It all started back on September 24, 1930 at the Bethlehem Shipbuilding Corp. in Quincy, Massachusetts, when the brand new luxury cruise ship named the Borinquen, slid into the sea for its first time. She was quite a sight, with the ability to haul more than 1000 passengers in style, offering all the amenities that the latest, greatest luxury ship could offer. She started her career moving vacationers between Puerto Rico and back until the Bull Steamship Co. bought her and she was renamed the Puerto Rico in 1949.

From 1949 to 1954 The Puerto Rico made regular trips to New York, San Juan and Ciudad Trujillo. Then was sold again to the Arosa Line and renamed The Arosa Star.

The Arosa Star’s call of ports were: Bremerhaven, Le Havre, New York, Plymouth, Southampton, Quebec, and Montreal. The Arosa Star had been extensively re-fitted and modernized for the North Atlantic Service. Providing accommodations for approximately 48 First Class passengers on the upper promenade deck in spacious outside cabins and 758 passenger in tourist class. The Arosa Star was a born again luxury liner up until she was sold and renamed once again in 1960.

Once sold to the Eastern Shipping Corp. the ship was baptized again with a new name, now the Bahama Star. Sailing between Miami, Florida and the Bahamas she spent most of the 1960’s sending passengers on their vacation destinations to and fro, but became a hero to many as she surprisingly became a rescue ship. On Nov. 13, 1965 while the Bahama Star was on a cruise the crew noticed a firey glow and heard the calls of S.O.S across the radio as the Yarmouth Castle was ablaze during a Caribbean cruise. The fire was allegedly started because of poor wiring and improper storage of combustible materials and engaged the boats wooden superstructure. The Bahama Star immediately began pulling people aboard and were ultimately surprised to find the first lifeboat contained the Captain and most of the crew. Outraged, the crew of the Bahama Star locked the Captain in the Captains quarters.

The Bahama Star and its passengers became instant heroes as they managed to pull more than 450 crew and passengers to safety, with the passengers of the Bahama Star giving up their cabins to those injured in the blaze. Tragically, 160 people lost their lives in the fire. This and other tragedies led to the building of such ships to be changed at the Geneva Convention of 1964, outlawing the building of super-structures in such vessels as the Yarmouth Castle out of wood. Ironically the same blaze that turned her into a hero ultimately sealed the fate of the Bahama Star. After this tragic incident with the Yarmouth Castle the disaster led to the creation of the SOLAS rules requiring ships at sea to meet certain international safety requirements. No longer would new ships be built with wooden superstructures. Also safety equipment would be inspected and crews would be trained to use it and routine safety drills were required. Well, being a wooden cruise ship this included the Bahama Star.