Record sale for France’s prow

THE prow of the France, once the world’s longest cruise ship, has been sold at auction for €273,200 – twice its expected price.

“I never thought that just the prow of the ship could attain these sums,” said collector Jacques Dworczak, who led a movement to secure furniture and other articles from the ship, which was eventually dismantled in India last year.

The buyer is a developer from Deauville in Calvados, Normandy who wants to use the prow at the centre of a square in a new housing development, pointing towards the port of Le Havre.

The France spent several years resting in Le Havre after it was decommissioned following the fuel crises of 1973.

When it was built, the France was the world’s longest and fastest cruiseship at 315m and capable of 31 knots.

It was inaugurated by General de Gaulle in 1960 and abandoned in 1974 before being resold to Saudi-Arabian billionaire Akram Ojjeh in 1977. In 1979 it was sold again to Norwegian Knut Kloster, owner of Norwegian Cruise Lines, who renamed it the Norway.

Photo: Franck Fife