First ship built in Romania turns 108

The Borcea ship, the first ship built in Romania and, at the same time, the last paddle steamer built in Europe, has turned 108, and the good news is that "it is in perfect working order," according to head of the Braila County School Inspectorate (ISJ) Catalin Canciu, who manages the ship, Agerpres reports.

"You can't help but get excited at the thought that this ship, with a history of over a century, has withstood all the problems in time, some not at all easy. The ship is under the administration of the Braila County School Inspectorate - we are the only school inspectorate in the country to own a boat - and our concern is for this heritage ship, a living history of the place, to continue its voyages on the old Danube river and to delight passengers on board. From the beginning of its construction in 1911 at the Turnu Severin Shipyard, the Borcea represented a pride for the Romanian engineers, who until then had only made small boats. It is the first ship built in Romania, and the pride is even greater as today, 108 years after its launch, she works with her original parts, including the steam engine and the paddles dating from that period that are in perfect working order," according to Canciu.

A paddle steamer, the Borcea was included in the national heritage in 1999, in the category of Treasure, the highest class of heritage.

In the first years of service, after her launch in 1914, the Borcea served as the yacht of the Romanian Royal House, with King Ferdinand often seen aboard, according to a description made by Professor Ioan Munteanu, in a book on the Braila Port.

"In WWI, she was used as a mobile mechanical workshop for battleships on the Danube, and in the interwar period it served as a passenger ship between the Danube towns of Cernavoda and Calarasi. During WWII, the ship served as a transmission unit, and at the end of the war she was impounded as war compensation by the USSR. As luck would have it, the Soviet tugboat carrying her over caught fire, and the ship got loose and drifted asea until it was found by a Romanian ship and repatriated," according to Munteanu.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, the ship underwent a general overhaul, with Braila engineer Dorin Buca being of great help, whom the chief school inspector wanted to publicly thank for the effort and involvement in carrying out the project.

Canciu added that the inspectorate decided to hold a competition for hiring, for an indefinite period, a sailor, a mechanic and a pontonnier for the ship.