TS Maxim Gorkiy

	TS Maxim Gorkiy in Helsinki, Finland in June 2006.
History
Name	1969–1973: Hamburg; 1973–1974: Hanseatic; 1974–1992: Maksim Gorkiy; 1992–2009: Maxim Gorkiy;
Namesake	The city of Hamburg (1st name); The Hanseatic League (2nd name); Maxim Gorky (3rd name);
Owner	1969–1974: German Atlantic Line; 1974–1992: Black Sea Shipping Company; 1992–1996: Belata Shipping; 1996–2008: Maxim Gorkiy Shipping Co (Sovcomflot); 2008–2009: Orient Lines;
Operator	1969–1973: German Atlantic Line; 1973–1974: laid up; 1974–1988: Black Sea Shipping Company; 1988–2008: Phoenix Reisen;
Port of registry	1969–1974: Hamburg, West Germany; 1974–1992: Odesa, Soviet Union; 1992–2009: Nassau, Bahamas;
Ordered	November 1966
Builder	Howaldtswerke-Deutsche Werft, Hamburg, West Germany
Cost	£ 5.6 million
Yard number	825
Launched	21 February 1968
Acquired	20 March 1969
Maiden voyage	28 March 1969
In service	28 March 1969
Identification	IMO number: 6810627
Fate	Scrapped in Alang, India
General characteristics (as built)
Type	Ocean liner/cruise ship
Tonnage	25,022 GRT; 5,677 DWT;
Length	194.72 m (638 ft 10 in)
Beam	26.57 m (87 ft 2 in)
Draught	8.27 m (27 ft 2 in)
Depth	16.40 m (53 ft 10 in)
Ice class	1 A
Installed power	2 × AEG steam turbines; 16,668 kW (combined);
Propulsion	Twin propellers
Speed	22 knots (41 km/h; 25 mph)
Capacity	790 in planned liner service; 652 in cruise service;
General characteristics (2006)
Type	Cruise ship
Tonnage	24,981 GT; 5,800 DWT;
Decks	10 (passenger accessible)
Speed	18 knots (33 km/h; 21 mph)
Capacity	788 passengers
Crew	340

TS Maxim Gorkiy was, until 30 November 2008, a cruise ship owned by Sovcomflot, Russia, under long-term charter to Phoenix Reisen, Germany. She was built in 1969 by Howaldtswerke-Deutsche Werft, Hamburg, West Germany for the German Atlantic Line as TS Hamburg. In late 1973 she was very briefly renamed TS Hanseatic. The following year she was sold to the Black Sea Shipping Company, Soviet Union and received the name Maksim Gorkiy in honour of the writer Maxim Gorky, renamed to Maxim Gorkiy after the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991. On 20 August 2008 Maxim Gorkiy was sold to Orient Lines. She was due to enter service with her new owners on 15 April 2009 under the name TS Marco Polo II, but in November 2008 the relaunch of the Orient Lines brand was cancelled. On 8 January 2009 the ship was sold for scrap, and she was beached at Alang, India on 26 February 2009.

Although never used as such, the ship was originally planned as a dual ocean liner/cruise ship, for service between Hamburg and New York City as well as cruising. She was the first major passenger liner built in Germany since 1938. On entering service for the Black Sea Shipping Company, she became the first four-star cruise ship operated under the Soviet flag.

Several variants of the ship's name were used through her career. Some sources refer to her with the prefix TS (turbine ship) instead of SS (steamship), while her final name Maxim Gorkiy was also written as Maksim Gorkiy and Maxim Gorki. She should not be confused with any of the Soviet era cruise liners of the Ivan Franko class, the so-called "poet" or "writer" class, including the now scrapped Marco Polo.

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