The SS Rotterdam of 1959 is the fifth ship of that name in service with the Holland-America Line (HAL). It is a steamship with oil-fired boilers and steam turbines.
It is one of the best-known postwar Dutch passenger ships. It went through the last decade of transatlantic liner shipping between 1959 and the end of 2000 and was then a successful cruise ship. Since August 4, 2008, the ship has been lying as a floating attraction (tours, hotel-café-restaurant) at the Third Katendrecht Head in the Maashaven in Rotterdam.
The Rotterdam was originally designed as a “running mate” for the popular Nieuw Amsterdam of 1938, but design work was halted due to the outbreak of World War II. By the time economic conditions had improved to the point that people started thinking about building the ship again in early 1954, it was already clear that the transatlantic passenger ship era would come to an end. The designers had that in mind when they designed a highly innovative ship: a ship with two classes, horizontally separated with removable walls and a unique double stairwell that allowed easy conversion to one class.
In 2008, the mooring facilities for the steamship SS Rotterdam, transformed into a hotel, were completed. Close to the Erasmus Bridge, familiar to everyone in the Netherlands, this is another iconic structure. The ship is connected to the shore by three towers and walkways made of hot-dip galvanized steel. Hot-dip galvanized steel with a clearly visible structure was also chosen for the ticket building.
The ship is connected to the shore by three towers and walkways, executed in hot-dip galvanized steel. This durable corrosion protection was also chosen for the ticket building, with the characteristic structure remaining clearly visible. Layer thickness measurements of the zinc layers show no surprises: with an average of about 206 microns on the main structure, the value is even well above the normative requirements.
Whereas the ship narrowly escaped the scrapper in 2008 and underwent a thorough restoration, the longevity of the mooring facilities is assured. Even without significant maintenance, these steel structures will provide reliable, understated protection for many decades to come – and thus rightfully direct attention to the real eye-catcher: the SS Rotterdam.
