MV Bianca C. was a passenger ship that sank on two occasions, the first time in France before being completed, and the second time after an explosion and fire off the island of Grenada.
History
Built during World War II at the boatyard of La Ciotat, a town on the southern coast of France, the ship was first launched in June 1944 under the name Maréchal Pétain. Construction had not yet been completed, so the ship was towed to Port de Bouc, near Marseille, where she was scuttled by the Nazi Germans in August. When the hull was raised, it was renamed La Marseillaise and towed to Toulon before being returned to La Ciotat to be refitted as a cruise ship. When the remodeling was completed in July 1949, she sailed to Yokohama. In 1957, the ship was given the name Arosa Sky after being sold to Panama's Arosa Line. She was refitted again and became the company's flagship. She was chartered by the exchange organization American Field Service to bring students between the U.S. and Europe. Within two years Arosa Line was forced to sell the ship to Costa Line, an Italian company also known as Linea C. After that 1959 sale, the ship was renamed the Bianca C. And became the second Costa line ship to carry this name which was the name of one of the owner's daughters, and was refurbished once again. The Bianca C.'s main route ran from Italy to Venezuela, including stops in the Caribbean.