Shota Rustaveli in Sydney Harbor
History
Name	1968–2000: Shota Rustaveli 2000–2003: Assedo[1]
Owner	1968–1995: Black Sea Shipping Company 1995–1997: BLASCO UK 1997–2000: Ocean Agencies 2000–2003: Kaalbye Shipping International[1]
Port of registry	1968–1991: Odesa,  Soviet Union 1991–1995: Odesa,  Ukraine 1995–1997: Monrovia,  Liberia 1997–2001: Odesa,  Ukraine 2001–2002: Kingstown,  Saint Vincent and the Grenadines[1][2][3] 2002–2003: Odesa,  Ukraine[4]
Builder	Mathias Thesen Werft, Wismar, East Germany[1]
Yard number	128[1]
Laid down	11 October 1965
Launched	29 December 1966[1]
Acquired	30 June 1968[1]
In service	1968[1]
Out of service	2003[1]
Identification	Call sign: UUGF IMO number: 6707753
Fate	Scrapped in Alang, India, in 2003[1]
General characteristics (as built)
Class and type	Ivan Franko-class passenger ship
Tonnage	19,361 GRT 5,696 DWT[5]
Displacement	13,010 tons[5]
Length	175.77 m (576 ft 8 in)[1]
Beam	23.55 m (77 ft 3 in)[1]
Draught	8.10 m (26 ft 7 in)[1]
Depth	13.5 m (44 ft 3 in)[5]
Installed power	2 × Sulzer-Cegielski 7RND76 15,666 kW (combined)[1]
Speed	21 knots (39 km/h; 24 mph)[1]
Capacity	750 passengers[1]
Crew	347[5]

MS Shota Rustaveli was a cruise ship, built in 1968 by V.E.B. Mathias-Thesen Werft, Wismar, East Germany for the Soviet Union's Black Sea Shipping Company and named after the Georgian poet Shota Rustaveli. After the fall of the Soviet Union she was handed to Ukraine. In 2000, she was sold to Kaalbye Group and renamed MS Assedo. In 2003, she was scrapped at Alang, India.^[1]

References