| Career | |
|---|---|
| Name: | Viking Venturer (1974 - 1989) Pride of Hampshire(1989 - 2002) Pride of Al Salam 2 (2002 - 2004) Oujda (2004 - 2010)[1] |
| Owner: | European Ferries (1974 - 1987) P&O Ferries (1987 - 2002) Seven Seas Marine (2002 - 2010) |
| Port of registry: | Panama [2] Portsmouth, UK (1994)[3] |
| Builder: | Aalborg Værft AS [4][5] |
| Launched: | 1974 [2][3] |
| Out of service: | 2010 [2] |
| Identification: | IMO number: 7358286 [5] |
| Fate: | Scrapped early 2010 [5] |
| General characteristics (Original) | |
| Tonnage: | 6,387 |
| Length: | 128.71 m |
| Beam: | 19.81 m |
| Draught: | 4.53 m |
| Propulsion: | Två Werkspoor 8TM410, En 9TM410 diesel |
| Speed: | 18 knots |
| Capacity: | 1,200 passengers 275 cars |
| General characteristics (Extended) | |
| Tonnage: | 14,760 Gross Tonnes [2][3] |
| Length: | 143.66 m [3] |
| Beam: | 23.47 m [3] |
| Draught: | 5.05 m |
| Propulsion: | Två Werkspoor 8TM410, En 9TM410 diesel |
| Speed: | 18 knots |
| Capacity: | 1,316 passengers 380 cars |
MS Oujda was a ferry built by Aalborg Værft AS [4] in 1974 for Townsend Thoresen. She sailed under the name Viking Venturer from Southampton to Le Havre then latterly Portsmouth to Cherbourg . She was sold to P&O European Ferries and renamed Pride of Hampshire. With the takeover of Townsend Thoresen by P&O and the sinking of the Herald of Free Enterprise in 1987, P&O wanted to drop the Townsend Thoresen name and the ship names associated with the company. She was repainted from her Townsend Thoresen orange and white livery to the new P&O blue and white, the TT logo on her funnel was also replaced by the P&O house flag. Her funnel was also painted P&O navy blue replacing the TT turquoise colour.[6] Townsend Thoresen became P&O European Ferries and in 1989 Viking Venturer became Pride of Hampshire. She continued to sail under that name until 2002. She was transferred to the Portsmouth-Cherbourg route in 1994 as a result of larger vessels Pride of Le Havre & Pride of Portsmouth being chartered for the Le Havre route. She carried a lot of freight on this route and was very busy with families during school holidays.
The Pride of Hampshire eventually became a well-loved ferry by her regular passengers and was affectionately known as 'The Happy Hampshire' by her loyal crew. Despite her rather unattractive appearance due to extensive "jumboisation" in Bremerhaven in 1986. This work added an extra deck to the ship making it appear rather top heavy. She was sold off in 2002 after 27 years service on the English Channel; at the time she was the eldest cross-channel ferry sailing from the country.
After her service with P&O Ferries she was sold to El Salam Maritime and renamed the Pride of El Salam 2[1] then latterly Oujda[1] sailing between Sète and Nador in her final days with a Panama flag.[2]
She was sold for demolition in India in 2010.[5]
Viking Venturer was one of four sister ships [1] ordered by Townsend Thoresen.
The other three were: