MV Cuthred

Career (UK)
Name:	MV Cuthred
Operator:	1969-1987 British Rail/Sealink/Wightlink 1990-2009 Transado
Route:	1969-1987 Portsmouth–Fishbourne
Builder:	Richards Shipbuilders, Lowestoft[1]
Launched:	3rd June 1969
In service:	28th June 1969
Out of service:	2009
Identification:	IMO Number: 6920238[2]
Status:	out of service
General characteristics
Class and type:	Roll-on/roll-off Car & Passenger Ferry
Tonnage:	704 GRT,357 NRT,155 DWT
Displacement:	537 light
Length:	190.0ft
Beam:	51.6ft
Draught:	6.50ft

MV Cuthred was an Isle of Wight ro-ro ferry built in 1969. From 1990 until 2009, she operated as Mira Praia in Portugal.

History

MV Cuthred was built by Richards of Lowestoft for British Rail (later Sealink) at a cost of £275,000.^[3] She is named after Cuthred, king of Wessex (c.740–56). With a gross tonnage of 704, she was the largest Isle of Wight Ferry of the time, capable of carrying 48 cars and 400 passengers.^[3]

Layout

MV Cuthred was much larger and of a different design to any previous Isle of Wight car ferry. For the first time, passenger accommodation was located above the car deck and extended over the entire width of the vehicle deck.

Her design was unique, but formed the basis for the three sisters, MV Cenred, Cenwulf and Caedmon, built in 1973.^[4]

At her annual refit in 1977/78, she was fitted with a hoist-able mezzanine deck, increasing her car capacity from 48 to 72, and larger outside decks were also fitted, to match her half sister Caedmon.

Propulsion was by means of two Voith Schneider cycloidal propellers mounted on diagonally opposite corners of the hull, each one being driven by a 378bhp (282kw) Paxman 8RPHCM diesel engine. ^[3]

Service

MV Cuthred entered service on the Portsmouth to Fishbourne route in June 1969. She joined the 1961 vessels, Camber Queen and Fishbourne, bringing a much higher level of service to the route. She had a service speed of 10 knots, similar to her predecessors, but was considered to be underpowered.

Her two V8 Paxman main engines each had to drive a generator in addition to the Voith Schneider propellers. Despite also having a third independent generator driven by a 6 cylinder Ruston diesel engine, at times of high electrical demand, the main generators drew around 95bhp from each engine, leaving insufficient power to the propellers, the service speed suffering as a result, particularly in bad weather.

She ran on the route until 1984, when Sealink ownership passed to Sea Containers. She was laid up in 1987 at Lymington for nearly 2 years. During 1989 she was sold to Open Leisure for use on the Tyne.^[5] She was renamed Clemtyne, and the plan was to convert her into a Mississippi river style paddle boat, complete with a large stern wheel, but nothing materialised and she was resold in 1990 to Transado of Portugal. She operated, as Mira Praia, between Setúbal and Tróia, from 1990 until 2009, latterly carrying passengers only.^[6]

Footnotes