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The Ocean Liners Foundation (Est. 2008) |
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THE OCEAN LINER VIRTUAL MUSEUM |
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Of course other equally large ocean vessels have been built such as large crude oil supertankers and aircraft carriers to name just two. But none of these have incorporated the same level of complexity or ornamentation as that which is characteristic of the true ocean liner. Passengers as their “cargo”, required creature comforts, as far as possible, a real “home from home” which could delude them into feeling far removed from the ocean’s fury (only a hull’s thickness away), as if they were still on dry land. The same is true of today’s cruise ships although they are built more as holiday resorts and not for speed and a means of travel as the ocean liners were. In their heyday there was great rivalry between shipping lines, especially on the transatlantic route, as the liners were symbols of national prestige and you had to be the fastest and the best. It was the ocean liners and their scheduled liner routes linking Britain (and other ocean liner countries) with the diverse corners of the world that enabled people for the first time to travel long distances between continents on a regular basis. Thus the ocean liners enabled trade, communication and migration across the world and laid the foundations of the modern globalised world we live in today. This traffic has since been succeeded by the aeroplane and today’s airlines serve a similar role but in less time that the ocean liners and their shipping companies did before. Today, as communication improves via air travel and the internet, we live in an ever more globalised world. But the foundations of this modern, globalised world were laid by the ocean liners and their liner routes. Even today 90% of trade is by sea. Ever since the jet age arrived in the 1960s and 70s the ocean liner has declined, but instead they have evolved into today’s cruise liners. But there are now very few true ocean liners left and their number is continuing to dwindle until eventually there will be none left. Now the last true ocean liners are in their twilight years and before long there may be none left. The Ocean Liners Foundation is not an organisation as such but more a virtual networking group that aims to do the following: 1. The Ocean Liner Virtual Museum We seek to promote the Ocean Liner Virtual Museum and explore opportunities to perhaps create a physical Ocean Liner Museum in an appropriate location to further build on the success of the existing Virtual Museum. We feel there is merit in considering the creation of an Ocean Liner Museum to tell their remarkable story and interpret it and make it relevant for present and future generations. Great Britain is the birthplace of the ocean liner and has been home to many famous shipping companies and their ships, thus we believe that Britain is the most appropriate place to have the Ocean Liner Museum. The ocean liner has a remarkable and inspirational story to tell and has taken part in many epic events of the 20th century and has played an important role in travel and human history but yet there is no museum in the world that tells this story. To start off with we have created a virtual museum – the Ocean Liner Virtual Museum. We believe that the Ocean Liner Museum (in its current virtual form, and perhaps eventually an actual museum) could become the hub of a global network via linkages with other museums around the world thereby allowing the full story of the Ocean Liner to be told from the perspectives of all the countries that had a role in this remarkable and inspiring story. Also we are aware that there are many collections of ocean liner artefacts and film archives etc around the world that do not have a home for the long term. Many existing museums have been approached to display these artefacts and yet they declined due to lack of money and space to display these fine objects. Gradually we saw that perhaps there was a need to create a museum to house these collections and tell their story and the story of the ocean liner and thus was born our idea. The virtual museum could perhaps provide a virtual home for these collections if they were digitalised. But in the meantime our virtual museum can tell the story of the ocean liner and their legacy. We hope you enjoy exploring our Ocean Liner Virtual Museum – the only museum in the world dedicated to telling the story of the ocean liners and ocean travel. Please click on the section heading above for more information. 2. The Ocean Liners Portal We seek to create an online network to help promote and support the preserved historic ocean liners that exist around the world. Many historic ocean liners have been preserved as hotel ships and tourist attractions, this online network would aim to be a virtual gateway to the historic ocean liners of the world. For without the support of the general public these preserved ocean liners will not survive. Please support them and ensure that they can survive and bring inspiration and delight to present and future generations. Please click on the section heading above for more information. 3. The "Save the Classic Liners" Campaign In their heyday there was great rivalry between shipping lines, especially on the transatlantic route, as the liners were symbols of national prestige and you had to be the fastest and the best. It was the ocean liners and their scheduled liner routes linking Britain (and other ocean liner countries) with the diverse corners of the world that enabled people for the first time to travel long distances between continents on a regular basis. This traffic has since been succeeded by the aeroplane and today’s airlines serve a similar role but in less time that the ocean liners and their shipping companies did before. Ever since the jet age arrived in the 1960s and 70s the ocean liner has declined, but instead they have evolved into today’s cruise liners. But there are now very few true ocean liners left and their number is continuing to dwindle until eventually there may be none left. Now the last true ocean liners are in their twilight years and before long there may be none left. However we feel that some of the remaining ocean liners have potential to be preserved as tourist attractions and hotel ships. This "Save the Classic Liners Campaign" aims to promote particular ocean liners that may be suitable for this future role and highlight their potential. The "Save the Classic Liners" Campaign will also act as a virtual network to help put people and ideas in touch as appropriate and build support for saving some of the last remaining ocean liners. But even if we are unsuccessful in saving these ocean liners from being scrapped, then the least we can do is promote them and raise their profile in their final years so as to make sure that they are not forgotten and can go out with a bang and with dignity! We are truly grateful for and inspired by the dedication and hard work of Reuben Goossens who founded the "Save the Classic Liners Campaign" on his remarkable SS Maritime website in 1999. In recent years he has done a great deal to promote and raise the profile for many ocean liners in their final years including ships such as the Rotterdam, Southern Cross (Ocean Breeze), Windsor Castle (Margarita L), Dunnottar Castle (Princessa Victoria), Eugenio C (Big Red Boat 2), and most recently the France (Norway). Sadly he has had to retire from regular involvement in the campaign for various reasons. However we are delighted that he has agreed to continue in an informal capacity as a key advisor for us as we endeavour to continue his good work. But for now from us and I am sure all the supporters of the "Save the Classic Liners Campaign": "Thanks, Reuben for all
your hard work in recent years. You are truly a remarkable and
inspiring man. I am sure everyone around the world who loves classic
ocean liners will forever be grateful to you for your sterling work in
recent years promoting and lobbying for this fine liners. Yes you may
have had varying degrees of success, but you certainly raised their
profile and made sure they
weren't forgotten and instead went out with a bang and with dignity!
You are one in a million and I don't think we can
ever praise or thank you enough. We are all truly grateful."
We are truly honoured and grateful to be a great friend of Reuben and we thought it would be a great shame if his work was to stop and his many contacts be lost forever. Therefore in discussion with Reuben we have decided to try to continue his great work here at the new location for the "Save the Classic Liners Campaign" from 2008 onwards in partnership with others. The Ocean Liner Virtual Museum is delighted to be able to help and host these pages for the campaign. So while we may continue the campaign in slightly different ways to how it has been done until now, please, rest assured that his great work will not be lost and will continue. Please click on the section heading above for more information.
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