MV Doulos Phos

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title: "MV Doulos Phos" type: doc version: 1 created: 2026-02-28 author: "Wikipedia contributors" status: active scope: public tags: ["1914-ships", "cruise-ships", "merchant-ships-of-germany", "merchant-ships-of-west-germany", "ocean-liners", "passenger-ships-of-italy", "passenger-ships-of-the-united-states", "ships-of-panama", "ships-of-malta", "ships-built-in-newport-news,-virginia", "ship-libraries", "abu-sayyaf-attacks", "maritime-incidents-in-1991", "grenade-attacks-in-the-philippines", "explosions-in-1991", "1991-murders-in-the-philippines", "terrorist-incidents-in-the-philippines-in-1991", "islamic-terrorist-incidents-in-1991", "history-of-zamboanga-city", "20th-century-in-mindanao", "crime-in-mindanao", "maritime-incidents-in-the-philippines", "august-1991-in-asia", "august-1991-crimes"] description: "Retired ocean liner and cruise ship" topic_path: "history" source: "https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/MV_Doulos_Phos" license: "CC BY-SA 4.0" wikipedia_page_id: 0 wikipedia_revision_id: 0

::summary Retired ocean liner and cruise ship ::

::data[format=table title="Infobox ship"]

Field	Value
section1	{{Infobox ship/image
image	MV Doulos Phos in Bintan.jpg
image_caption	MV Doulos Phos hoisted onto dry land and converted into a hotel in Bintan, Indonesia
section2	{{Infobox ship/career
country	United States
flag
name	Medina
namesake	Medina River, Texas
operator	Mallory Steamship Company (1914–1932)
Clyde-Mallory Line (1932–1948){{cite web	url
ordered	28 August 1913
launched	22 August 1914
commissioned	29 September 1914
builder	Newport News Shipbuilding and Dry Dock Company
yard_number	176
laid_down	21 January 1914
sponsor	Frances Stuart Semmes
christened	22 August 1914
acquired	29 September 1914
fate	Transferred to Cia Naviera San Miguel SA, 1948
section3	{{Infobox ship/career
hide_header	title
country	Panama
flag
name	Roma
acquired	1948
operator	Cia Naviera San Miguel SA
fate	Sold to Costa Lines, 1953
section4	{{Infobox ship/career
hide_header	title
country	Italy
flag
name	Franca C
operator	Costa Lines
registry	Genoa, Italy
acquired	1953
fate	Sold to Gute Bücher für Alle, 1977
section5	{{Infobox ship/career
hide_header	title
country	Malta
flag
name	*Doulos (1977–2010)
*Doulos Phos (from 2010)<ref name	"history"/
operator	*Gute Bücher für Alle (1977–2010)
registry	Valletta, Malta
fate	converted to a static hotel ship, 2015
identification	*Call sign 9HKF
notes	Greek "Doulos" means "Servant", "Doulos Phos" means "Servant of Light"
section6	{{Infobox ship/characteristics
header_caption	(as built)
tonnage	*
length	427.66 ft
beam	55.2 ft
height	54 ft
draught	18.2 ft
power	Single triple-expansion engine, 4 coal-fired boilers, 4100 hp shaft power
speed	14 kn
section7	{{Infobox ship/characteristics
header_caption	(1949 onwards)
tonnage	* (1960)
propulsion	*GMT C4218SS
*V-18 cyl. 4-stroke<ref name	"specs"/
*5958 kW (8100 bhp)<ref name	"specs"/
*Intermediate Fuel<ref name	"specs"/
*Renk Reduction Gear<ref name	"specs"/
*Fixed Pitch Propeller<ref name	"specs"/
speed	15 kn
capacity	414
crew	350
::

|section1={{Infobox ship/image |image=MV Doulos Phos in Bintan.jpg |image_size= |image_caption=MV Doulos Phos hoisted onto dry land and converted into a hotel in Bintan, Indonesia

|section2={{Infobox ship/career | country=United States | flag= | name=Medina |namesake=Medina River, Texas | operator=Mallory Steamship Company (1914–1932) Clyde-Mallory Line (1932–1948) | ordered=28 August 1913 | launched=22 August 1914 | commissioned=29 September 1914 | builder=Newport News Shipbuilding and Dry Dock Company | yard_number= 176 | laid_down= 21 January 1914 | sponsor= Frances Stuart Semmes | christened= 22 August 1914 | acquired= 29 September 1914 | fate=Transferred to Cia Naviera San Miguel SA, 1948

