"GUGLIELMO MARCONI" at Lisbon by Luis Miguel Correia

Seen here during some of her calls in Lisbon, "GUGLIELMO MARCONI" by Luis Miguel Correia, photos taken in 1976 and 1977, further to my previous "post", she was a regular visitor to the port of Lisbon during her ITALIA LINE service from Europe to Brasil and Argentina. All photos Copyright, a special thank you to L.M.C. for allowing me to upload them here

"GUGLIELMO MARCONI" transferred to ITALIA LINE

"GUGLIELMO MARCONI" at the end of 1975 was transferred to ITALIA LINE to operate on the Brasil/Argentina service together with CRISTOFORO COLOMBO, she started the new employment in January of 1976, after a refit she turned up in Lisbon looking brand new, sleek, shining and to die for, I remember seeing her for the first time from onboard a local tug with other friends and colleagues, later we would step on board for the first time to know the new ship and get acquainted with the crew. Her new route started in Napoli, than Genova, Cannes, Barcelona, Lisbon, Rio de Janeiro, Santos, Montevideo and Buenos Aires, returning home exactly via the same ports of call, at the time we were expecting this new service to be long lasting, that or course was not to be the case, in fact this new service for MARCONI lasted less than two years, the decrease in passenger numbers using transatlantic liners was more than evident , all these liners were doomed, people would fly and would get to their destination in hours not days/weeks, our ship was designed for emigration, she needed emigrants and they were lacking in numbers month after month. After all these years I still remember clearly that comparisons with the other ships were inevitable, CRISTOFORO COLOMBO, was a one off ship, AUGUSTUS who MARCONI came to replace was a traditional ageing liner compared to the new ship, so the majority of first onlookers was favourable to the old duo, for me MARCONI was splendid, looking younger with a design created for speed, her funnel and mast incredibly beautiful, I completely fell in love with the new ship and can't describe how pleased I was to know that she would be a monthly visitor to Lisbon, remember thinking, I have to travel on this ship, only 18 at the time, first job was to persuade family to let me go, in those days 18 years old was very much a child and children woud not go to sea on their own. Four months later I was on board MARCONI as a passenger. First two photos above, the very first brochure of the ship distributed to the new overseas agents, bottom image, our ship at Genoa with the new ITALIA LINE colours. With these simple words I hope I have expressed what I felt about "MY NEW SHIP", since then I've developed a truly great admiration for her, today nearly four decades on, I can quite categorically state, she was "MY SHIP", one of my favourites ever

"GUGLIELMO MARCONI" the end of the immigration career

Since the end of the Second World War, AUSTRALIA welcomed around a million immigrants per decade, on the aftermath of WWII the Country established the Federal Department of Immigration in order to sustain the urgent need of a larger population for the purposes of development and also defence. The immigration boom lasted until the mid seventies, ships like the GALILEO GALILEI and "GUGLIELMO MARCONI" were by the mid 70's travelling far from full passenger capacity, a significant percentage of their passengers were tourists taken opportunity of this billed "Voyages Around the World", I remember meeting a very wealthy passenger on MARCONI that had been on both ships for over a year, travelling around the World on GALILEO and than in mid 1976 this remarkable gentleman was on board MARCONI travelling to Brasil and Argentina. "GUGLIELMO MARCONI" was eventually withdrawn from service in 1975 and "GALILEO GALILEI" in 1977.

"GALILEO GALILEI" in Drydock

"GALILEO GALILEI" in Drydock, her formidable front and ship's particulars. Dry docks are used for Building, maintenance and repair of all sorts of vessels, older ships normally require a visit to dry dock every two years, as for newer ships they could go on what is usually called a "refit" between 3 to 5 years, but of course all depends on the ship. During the process of dry docking ships are taken out of the water so that all surfaces and external machinery can be repaired, worked on or just monitored, today an average dry docking lasts for two weeks.

"MARCONI" back in Genova at the end of her World Voyage

 "GUGLIELMO MARCONI" has ended this morning at Genoa her World Voyage, a trip started in the same city back in August on the 25.8.2012

"MARCONI" in Naples today

"MARCONI" is at Naples today, the ship docked at 08.00 and will depart this afternoon at 17.00 to Genoa, where she will dock tomorrow at 08.00, the end of her World Voyage. Above photo of "GALILEO GALILEI" at Naples in 1965

"MARCONI's" World Voyage ends on wednesday

 "GUGLIELMO MARCONI" will dock at Genova on wednesday, the end of an around the World trip that started back in August on the 25.8.2012

"MARCONI" back in Italy today

"GUGLIELMO MARCONI" is back in Italy this afternoon, the ship will dock at 18.00 at Messina and will stay for five hours, she will be travelling to Napoli, where she will arrive tomorrow morning at 08.00. Nearing the end this World Voyage, all will come to a close this wednesday at Genova where the ship is due at 09.00

"MARCONI" at Piraeus today

"GUGLIELMO MARCONI" will be docking at Piraeus at 2pm this afternoon, the ship will stay for 6 hours before heading to Messina, Napoli and finally Genova where she will be docking on the 7.11.2012, the end of this World Voyage. During her stay at Piraeus passengers will have the opportunity to take an excursion to Athens.

"MARCONI" will depart for Messina tonight at 20.00
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E.T.A. Messina: 5.11.2012 at 18.00
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Distance from Piraeus to Messina: 405 nm
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Average speed: 21.5 knots
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temperature today at Athens: 23 C
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"MARCONI" visited Malaga today

"MARCONI" visited Malaga today, the ship docked at 07.00 and left at 21.00, destination Piraeus, last port before getting to Italy. Excursions available for the passengers on board, were Malaga and Granada, two of the most visited cities in Spain situated on the autonomous community of Andalucia.

"MARCONI" will arrive Piraeus on the 4.11.2012 at 14.00
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Distance from Malaga to Piraeus: 1320 nm
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Average speed: 22 knots
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Temperature today at Malaga: 21 C
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