celles de l’après-midi ont rassemblé pas moins de 80 personnes qu’il a fallu piloter dans le navire. Heureusement celles du matin se faisaient de manière plus “intimiste” même si il y avait pas moins de 30 à 40 passagers.

Cette croisière immobile d’une heure et demi, se proposait d’emmener ses passagers d’un jour dans le temps à travers la formidable destinée d’un paquebot presque centenaire.

Surprise pour ces visiteurs, la visite guidée se terminait par l’ouverture exceptionnelle de la timonerie, où le président de l’association se proposait de prendre en photos ceux qui le désiraient à la barre du Lydia. Un souvenir inoubliable.

Les visiteurs pouvaient en outre, à l’issue de la visite, se procurer le livre qui retrace l’histoire du paquebot et se le faire dédicacer par l’auteur pour prolonger l’expérience.

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le Samedi soir a été l’occasion de se retrouver dans le calme pour la traditionnelle AG de l’association.

Au milieu de la visite, les passagers pouvaient se rafraîchir à la buvette de l’association et ainsi participer à la réalisation de nos missions dont celle qui consiste à acheter, parfois à l’autre bout du monde, les objets historiques en lien avec l’histoire du “Paquebot des sables”. C’était aussi et surtout l’occasion de discutions plus intimistes où tout un chacun pouvait poser ses questions ou raconter une anecdote personnelle sur un évènement qu’il avait vécu à bord du Lydia.

Pour conclure un grand merci à tous qui, par leur investissement, ont rendu ces journées possibles et on vous dit d’ores et déjà:

“Bon vent et à l’année prochaine!!”

L’AAML

A . A . M . L

Association des Amis du Moonta-LYDIA

L’Association des Amis du Moonta Lydia a été crée en 2015. C’est une association loi 1901 à but non lucratif dont l’objectif est de contribuer à la préservation, la sauvegarde du patrimoine matériel, historique et culturel du paquebot LYDIA ex-MOONTA, ensablé à vie au Barcarès (Pyrénées-Orientales, France).

 

Nos missions :

-Assurer la promotion du Lydia (réception de journalistes, site internet, support divers de promotion)

-Collecter les objets, documents divers et témoignages en lien avec l’histoire du “Paquebot des sables”.

-Fournir une assistance technique et historique en vue de la restauration intérieure et extérieure.

-Organiser des expositions à bord et/ou en lien avec le Lydia

-Organisation de conférences,visites guidées

-Participer au développement d’une muséographie autour du « Paquebot des sables »

Pôle modélisme afin de réaliser des maquettes/ Modèles réduits du Lydia (et pas que…)

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Journées du patrimoine des 17 et 18 septembre 2022

A l’occasion des journées du patrimoine 2022 (samedi 17/dimanche 18 septembre), L’association des Amis du Moonta-Lydia sera heureuse de vous accueillir à bord du Paquebot des sables.

A cette occasion deux visites guidées gratuites seront organisées par l’association chaque jour: La première le matin à 10 h, la seconde l’après-midi à 15h30.

Vous pourrez aussi en profiter pour vous faire dédicacer le livre retraçant l’histoire du Lydia, échanger avec nous au stand, ou encore autour d’un verre à la buvette de l’association.

Horaire: 8h/12h – 14h/17h20 (dernière montée).

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Dimanche 11 juin 1967

Le dimanche 11 juin 1967 au petit matin, Le Lydia est en vue de sa dernière escale.

Au nord se dessine dans le petit jour la falaise de Leucate tandis qu’apparaît face à lui une bande de sable basse, déserte et battue par les vents : son ultime port d’attache.

Le Lydia en vue du Cap Leucate- Crédit photo A.Parés
Le Lydia en vue du Barcarès- Crédit photo Semeta

Dans les semaines qui précédaient l’opération de mise à terre du paquebot, il avait fallu préparer le terrain, c’est à dire faire creuser par une drague flottante, un chenal de 600 m de long et 7 m de profondeur. Pour amener celle-ci de l’étang de Salses à la mer, on a fait lui fait donc parcourir  750 m sur le sable, sur des boudins gonflés d’air.

La drague traverse depuis l'étang tractée sur de boudins d'air
La drague creuse le port artificiel qui accueillera le Lydia - crédit photo A.Parès

Parti de Marseille la veille et accompagné de deux remorqueurs (le Provençal 6 et le Phocéen ), le Lydia arrive en vue du Barcarès  le dimanche 11 juin 1967 au petit matin. 

 

Première étapes de l’échouage, des câbles sont fixés à la proue du paquebot, puis fixés à terre à de puissants engins de chantier, tandis que les remorqueurs se fixent à l’arrière du navire afin de maintenir l’axe du chenal. La Tramontane, tout de même un peu forte, ne facilitant pas les opérations

 

Enfin, les engins de chantier se mettent à tirer le paquebot. 