|section3={{Infobox ship/career | hide_header=title | country=Panama | flag= | name=Roma | acquired=1948 | operator=Cia Naviera San Miguel SA | fate=Sold to Costa Lines, 1953

|section4={{Infobox ship/career | hide_header=title |country=Italy |flag= |name=Franca C |operator=Costa Lines |registry=Genoa, Italy |acquired=1953 |fate=Sold to Gute Bücher für Alle, 1977

|section5={{Infobox ship/career | hide_header=title |country=Malta |flag= |name=*Doulos (1977–2010)

• Doulos Phos (from 2010) |operator=*Gute Bücher für Alle (1977–2010)
• BizNaz Resources International Pte Ltd (from 2010) |registry=Valletta, Malta |acquired= |fate=converted to a static hotel ship, 2015 |identification=*Call sign 9HKF

|notes=Greek "Doulos" means "Servant", "Doulos Phos" means "Servant of Light"

|section6={{Infobox ship/characteristics |header_caption=(as built) |tonnage=* |length=427.66 ft |beam=55.2 ft |height=54 ft |draught=18.2 ft |power= Single triple-expansion engine, 4 coal-fired boilers, 4100 hp shaft power (Converted to oil 1922) |propulsion= |speed=14 kn |capacity= |crew= |notes=

|section7={{Infobox ship/characteristics |header_caption=(1949 onwards) |tonnage=* (1960)

• (1984)
• (2009) |length= |beam= |height= |draught= |power= |propulsion=*GMT C4218SS
• V-18 cyl. 4-stroke
• 5958 kW (8100 bhp)
• Intermediate Fuel
• Renk Reduction Gear
• Fixed Pitch Propeller |speed=15 kn |capacity=414 |crew=350 |notes= MV Doulos Phos is a retired ocean liner, and former cruise ship, that held the record of being the world's oldest active ocean-going passenger ship, serving from 1914 until December 2009. She is now owned by Eric Saw, director and chief executive of BizNaz Resources International Pte Ltd in Singapore. She was previously operated by the German charity Gute Bücher für Alle (Good Books for All), and was used as a floating bookshop and missionary ship. The ship has previously been known as SS Medina, SS Roma, MV Franca C, and '*MV Doulos'''. *Doulos'' ended her final cruise in late 2009 at Singapore, with the ship being handed over to her new owners on 18 March 2010. The ship underwent a three-year conversion into a luxury hotel that saw the ship mounted on dry land in nearby Bintan, Indonesia, and opened in June 2019.

Cargo ship era

On 28 August 1913, a contract for two steel freight steamships was signed by Newport News Shipbuilding and Dry Dock Company and the Mallory Steamship Company of the United States. "The vessel will be a single screw steamship of the hurricane deck type with straight stem and elliptical stern, and with deck houses amidship and aft for the crew accommodations...." The original specifications referred to the vessels as hulls No. 175 and No. 176. Hull No. 175 would eventually be named Neches and hull No. 176 became Medina. The full contract for the vessels filled a 186-page volume and included the fittings commonly used in a ship for her era and also provision for tropical itineraries; for example, mosquito nets for the crew quarters.

Terrorist attack

On 11 August 1991, during the final night of the Doulos stop in the southern Philippine port of Zamboanga City, two of her foreign crewmembers were killed when a grenade, thrown by members of the Abu Sayyaf Islamist terrorist group, exploded on stage during a performance by its Christian volunteers.{{cite news | title = Abu Sayyaf kidnappings, bombings and other attacks | url = http://www.gmanews.tv/story/154797/abu-sayyaf-kidnappings-bombings-and-other-attacks | work = GMA News | date = 23 August 2007 | access-date = 10 November 2016}} Four locals were also killed and 32 others were injured, including several crew members of the missionary ship.

In 1995, in order to conform to the then new SOLAS regulations, she was fitted with a sprinkler system, and combustible wall panels were removed and replaced. This unfortunately meant the loss of many of the wall murals that had been installed by Costa Lines.

