The Logos Hope Project has now been essentially completed and while some final jobs are being finished, the ship is sailing in ministry bringing knowledge, help and hope to the people of the world. You can find out more about the journey of preparing this unique ship for service through the highlights of the Project below.

Concept

2000 – OM Leadership start developing thinking about possible replacement of one ship.
Sept 2001 – The Next Ship Project is officially launched, in light of OM’s vision to impact the life of each visitor in a deeper way.
Jan 2002 – Lloyd Nicholas, former Doulos Director, becomes the director of Next Ship Project. Other key leaders also gradually join, developing technical and ministry visions for the vessel.

Purchase

April 2003 – OM Ships receives drawings of Norröna, a Faroese car ferry.
August 2003 – OM Ships inspects Norröna, but, for certain technical reasons, decides that the ship is not suitable. However, because of her ideal size and capacity, her plans never left the drawing table, and became a model by which all other ships were judged. Gradually, Project leaders rethink their original decision.
Jan – March 2004 – In these three months, Norröna (renamed Norröna I to allow a new ship to take the original name) is put on the market three times! The third time, OM makes a successful bid, and, after a world-wide day of prayer on 29th March, a purchase agreement is signed.
April 19th 2004 – The purchase of Norröna is made official, and her name is changed to Logos Hope.

Copenhagen, Denmark

May 2004 – Teams on board work to prepare the ship for entering a shipyard.
November 2004 – After many months of designing, rebuilding plans are completed in meetings with naval architects Alpha Ships Design. Tenders are then sent to prospective shipyards.
December 2004 – Faroese Maritime Authority agrees to operate Logos Hope under Faroese flag.
February 2005 – Logos Hope sets sail from Copenhagen. The planned destination is Montenegro, but, 10 days into the voyage, the ship is re-routed to Valetta, Malta to await the outcome of shipyard negotiations.
April 2005 – OM Ships International signs a contract with the Brodotrogir shipyard, Trogir, Croatia.
June 2005 – After approval by both the ships’ legal Board and the board from the shipyard, Logos Hope sails from Malta to Trogir, arriving on June 14th.

Trogir, Croatia

July 2005 – The Main Conversion and the Evacuation at Sea plans, vital for the ship conversion to go forward, are approved by Lloyd’s Register.
September 2005 – Logos Hope goes into dry dock at the shipyard. The hull is cleaned and reported to be in good condition, but the propeller system is taken out for a major overhaul.
November 2005 – New steel decks are fitted all over the ship. The double-height car ferry deck is turned into two decks, one of which will form the Logos Hope visitor experience. Additionally decks 6 and 8/9 were fitted with new aft sections.
January 2006 – Discussions are held with subcontractors for other major projects, such as the ventilation, electrical, piping and sprinkler. These are gradually completed over the next few years.
April 2006 – The original redelivery date from the shipyard is negotiated and pushed back until July. In July, again, it is renegotiated. This process continues for the next year.
August 2006 – Logos Hope undergoes a second dry dock in Trogir, during which she gets sandblasted and receives a fresh coat of paint.
November 2006 – Main Engine 4 is reassembled after years of overhauling, and fires up first time.
January 2007 – The ship’s community Director Mike Hey (Australia) joins the Logos Hope team in Trogir.
February 2007 – The Logos Hope School begins in an onshore location, with eight students, whose parents work in the Project.
March 2007 – Chief Mate Dirk Colenbrander, previous Logos II Captain and Logos Hope Chief Mate, takes on the role of Captain.
April 2007 – The galley and bridge are completed. Both have been stripped down to the bare steel and built again from scratch, with new equipment installed.
May 2007 – Logos Hope completes a third and final dry dock in Brodotrogir, where further work on the hull and propellors is carried out.
September 2007 – After many meetings and negotiations, Logos Hope is redelivered by the Brodotrogir shipyard.
October 2007 – Around 50 crewmembers from Logos II come to help ready the ship for sailing. It becomes apparent that a lot more work is needed before the PSSC can be achieved, but the ship is allowed to sail to Kiel on a single voyage cargo ship certificate with a total crew of around 80.
November 2007 – Logos Hope departs Trogir, Croatia, on 8th November, and arrived in Kiel on 26th November for the next outfit phase.

Kiel, Germany

December 2007: The onboard community of over 300 celebrates Christmas together with various events.
February 2008: Ship teams impact local residents through ongoing school programmes, youth events and outreach to the homeless and needy.
May 2008: After six months in port, Logos Hope sets sail at the end of the month to go to dry dock in Sweden.

Landskrona, Sweden

June 2008: Logos Hope spends most of the month in the Öresundsvarvet shipyard where, amongst other work progress, a replacement generator is installed while in the dry dock.

Køge, Denmark

July 2008: After arrival in Køge, as many people as possible work on practical projects to move toward meeting the requirements for the Passenger Ship Safety Certificate (PSSC). The ship is scheduled to remain in port until the requirements for the Certificate are met.

February 2009: The PSSC is received after much hard work and the ship is able to launch into active ministry around the world. The first port of call is a brief visit to Goteborg, Sweden before sailing to the Netherlands, the UK, Faroe Islands and Ireland.