Pride of Cherbourg

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

MV Challenger ('Kaitaki') fmr. Pride of Cherbourg

Year Built:	1995
Builder:	Van der Giessen shipyard, Rotterdam, Holland.
Introduced:	2005
Gross Tonnage:	22,365
Flag:	United Kingdom
Passenger capacity:	1,600
Car capacity:	600
Length:	181.6 m
Breadth:	23.4 m
Maximum speed:	20.5 knots
Engines:	4 x Sulzer Type: 8 ZAL 40 S 5760 kW each at 510 rpm

MV Challenger (marketed as Kaitaki) is the largest inter-island ferry in service between the North and South Islands of New Zealand.

[edit] History

She was built at Van der Giessen de Noord shipyard in the Netherlands and was launched in 1995 as the Isle of Innisfree for the Irish Ferries route between Holyhead and Dublin. She remained on that route for 2 years before being replaced by a larger vessel, the Isle of Inishmore. The Isle of Innisfree moved to Irish Ferries other route across the Irish Sea between Pembroke Dock and Rosslare where she remain for 4 years before again being replaced by the Isle of Inishmore which itself had been replaced by the Ulysses. Isle of Innisfree was initially sent to Dublin for lay up and then to Le Havre where she remained until July 2002.

In 2002 the vessel was chartered by P&O Portsmouth and was sent to Falmouth in July of that year for refit. She emerged as the Pride of Cherbourg, the third ship to carry that name. A number of extra cabins had been installed on deck 7 to make her more suitable for the longer Portsmouth-Cherbourg crossing but while in service with P&O the vessel was often criticized for not having enough cabins compared to the vessels she replaced. The Pride of Cherbourg entered service September 2002 replacing the second Pride of Cherbourg but operated alongside the Pride of Hampshire until the end of the month when she was also withdrawn. P&O Portsmouth became part of P&O Ferries at the end of that year but the Pride of Cherbourg did not receive the new colours of the company until her refit in 2004 which also removed most traces of her Irish Ferries roots, moved the club lounge to aft on deck 7 and introduced the brandnames for the facilities found on the Dover ships.

On September 28, 2004 P&O Ferries made the announcement that it would shut down all its Portsmouth services, except for Portsmouth-Bilbao. Pride of Cherbourg's last crossing for P&O was on January 14 from Cherbourg to Portsmouth. P&O subchartered the vessel to Stena Roro as a short term replacement for the Stena Baltica which was undergoing revuilding work. Pride of Cherbourg sailed for Gdańsk, where all her exterior P&O branding was removed and she was renamed Stena Challenger. After completing her service with Stena Line she was sub-chartered again to Interisland Line. Before leaving for New Zealand her name was shortened to Challenger, with its Māori translation, Kaitaki, also appearing on its bow being used for marketing purposes (all other Interisland Line ferries have Māori names). Challenger is the only ferry currently operating in the Interisland Line's roll-on roll-off fleet without a rail deck for the transport of railway wagons.

[edit] Facilities

As Isle of Innishfree her facilities were as follows:

Deck 8
- Lady Gregory Restaurant.
- Butlers Buttery self service restaurant.
- O'Reilly's Pub.

Deck 7
- The Glencar Motorists Club.
- Shop and Kiosk.
- The Oisin Lounge.
- Kiddies Corner.

Deck 2
- Family Entertainment Zone

As Pride of Cherbourg these became:

Deck 8
- The Brasserie, later renamed Lagans Brasserie.
- All About Choice self service restaurant, later The International Food Court.
- Freight Drivers Restaurant.
- O'Reilly's Pub remained unchanged.

Deck 7
- The Glencar Motorists Club had reclining seat lounges added to look over the bow and along both sides with Cafe Oliveto in the centre. The recling seat lounge on the port side was initially the Club Lounge but this was later moved.
- Travel Traders shop, it was not renamed Offshore Shopping as other shops on P&O Ferries were.
- The former Oisin Lounge and kiddies corner were removed, the port side of the area was converted to cabins, the starboard side was initially a reclining seat lounge but later became the Club Lounge as part of her final P&O refit.

Deck 2
- Pepsi Playzone, later becoming the Coca Cola megadrome.

Most facilities kept their P&O names when the ship was Stena Challenger.

As Kaitaki - Challenger these became:

Deck 8:
- Aft end: The Karori Rip bar and the look out (atrium).
- Forward: The fresh food court and a la carte restaurant (restaurant not used).

Deck 7:
- Midship starboard: Club class recliner lounge.
- Midship port: Nurseries and crew quaters (for strandings).
- Reception
- Family Area (used to be Travel Traders)
- Cafe Olivetto and recliner seating