In 2006, while in Bahrain, a satellite communication system was installed.

::data[format=table title="Statistics as MV ''Doulos''"]

Different ports visited	297
::

Decommissioning

In 2009, while Doulos was in dry dock in Singapore, a survey conducted by the ship's classification society, RINA, found numerous significant problems with the ship's machinery, structure, and systems that would require work to have been completed by 31 December 2009 for the ship's certificates to be reissued and allow continued sailing. The shipyard servicing the Doulos would not accept the ship for repairs until September 2010; with the cost of the work exceeding 10 million euros, and the limited ministry that the ship would have after the repairs, it was decided to end the Doulos Ministry at the end of 2009, instead of 2010 as originally planned.

New owners

On 18 March 2010, Doulos was purchased by a new owner, Eric Saw, director and chief executive of BizNaz Resources International Pte Ltd in Singapore. In 2015, BizNaz formed a joint venture with two other companies with the intention of converting the ship into a luxury hotel. That August the ship was towed out of Singapore to Batam, Indonesia, to be refurbished before moving to Bintan Island to become part of a US$25 million hotel resort. In October 2015 she went into drydock, where her hull was refurbished. Steel reinforcement bracing was added inside her hull to support her weight on dry land. the ship was hoisted onto the promontory point. This marked the end of her career as a floating ship.

Hotel conversion

In February 2016 the ship was officially renamed Doulos Phos, The Ship Hotel and began conversion into a luxury hotel. The conversion was expected to retain the ship's bridge and engine room as part of a Maritime Heritage Museum, and Decks A and B to be used as the hotel. Originally scheduled to open in late 2016, workers and heavy equipment were still on the site in November 2017. The hotel opened in 2019 with 104 rooms, all with a sea view. The hotel closed during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 and reopened in August 2022. In an August 21, 2025 interview with CNN, Saw, claimed he had spent around 23 million Singapore dollars ($18 million) of his own money transforming it into a luxury hotel.

File:SS "Medina" at New-York.jpg|Medina in New York on her maiden voyage, passing the Statue of Liberty in 1914 File:Postcard of the FRANCA C..jpg|Franca C File:MV Doulos 2004 at Southampton.jpg|Doulos at Southampton, England in 2004 File:MV Doulos in HongKong.jpg|Doulos in Hong Kong File:Oldest active passenger ocean-going ship.jpg| "Oldest active passenger ocean-going ship" citation

References

References

1. Colton, Tim. "Newport News Shipbuilding, Newport News VA".
2. "Fleet List: Mallory Line / Clyde-Mallory Line". TheShipsList.
3. "Doulos History". Ssmaritime.net.
4. "SS Medina NNS Hull #176...95 Years of Service...and Counting! (2010)". Newport News Apprentice Alumni Association.
5. "Previous Ships – Doulos". GBA Ships e.V..
6. "Doulos Phos the Ship Hotel".
7. "Fleets of the Mallory Line / Clyde-Mallory Line".
8. Debbie Meroff. "In His Majesty's Service: A Salute to the MV Doulos". OM International.
9. Eliza Griswold. "Waging Peace in the Philippines". Smithsonian.
10. Goussens, Reuben. "M/V Doulos – Chapter 7 – SOLAS 1995".
11. Kenego, Peter. (6 January 2013). "Decking DOULOS PHOS, Part Three".
12. Lee, Bill. (May 2016). "UPDATE – SS MEDINA". Newport News Apprentice Alumni.
13. "Restoration of the MV Doulos Phos".
14. "Coming soon..Doulos Phos, The Ship Hotel". Bintan Resorts International Pte..
15. . (16 February 2016). ["Book ship Doulos turned into hotel on land"](http://www.freemalaysiatoday.com/category/nation/2016/02/14/book-ship-doulos-turned-into-hotel-on-land/). *Free Malaysia Today News*.
16. "The Legendary Ship MV Doulos Phos is Stuck in Bintan. Here's the Story (November 30, 2017)". Tribun Batan.
17. "Bintan Resorts - Doulos Phos the Ship Hotel".
18. Holland, Oscar. (2025-08-21). "He bought the world’s oldest passenger ship — and spent $18 million turning it into a hotel".

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