SS Stella Solaris  SS "Stella Solaris (lit. "Star of the Sun", formerly "SS Cambodge) was an ocean liner built for Messageries Maritimes in 1952. She mainly provided passenger service between France, the Middle East, Southeast Asia, and Japan. "Stella Solaris" was built in Dunkirk in northern France as "Cambodge", and along with two sister ships, she made her first voyage in 1953. After the 1970s, she was bought by a Greek company and converted into a cruise ship. Most of her working life was spent as a cruise ship in the Aegean Sea and she also made frequent transatlantic voyages to South America and the Caribbean Sea. Few major damaging incidents happened to "Stella Solaris", and she quickly became one of the more popular cruise vessels of the time. An economic crisis in the cruise ship trade in 2003–2004 caused many older vessels, such as "Stella Solaris", to be sold for scrap. After 54 years of service, she was retired in December 2003 and broken up in Alang, Bhavnagar District, India. The French shipping company Messageries Maritimes ordered three identical ships to be built around the late 1940s to provide passenger and mixed-freight service on a route between Marseilles and Yokohama "via" ports in South Asia. The first to be completed was in 1952, followed by "Cambodge" in 1953. "Cambodge" was built by Société des Ateliers & Chantiers in Dunkirk, Nord, in northern France. The name was derived from Cambodia. Her keel was laid down in 1949 and she was launched on 28 June 1953, then completed and delivered to Messageries Maritimes in July 1953. The third ship, , was not completed until 1954. "Cambodge" and her sisters were mid-sized liners. The ship was , long with a beam of . She was powered by twin Parsons geared turbines, which gave her a cruising speed of . "Cambodge" could carry 347 passengers on 7 decks — 117 in first class, 110 in second (tourist) class, and 120 in third (steerage or cabin) class. First class cabins occupied the majority of the passenger space in the central portion of the ship, the second class in the stern, and third class in the bow. First class passengers also had a large pool for their private use. A large amount of artistic flair was employed in the design of "Cambodge".