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Messageries
Maritimes was based in Marseilles,
France.
Its initials, MM, were as indelibly associated with the French Empire
as
P&O and BI were with the British Empire.
Founded in 1851 Messageries Maritimes linked France and the second
largest
empire in the modern world. Sailing to exotic places such as Djibouti, Saigon,
Pepeete and Nossi Be, MM summed up the romance and adventure of
pre-aviation
travel whilst offering a uniquely French ambience, cuisine and décor.
Whether
transiting the Suez Canal, sailing up the muddy Saigon River
or anchored in a
palm-fringed Indian Ocean port, a MM
liner symbolised France Afloat on
the world’s oceans for over a century. The final ship built for
Messageries
Maritimes was the Pasteur which entered service in 1966.
MM ran a Bordeaux to South America
service from 1860 to 1912 when it was
assumed by the newly founded Cie. Sudatlantique. 50 years later the two
main
French lines on the route, Sudatlantique and Chargeurs Reunis, withdrew
and it
was left to MM to re-establish the route with the existing three of the
four
near sisters on the route, Chargeur’s Louis Lumiere and Sudatlantique’s
Charles
Tellier and Laennec. The Pasteur as it turned out would replace these
three
existing ships and be partnered with the Argentinian Rio Tunuyan.
Design
and Construction (1966):
She
was originally intended as the Australien and was to serve on the Marseilles to Australia route. She was
laid down
at the Chantiers de France Gironde at Dunkirk
on the 28th April 1963. But before her launch it was decided
to
switch her to the South American route and rename her Pasteur. She was
launched
on the 2nd June 1966 at Dunkirk.
She was delivered to MM on the 28th October 1966.
Messageries
Maritimes era (1966 - 1976):
The
Pasteur was the last ship built for Messageries Maritimes and reliably
served
on their South American route from November 1966 until the 16th
September 1976.
She sailed on her maiden voyage on the 2nd November 1966
from Hamburg to Buenos
Aires
via Le Havre, Vigo,
Lisbon, Rio de Janiero, Santos
(where she docked alongside her predecessor the Charles Tellier) and Montevideo.
Pasteur
was the largest ever MM liner. Powered by twin Sulzer 24,000bhp
diesels, she
made 24 knots on trials and 20 knots in service. Her 163 First Class
passengers
were accommodated one- and two-berth cabins with private facilities
while the
266 Tourist Class passengers had two- and four-berth cabins all with
private
showers and washbasins and several with toilets. Andre Arbus decorated
the
First Class public rooms, the lounge featuring tapestries by J. Picart
Le Doux
similar to his famous ones aboard CGT French Line’s famous S/S France.
After
the withdrawal of Royal Mail Lines’ South America service at the end of
1968,
Pasteur began to call outbound at Southampton
and later homewards as well. She served with MM until her final voyage
to South
America which began at Hamburg
on the 2nd August 1976 and returned on the 16th
September
1976. This final voyage was the last of a Messageries Maritimes ship
121 years
after their first in October 1851.
Shipping
Corporation of India
era (1976 - 1985):
After
a loyal and uneventful career with Messageries Maritimes the Pasteur
was
retired from service and sold to the Shipping Corporation of India
on the 30th
October 1972. This left CGT French Line’s S/S France as the sole
remaining big
French overseas ocean liner and she, too, was gone within two years. In
1977,
both Messageries Maritimes and CGT French Line lost their proud
independent
identities when they were merged to form the Compagnie General
Maritime.
The
Pasteur was renamed Chidambaram and served on the Madras
to Singapore
route. She became one of the very last passenger liners in regular
scheduled
service, sadly her career ended when she caught fire in February 1985.
She was
sent for scrapping in Bombay
later that year.
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