Visitors arriving by ferry at the Indonesian resort island of Bintan are frequently taken by surprise at the sight of a vintage cruiseship sitting high and dry on a promontory of land next to the island’s ferry terminal. The ship, the 6,900-gt Doulos (built 2014), has been there for nearly two years undergoing conversion into a non-floating luxury hotel.
When TradeWinds visited Bintan recently, work was progressing on the Doulos to get the historic vessel ready to receive its first guests. A lot has been accomplished since it was first hauled ashore atop of air bags.
The work entails a lot more than a quick spruce up of the decor. Resort infrastructure has been built around the ship, while the interior of the vessel has been gutted to make way for new cabins, restaurants and function rooms.
An official opening date has yet to be announced but TradeWinds was told that early to mid-2018 is now the target.
The Doulos, which was listed by the Guinness World Records as the world’s oldest ocean-going cruiseship until it was beached in late 2015, has had an extremely colourful career. It started off as a US general cargoship and survived two world wars before becoming a Panamanian migrant carrier, an Italian luxury cruiseship and finally, a global missionary ship.
The vessel was retired from active service in November 2009 and purchased by Singaporean businessman Eric Saw, who planned to turn it into a floating hotel in the Lion City. Given the cold shoulder by authorities there, Saw later teamed up with resort company Bintan Resorts International and moved the Doulos over to Bintan.
