Ordered in 1938 to replace the aging ships on the Dutch East Indies route, her keel was laid in 1939 at De Schelde shipyard in Vlissingen, Netherlands, for Rotterdamsche Lloyd (now Nedlloyd). Interrupted by World War II and two bombing raids, the ship was finally launched in July 1946, as Willem Ruys. The ship was named after the grandson of the founder of the Rotterdamsche Lloyd who was taken hostage and shot during the war.B SmythA framed oil painting of the Dutch vessel Willem Ruys which was later refitted to become the Lloyd Triestino 'Achille Lauro'.Willen Ruysmv willem ruys, ms achille lauro, migrant ships

MS Achille Lauro was a cruise ship based in Naples, Italy. Built between 1939 and 1947 as MS Willem Ruys, a passenger liner for the Rotterdamsche Lloyd, it was hijacked by members of the Palestine Liberation Front in 1985.Mrs B SmythA framed oil painting of the passenger ship Achille LauroAchille Lauropassenger ship, achille lauro, oil painting, dacre smyth

In February 1951, the Oranje made her first around the world cruise: from Amsterdam via the Panama Canal to Australia and New Zealand and back via Singapore and the Suez Canal to Amsterdam. Between 8 and 18 June 1951, she voyaged to Lisbon and Madeira with 650 passengers. On 4 September 1964, both she and the MS Willem Ruys were sold to an Italian company, Flotta Lauro Lines. Oranje was then sent to Genoa for an extensive refit at the Cantieri Navali del Tirreno shipyards. On 6 March 1966 the Angelina Lauro departed on her maiden voyage from Bremerhaven to Fremantle, Melbourne and Sydney. In 1941 the Netherlands Government offered to the Governments of Australia and New Zealand the MV Oranje, a ship of 22,000 tons, for use as a hospital ship to convey Australian and New Zealand sick and wounded from the Middle East. This offer was gladly accepted by the two governments.A framed oil painting of the migrant ship 'Oranje'Oranjemv oranje, mv angelina lauro, migrant ships