The following reply was received from Edgar Martin, Director, Danube
Research, Danube Shipping Consultants, Edinburgh, Scotland.
____________________________________________________________________
Dear David, Paul and Dai,
Thank you for your comments concerning the proposed "restoration" of
Tudor Vladimirescu.
First of all I would like to make it very clear that **I AGREE WITH
YOU**, indeed the policy of Danube Research is always to preserve the
integrity of any historic vessel.
Please take another look at the Tudor Vladimirescu page within
www.danube-research.com where it states that the design is provided
by a company called ECOU Design; **NOT** Danube Research. We have
placed the restoration proposals online to attract the kind of
response which you have provided. These comments will be passed to
the relevant authorities in the hope that they will make some
difference.
I expressed these views some time ago to the naval architect
concerned who responded that the vessel's present lines are not at
all original. She had a major, I would add brutal, refit in the late
1950s in Orsova since when, in the words of many Romanians, "she
looks more like a bus". They have a point.
Danube Research would prefer the vessel to be restored to her inter-
war appearance as Sarmisegetusa / Grigore Manu (see attached plan).
Some people in Romania believe that the ship would only make money
for her owners in a "modernised" form, hence this bizarre design
proposal. Needless to say we disagree.
This all ignores the main issue however. You are probably familiar
with the comparatively large number of historic vessels in Western
Europe, North America and other "rich" regions where sufficient funds
for restoration cannot be found. This vessel is in Romania, a poor
country with even less available for such schemes. The only Western
European interest in the vessel has been to remove her away from the
Danube altogether.
One of our biggest concerns is the removal of historic Danube vessels
to richer countries where the vessels' Danube heritage is ignored. An
example of this is the paddle steamer Giurgiu (see Historic Vessels
page within
www.danube-research.com) which is to be moved to
Switzerland after being rebuilt as the paddle steamer Wengi. In
theory this is against our ideals, but on the other hand, as can be
seen in our photo of the vessel in 2000, she was slowly sinking in
Tulcea so any restoration may be preferable to destruction. [In
addition of course there are vessels which also have a heritage
elsewhere, such as the Clyde-built Steam Yacht Libertatea (Nahlin).]
In an ideal world these historic vessels would be accurately restored
to their original form or that of most historical significance. The
River Danube does not flow through an ideal world.
Further to this I am afraid that Tudor Vladimirescu has deteriorated
noticeably since the website was last updated. I visited the vessel
last summer and she has been returned to long-term lay-up at Chiciu.
After being stripped bare at the shipyard, she is now exposed to the
elements far more than before and is suffering from the extremes of
Romanian weather. On the positive side however the Romanian
Maritime/Naval Museum is showing a strong interest in the vessel and
Galati City Council, supported by Danube Research, has made a
proposal for funding to be allocated to restoring TV. This proposal
is not connected with the "restoration" plans of ECOU design,
although there are still powerful figures who remain in favour of
that design.
This vessel is believed to be the oldest paddle steamer in the world
and despite the 1950s rebuild still has her original hull, engine and
paddles. Let's hope she can yet be restored to her former glory.
Thanks for your interest in this historic paddler. We will update the
website whenever we have any news about the vessel.
Best regards,
Edgar Martin
Director, Danube Research
- Danube Shipping Consultants -
Edinburgh, Scotland, UK
E-mail: edgar@danube-research.com
Web:
http://www.danube-research.com/
Main Menu
UserBox
Search