 
Le Lydia est maintenu dans son chenal par les remorqueurs et il est tracté par les engins de chantier

Bien aligné face au chenal par la poussée des remorqueurs, le Lydia avance doucement entre les bouées qui marquent les limites du chenal d’accés. Une élingue se rompt soudain sous l’effet du vent et le navire se met à dériver, risquant de s’échouer. Sur la plage la tension est extrême tandis que les deux remorqueurs interviennent pour le remettre dans l’axe. Plus de peur que de mal mais lorsque le sénateur se retourne, autour de lui tous les ingénieurs étaient livides. Fausse alerte !

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Crédit photo – A.Parès

Les opérations ne sont néanmoins pas terminées. Mètre après mètre, Le Lydia pénètre à l’intérieur des terres suivi comme son ombre par le Provençal 6. Malgré quelques frayeurs dues essentiellement à la Tramontane qui ne faiblit pas, le Lydia s’immobilise à l’emplacement prévu, et le Provençal 6, peut décrocher sa remorque et regagner avec la pleine mer.

Crédit photo – A.Parès

 

Les techniciens qui commandaient la manœuvre, n’en ont pas fini pour autant. Le Lydia flotte à cent mètres à l’intérieur des terres certes, mais plusieurs opérations successives doivent encore le faire pivoter, puis le surélever pour amener la ligne de flottaison au niveau de la plage soit 3 mètres au-dessus du niveau de la mer. Enfin, il s’agit de l’immobiliser définitivement dans son lit de sable. Le planning prévoit que l’échouage sera achevé le 30 juin.

Les bulldozers entreprennent d’abord de combler le chenal et de refermer le port pour isoler le Lydia de la mer, ce qui est terminé deux jours plus tard. La drague, qui joue le rôle de pompe géante, intervient alors et comble une partie de ce qu’il reste du petit port remplaçant l’eau par le sable. 

Crédit photo – SEMETA

Phase suivante : une digue de sable, recouverte de bâches de plastique, est élevée tout autour du lit du Lydia.

Crédit photo – A.Parès

La drague y déverse bientôt des centaines de mètres-cubes d’eau et le Lydia s’élève peu à peu, comme dans un sas d’écluse. Sa ligne de flottaison est à présent au-dessus du niveau de la plage et il peut être lentement amené par les bulldozers à la verticale du berceau qui lui a été confectionné. Il suffit dès lors de pomper l’eau pour qu’il vienne délicatement s’y poser.

Crédit photo – SEMETA

Au final, la drague et les bulldozers feront enfin disparaître toute trace du port.

Crédit photo – SEMETA

Crédit vidéo: France 3 – Pays catalan

Le «Paquebot des sables» est né!

Crédit photo – SEMETA

Bientôt une armée d’artisans va prendre le navire à l’abordage pour le transformer en palais du tourisme mais ça, c’est une autre histoire….

                                                Olivier Alba

Festival du Polar et de l’Aventure 2021

Un nouvel équipage d’auteurs prestigieux montera à bord du Lydia du 24 au 26 septembre 2021.

Le festival « Méditerranée Polar et Aventure » présente sa 5ème édition, exceptionnellement programmée au mois de septembre pour les raisons sanitaires que l’on connait.

Créé par la ville du Barcarès et le Centre Méditerranéen de Littérature, en partenariat avec le magasin Cultura, le festival regroupera cette année une trentaine d’auteurs de polars et de littérature de l’imaginaire parmi les plus prestigieux du moment.

Conçu comme un carrefour littéraire, cet événement a pour ambition de faire découvrir à chacun de nouveaux genres et de de nouveaux auteurs tout en permettant aux passionnés de rencontrer leurs écrivains favoris.

Et des échanges, il y en aura ! La conférence de deux Prix Méditerranée Polar, Fabio Mitchelli, lauréat 2021 avec « Le loup dans la bergerie » (Ed. Robert Laffon) et Fabrice Papillon, qui a obtenu le prix l’an dernier pour « régression » (Ed Belfond), mais aussi « Les auteurs à la barre », des tables-rondes en toute simplicité : Le public pourra y échanger avec les écrivains.

 

Les auteurs seront bien sûr disponibles pour dédicacer leurs ouvrages tout au long du festival.

A noter que vous pourrez aussi trouver au sein du festival le Livre dernièrement paru sur l’histoire du Paquebot des sables et vous le faire dédicas

Et des échanges, il y en aura ! La conférence de deux Prix Méditerranée Polar, Fabio Mitchelli, lauréat 2021 avec « Le loup dans la bergerie » (Ed. Robert Laffon) et Fabrice Papillon, qui a obtenu le prix l’an dernier pour « régression » (Ed Belfond), mais aussi « Les auteurs à la barre », des tables-rondes en toute simplicité : Le public pourra y échanger avec les écrivains.

Les auteurs seront bien sûr disponibles pour dédicacer leurs ouvrages tout au long du festival.

A noter que vous pourrez en profiter pour acquérir à cette occasion le livre récemment paru sur l’histoire du Paquebot des sables et vous faire dédicacer l’ouvrage par son auteur qui sera présent à bord.