By rights she really should not still be around as all her contemporaries have long gone, but next week Southampton will see the arrival of a ship that has outlived all the others.

Incredibly, MV Doulos was built in 1914, just two years after the ill-fated Titanic sank, which makes her an amazing 90 years old, a fact recognised by the Guinness Book of Records that names her as the oldest ocean-going passenger ship still in active service.

Members of the public will be able to tour the ship during her time alongside the City Cruise Terminal at berth 101 in the Western Docks after her arrival next Thursday.

Doulos belongs to another era. She entered service in the same year as the First World War started, Sylvia Pankhurst and the suffragettes were campaigning for votes for women, Bernard Shaw's new play Pygmalion caused shock on the West End stage with the use of the word "bloody'' and Marconi was still experimenting with electricity.

As other ships set sail on the sad trip to the breaker's yard, Doulos somehow survived and went from one career to another until her present role as a floating Christian bookshop and as a centre for missionary work.

Unlike so many vessels Southampton welcomes these days, the 6,670-ton Doulos looks like a real ship, with a proper funnel, a proud bow and a towering mast.

It is not the first time that Doulos has sailed up Southampton Water as she was here in the late 1970s and in 1985.

During her lengthy career the ship has sailed under four names, Medina, Roma, Franca C and Doulos, and has been used for carrying freight, transporting emigrants, cruising and, in recent years, her present role.

Over the years the vessel has twice been upgraded and has undergone two engine replacement programmes while been registered in the United States of America, Panama, Italy and Malta.

Constructed by the Newport News Shipbuilding and Drydock Company, she was launched on August 22, 1914 and boasted a speed of 14 knots.

Then called Medina, after a river in Texas, the ship was one of the most modern and largest freight steamships operating on the Atlantic coast at the time.

During the Second World War Medina was commissioned into service along the west coast of America by the United States Coast Guard.

In 1948 the vessel was acquired by the Panamanian company Naviera San Miguel SA and the following year was renamed Roma and converted into a

passenger ship with cabins for 287 passengers and dormitories for another 694 people.

The new owners also took the opportunity to give the ship a new bow and funnel and also upgrade and enlarge the superstructure.

As 1950 was the Roman Catholic Holy Year, the ship was used to transport pilgrims to Rome and afterwards carried families looking for a new life in Australia.

Her life on the Australia run was short-lived as she was sold to the Italian Costa Line and renamed Franca C.

Costa Line gave the ship a totally new look and at first she sailed between Italy and Argentina,

carrying first, tourist and third class passengers with a capacity for more than 900 people.

She continued in this role until 1959 when Franca C was remodelled into a full time cruise ship. Her voyages were mainly around the Mediterranean ports with occasional trips into the Black Sea and in 1970 she was once again given a new set of engines.

By 1977 the ageing ship was put up for sale again and she was taken over by the German organisation Gute Bucher fur Alle, which means Good Books for All, and converted into a missionary ship, including the removal of the swimming pool to make way for a large bookshop containing more than 7,000 titles.

Now crewed by 320 Christian volunteers from 45 countries, Doulos has so far welcomed 17 million people on board since she began operations on June 3, 1978.

FACTFILE:

MV Doulos is due to arrive at the City Cruise Terminal in Southampton's Western Docks on Thursday, April 8.

Visitors can visit the ship by entering the port through Dock Gate 10 and following the signs.

Ship tours cost £2.50 for adults and £1 for children under 12 and includes a free drink and bookshop discount voucher.

Tour times are: Opening Day: 1pm to 8pm

Monday to Saturday: 11am to 8pm

Sunday: 2pm to 8pm

For more information telephone 023 8046 2892.