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This incomplete 1950s color film documents an round-the-world trip on the refurbished ocean liner M.S. Willem Ruys (later known as the Achille Lauro). The film dates to sometime after 1958, when the Royal Rotterdamsche Lloyd and the Netherland Line signed a co-operative agreement to create a round-the-world passenger service. Their joint fleet would sail under the banner of “The Royal Dutch Mail Ships“. It's possible this film dates to March 1959, when Willem Ruys went off on her new world service to Australia and New Zealand. She departed from Rotterdam, sailing via Southampton, the Mediterranean, the Suez Canal, Fremantle, Melbourne, Sydney, New Zealand, returning via the Panama Canal. The Royal Dutch Mail Ships (Willem Ruys, Johan van Oldenbarnevelt and Oranje) became a popular alternative to the British liners. The film opens with the Captain looking through binoculars (:08). Passengers disembark from the Dutch passenger liner M.S. Willem Ruys of the Royal Rotterdam Lloyd docked at Rotterdam (:28-:48). Shown are a colorful “Voir La France” vintage postcard, “Motoring in Germany” booklet, and “Sightseeing Tours in Belgium” booklets (:51-:57). A grandmother dresses a doll and a grandfather constructs a wooden dollhouse. Both are packed into a crate and loaded on the ship (1:00-1:42). A crowd waits for some passengers to disembark and then waves goodbye to others as the ship is pulled out to sea by tugboats (2:00-2:50). A large net of cargo is lifted in the air (3:14). A white tour bus rounds a corner. It stops at an Abbey and restaurant (3:15-3:42). The cargo crane operator is seen through the crane’s window panes as cargo swings in the air amid ticker tape from those on deck and on the dock. Tugboats pull the ship away (3:43-4:12). A man enters the “Knatoor Adminstrateur Pursers Office” where crew officers are doing paperwork (4:14-4:32). Passengers view Portugal from the deck (4:42). Passengers relax on deck, some reading (5:03). A pianist and drummer play while passengers dance (5:36). A sign advertises “Port Said” on the round-the-world trip (6:12). A crew member uses a pirate handheld telescope to view an approaching small boat (6:16). The ship passes through the Suez Canal (6:48-6:54). In Cairo, a man rides a bicycle with a large plate of stacked bread balanced on his head (6:58). People cross a street wearing long robes and others wear suits and dresses (7:07). The pyramids rise in the distance (7:17). A tourist wearing a French beret and suit rides a camel (7:25). The wall of a pyramid is scanned (7:37). Locals wearing traditional desert long robes guide camels with tourists riding them past pyramids and ruins to the Sphinx of Gaza (7:44-8:20). Camels with colorful blankets kush. A closeup of a camel head shows the decorated reins. A local climbs on board the camel and it rises up with the Sphynx as the backdrop (8:23-8:54). The ship port sign says “Colombo”, which is in Sri Lanka (9:09). Men, women, and children sunbathers lounge on deck and play in the pool. Two women in bathing suits smoke cigarettes. Two men in speedos play volleyball. A game of shuffleboard and rope ring toss are shown (9:12-10:03). MS Willem Ruys was a cruise ship based in Naples, Italy. She was built between 1939 and 1947 as a passenger liner for the Rotterdamsche Lloyd. In 1985, while serving under the name Achille Lauro, she was hijacked by members of the Palestine Liberation Front. In other incidents, she also suffered two serious collisions (in 1953 with the MS Oranje and in 1975 with the cargo ship Youseff) and four onboard fires or explosions (in 1965, 1972, 1981, and 1994). In the last of these, in 1994, the ship caught fire and sank in the Indian Ocean off Somalia. We encourage viewers to add comments and, especially, to provide additional information about our videos by adding a comment! See something interesting? Tell people what it is and what they can see by writing something for example: “01:00:12:00 -- President Roosevelt is seen meeting with Winston Churchill at the Quebec Conference.“ This film is part of the Periscope Film LLC archive, one of the largest historic military, transportation, and aviation stock footage collections in the USA. Entirely film backed, this material is available for licensing in 24p HD, 2k and 4k. For more information visit
