She was built by Charles Connell & Company, Glasgow for the Nourse Line, and named after the Ems River in north west Germany, and launched on 6 April 1893. She was primarily used for the transportation of Indian indentured labourers to the colonies. Details of some of these voyages are as follows:
| Destination | Date of Arrival | Number of Passengers | Deaths During Voyage | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fiji | 20 April 1894 | 570 | n/a | |
| Suriname | 22 November 1894 | n/a | n/a | |
| Fiji | 30 July 1904 | 526 | n/a |
In 1910, the Ems was sold to Tønsberg Whaling Company of Norway. She was resold in 1912 to another Norwegian owner and refitted as a whaling and guano ship.
In 1916 she was sold to the Argentine Whaling Company, was renamed the Fortuna but kept her Norwegian crew. On 28 October 1927, she caught fire, 20miles off the Irish coast while on a voyage from Liverpool to South Georgia with coal and empty oil drums. She was abandoned at sea with the loss of five lives.