April 11, 2024

by Margreet Hofland. Photo by Steffi Galetta

What have the steamships of the Holland-America Line, the Hague furniture factory H.P. Mutters & Son and entrepreneur Casper van Hooren have anything to do with each other? A story that reads like an adventure novel.

LOVE AFFAIR WITH A SHIP

Entrepreneur Casper van Hooren (1969, Hilversum) lives in Huize Mellard on Javastraat, a national monument from 1908 that has had a number of illustrious residents. Among them were a minister, television personality Patty Brard and several United Nations ambassadors. Several American presidents visited the house with the green and white striped awnings. On the gable is a garoeda carved in stone, which looks down haughtily at the humble visitor with outstretched wings. The house has been returned to its original state as much as possible. The old library still has the original wooden paneling, made by the Hague furniture factory H.P. Mutters & Son. “Its door is exactly the same as the doors made by Mutters for the Titanic,” says Van Hooren. “As if it had to be this way!” In the 20th century, Mutters supplied interiors for the luxury cabins for the Titanic.
There is a model of the steamship De Rotterdam (SS Rotterdam) in Van Hooren's library. The original ship, of which he was co-owner, is one of his great passions. Mutters also designed part of the interior for this ship.

Time capsule
When the entrepreneur from The Hague talks about the Holland America Line (HAL) steamship, his eyes light up. He doesn't think so, but his story sounds like an adventure novel. In 2004 he fell desperately in love with the completely rusted ship SS Rotterdam, which was still anchored in the port of Gibraltar. He had it towed via Poland and Germany to its home port of Rotterdam where it is now, restored to its former glory, in the Maashaven. “The ship no longer sails, but it has become one of the icons of Rotterdam and must never leave!” says Van Hooren firmly.

Initially he had no interest in ships. After studying business informatics, he made a career in that sector. He will not soon forget the day he fell head over heels for the neglected steamship. “I was on holiday in Málaga in 2004 and the ship was rusting in the port of Gibraltar. It looked like a time capsule from 1959, all the original artifacts, furniture and interiors were still intact. About fifteen former HAL employees still lived on board to look after the ship. Some of them had worked on the ship all their lives.”

Casino
Van Hooren delved into the history of the ship. “It was built in 1959 for the HAL and after 37 years it was finished. Businessman Joep van den Nieuwenhuijzen became the new owner, he towed the ship to Gibraltar to turn it into a floating casino.” That failed and then the idea arose to turn it into a tourist attraction in the old home port. Van Hooren went looking for a number of co-financiers and ended up at the Woonbron housing association.

“We had the ship appraised and then the bomb exploded. The value was much lower than Van den Nieuwenhuijzen had stated and it was also full of asbestos. It slowly emerged that Van den Nieuwenhuijzen had bribed the then director of the Port of Rotterdam Authority, Willem Scholten, for more than a million euros. In return, he had received 180 million euros in dubious bank guarantees. With this he managed to take out tens of millions of euros in loans.”

Ultimately, the port authority seized the ship.

Dove gray
Van Hooren: “We bought the ship for 1.75 million euros and came up with the 'living, learning and working' plan. The plan had broad social support. We were now the owners, but the ship was still in Gibraltar where they had started removing asbestos. It was still fine on the outside. It was towed to Cadiz and returned to its original colors: dove gray with a yellow trim. In the meantime, the plan and the enthusiasm of everyone involved grew.”
The ship was a maritime showpiece with all the authentic art and interiors still on board, but it had to be safe. “The SS Rotterdam was towed to Gdansk in Poland in 2006 to remove the rest of the asbestos. The plans were now getting bigger, but so were the investments. The amount skyrocketed and the moment came when I had to drop out, but I remained involved in the development of the ship. In the meantime, the project was really getting out of hand. After all, about 257 million would be on the ship. Woonbron has coughed up it all while still arguing that it would also have a social and economic return for Rotterdam.”

Big day
The ship was completed in Wilhelmshaven in Germany and this is where Mutters & Zoon came into the picture again. Mutters junior had decorated the Queens Lounge and the Ocean Bar in 1959. Those old interiors now needed to be renovated. The result is still impressive. In the majestic lounge, the original wooden dance floor is mirror-smooth again. In the adjacent Ocean Bar you would just like to order a Vodka Martini 'shaken, not stirred' with one olive. The large windows have curved edges and look out onto the quay, the ceiling is covered with giant fish scales. At the wave-shaped bar there are 21 bar stools with leatherette seats, firmly riveted so that they do not fall over when swelling.

“When the ship was completely ready,” Van Hooren continues, “it was towed to Rotterdam. Monday, August 4, 2008 was the big day. There were about 100,000 people from Hoek van Holland along the Maas. The ship was brought in by two Rotterdam tugboats. The water was full of all kinds of boats, everyone wanted to be there. Some people were visibly moved. The ship still evokes emotions.”

New York
Van Hooren's latest project is the SS United States, a ship of the former United States Lines. What he had done in Rotterdam, they also wanted there. “It was really an 'aha experience'. There you go again, I thought. The spark flew again. This ship is even larger, almost 300 meters long. It lay there, just like the SS Rotterdam at the time, waiting abandoned. We just have to find a location in New York where it can be located. This means that the four largest classic steamships that have still been saved: the SS Rotterdam, the SS United States, the Queen Mary in Los Angeles and the Queen Elizabeth 2 in Dubai.”

The Rotterdam remains the best preserved example for Van Hooren. “The last two are British and in my opinion they should actually be on the Thames, but a wealthy sheikh from Dubai has turned the Queen Elizabeth 2 into a hotel. All other ships have been demolished, which is a shame, because they are beautiful heritage from a period when those ships served as 'liners'. The ships are floating heritage. They must be preserved and deserve protection, that is my mission.”