Kronprins Frederik (5971002509)

Built. 1939 Yard. A/S Helsingørs Jernskibs Class of Ship. Passenger Operator. DFDS Route. Harwich – Esbjerg Length. 114,48 m Gross Tonnage. 3,895 Passengers. 364 Freight Capacity. 33 Cars Speed. 20.25 knots Status. Sunk 24/12/1976

The ship was completed on 25 May 1941, towed to Copenhagen on 06 June 1941 and delivered to the owners on 19 June. Propulsion was provided by twin B&W 1050-VF-90 Diesel Engines (5294 kW) and twin propellers which gave the ship a cruising speed of 20.5 knots.

On 19th April 1953, the ship arrived at Harwich after making passage from Esbjerg, Denmark and moored at Parkeston Quay. Soon after the passengers had disembarked a fire broke out in one of the passenger cabins. Fire fighting efforts by the ship’s crew were unable to control the fire. Local fire brigades arrived and provided additional assistance, however, the fire continued to rage out of control.

Kronprins Frederik was returned to service on the Esbjerg-Harwich route where the ship provided reliable service until 1963 when the ship was leased out for private charter to the Carlsberg Distribution Co Ltd, London, England for a passage departing from Harwich on 22nd May 1963 and sailing to Oslo, Norway, then on to Copenhagen, Denmark, returning to Harwich on 29th May. On 10th March 1976, the Kronprins Frederik was purchased by the Arab Navigation Company, Suez, Egypt, taking possession of the ship on 16th March and was renamed as the M/V Patra.

On 24th December 1976, the Patra departed Jeddah, Saudi Arabia on passage to Suez, Egypt with 353-387 passengers and 88-94 crew on board, The Patra, still in flames, sank a few hours later on the early morning of 25th December 1976 in over 450 meters of water. 102 lives were lost.