MS Princess Seaways

MS Princess Seaways is a cruiseferry operated and owned by the Danish shipping company DFDS Seaways on a route connecting Newcastle, England to IJmuiden in the Netherlands. She was built in 1986 as MS Peter Pan by Schichau Unterweser, Bremerhaven, Germany for TT-Line. Between 1993 and 2002 the ship was named MS Spirit of Tasmania, owned by the Tasmanian Government and operated by TT-Line Pty. Ltd. and used on traffic across the Bass Strait. In 2002 the ship was sold to Fjord Line, renamed MS Fjord Norway for service from Denmark. In 2006 she was sold to DFDS Seaways, and sailed as MS Princess of Norway before being given her current name in 2011.

History

MS Princess Seaways was built as the MS Peter Pan (the third ship to bear the name in TT-Line fleet) for TT-Line (Germany) at Schichau Unterweser, Bremerhaven, in 1986. The Peter Pan began operations for the TT-Line on the Travemünde–Trelleborg route on February 6, 1986. In 1990 TT-line (Tasmania) decided it was time to replace the current ferry MS Abel Tasman, so they arranged to buy the large ferry. It was expected they could get the ferry in late 1992 but TT-line (Germany) could not let her go until 1993. She sailed from Germany in October 1993 and began sailing from Devonport to Melbourne late November. She sailed four return trips a week. The crossings were overnight and one day/night and took approximately 15 hours.

In 2002 TT-Line (Tasmania) secured two new ferries the MS Superfast III and MS Superfast IV from Superfast Ferries to replace the MS Spirit of Tasmania and her fleet mate the HSC Devil Cat. The two new Superfasts were renamed Spirit of Tasmania I & Spirit of Tasmania II and began operations on September 1, 2002. Consequently the MS Spirit of Tasmania was laid up in Melbourne for a few days and then sailed to Sydney to be laid up and offered for sale. She was sold to Nordsjøferger and charted to Fjord Line. She sailed from Sydney on December 24, 2002, as the MS Spir. On arrival in Denmark she was refitted at Ørskov Yard in Frederikshavn. She was then renamed MS Fjord Norway and began on the Bergen–Haugesund–Egersund–Hanstholm route until November 17, 2005, when she took over the Bergen–Stavanger–Newcastle route from the MS Jupiter.

MS Fjord Norway was purchased by Danish shipping company DFDS Seaways^[1] and renamed MS Princess of Norway; she joined the DFDS Seaways fleet on 8 November 2006, and was then refurbished at Frederikshavn and began sailing on the Newcastle - Stavanger - Haugesund - Bergen route.

The MS Princess of Norway swapped routes with the MS Queen of Scandinavia in May 2007, joining her sister ship MS King of Scandinavia on the IJmuiden - Newcastle route. Because of the equal capacity and layout of these sister ships, caravans are accepted at every sailing.^[2]

In 2011, she was renamed as MS Princess Seaways.

Sister ships

The third MS Peter Pan (1986) was the first of four sisters in the Peter Pan class, the others being:

MS Nils Holgersson (1987) was the second of the sisters build by Schichau Unterweser, Bremerhaven, Germany for TT-Line. She was sold to Brittany Ferries in 1993 and renamed MS Val de Loire. In late 2005 she was sold to DFDS Seaways to serve the IJmuiden (Netherlands)–Newcastle (Britain) route as MS King of Scandinavia, subsequently renamed in 2011 as MS King Seaways.

MS Olau Hollandia (1989) was the third of the sisters build by Schichau Unterweser, Bremerhaven, Germany for TT-Line's sister company Olau Line. With her Olau sister MS Olau Britannia (1990) she was charted in 1994 to P&O Ferries and renamed MS Pride of Le Havre. In 2005 she stopped operating for P&O and was subsequently sold to SNAV in Italy and renamed MS SNAV Sardegna.

MS Olau Britannia (1990) was the fourth of the sisters build by Schichau Unterweser, Bremerhaven, Germany for TT-Line's sister company Olau Line. With her Olau sister the MS Olau Hollandia (1989) she was charted in 1994 to P&O Ferries and renamed MS Pride of Portsmouth. In 2005 she stopped operating for P&O and was subsequently sold to SNAV in Italy and renamed MS SNAV Lazio.

The former MS Koningin Beatrix (1986),^[3] sold in 1989 to Stena Line and renamed in 2002 as MS Stena Baltica, was built by the Dutch shipyard Van der Giessen de Noord for SMZ to a similar design as the four sisters.

References

• Ferry to Tasmania, A short History by Peter Plowman ISBN 1 877058 27 0.
• Super~Ferries of Britain, Europe and Scandinavia by Russell Plummer ISBN 0 85059 7.

External links

• Photos of Tasmanian ferries
• Fakta om Fartyg (Swedish)
• The ferry site