Call Sign: Sierra-Victor-Alpha 5400
The ship named “Laurana” was built at the Cantieri Navali del Quarnaro shipyard in the then-Italian Fiume (today's Rijeka, Croatia) between 1938 and 1939. Immediately after her construction, she was used to serve ferry routes along the Adriatic ports.
With the outbreak of World War II, the Laurana participated in operations of war as a rescue ship, as her fast and flexible hull allowed her to easily move among shipwrecks and collect survivors and wounded to transport them to the floating hospitals of the Italian navy. It is noteworthy that at the end of the war the other six rescue ships and the floating hospitals had been lost and only the Laurana was saved, although it was taken by ships of the British fleet near Malta. For the following years, until the end of 1949, it was used on the Malta-Syracuse ferry connection.
John Latsis bought the Laurana in December 1949 from a Maltese ferry company, and early next year she sailed for the first time in the Argosaronic Gulf under the name she had received from her Italian owners about ten years before. She was renamed "Neraida" by Nicholas Plastiras in a ceremony held at the port of Hydra and after a roll-call vote held at sea.
The ship’s most frequent route was Piraeus - Aegina - Methana - Poros - Hydra - Ermioni - Spetses, although many times she laid anchor in Leonidio and Monemvasia, as well as in Nafplio, Salamina and Epidavros. In addition to running regular routes, the deck of the Neraida hosted social events, night cruises and balls.
In her roughly 25 year career in the Argosaronic Gulf, she had the opportunity to star, during the 1950s and 1960s, in numerous Greek films and also, in 1957, in Jean Negulesco's Hollywood production "Boy on a Dolphin", starring Sophia Loren, Alan Ladd and Clifton Webb.
The Neraida remained decommissioned in Elefsina for over 30 years. Her owner, John Latsis, never sent the ship for scrap, as he had a special emotional connection with her. In 2007, four years after his death, his family decided to rebuild and convert the ship into a floating museum.
In September 2007, the ship was loaded onto the heavy cargo ship Maria to be taken to the NCP shipyard in Sibenik, Croatia, a few hundred kilometres south of the city where she was born, Rijeka (formerly Fiume). The project lasted about 3 years. The architectural design was undertaken by the office of Patterson Buxton Consultants in London, the construction of the interior by the German company Metrica Interior and the museological study by Professor Alexandra Bounia.
In April 2010, the work was completed, and after the necessary trials and checks, the Neraida began her return journey to Greek waters.
The Neraida Floating Museum comprises a special museum case in which two central narratives are contained:
A. The business career of her owner, John Latsis, from his birth in 1910 until the mid-1990s, when he withdrew from the business world.
Β. The history of the ship since her construction in 1939 until the completion of her reconstruction in 2010.
The narration unfolds through a numerous photographs, business, personal and public documents, objects, models and audio-visual material and is presented against the backdrop of important political, economic and social events of the 20th century. Finally, in the hall which formerly served as a dining room, the visitor has the opportunity to watch two short videos about the history of the Neraida passenger ship and the story of its reconstruction into a floating museum.
