MV St Helen
 | |
| Career |  |
|---|---|
| Name: | MV St Helen |
| Operator: |
Sealink 1983-1984 Sealink British Ferries 1984-1991 Wightlink 1991-2015 delcomar march 2015-present day. |
| Port of registry: | London |
| Builder: | Robb Caledon Shipbuilders, Leith |
| Yard number: | 535[1] |
| Launched: | 15 September 1983[2] |
| In service: | 28 November 1983 |
| Out of service: | 26 March 2015 |
| Identification: |
IMO number 8120569 Call sign GDBB |
| Status: |
Out of Service. Laid up on the Hythe ship repair slipway, out of the water, Hythe Hampshire |
| General characteristics | |
| Class and type: | Car Passenger Ferry |
| Tonnage: | 2,983 GRT[3] |
| Length: | 77 metres (253 ft) |
| Beam: | 17.2 metres (56 ft) |
| Draught: | 2.48 metres (8 ft 2 in) |
| Installed power: | 3x 850bhp Harland & Wolff-MAN 6ASL25 diesel engines |
| Propulsion: | 3x Voith Schneider cycloidal propellers |
| Speed: | 12.5 knots (23.2 km/h; 14.4 mph) |
| Capacity: | 769 passengers 142 cars 12 Lorries |
MV St Helen is a vehicle and passenger ferry previously operated by Wightlink on their route from Portsmouth to Fishbourne on the Isle of Wight. Due to her age, she has been sold and was removed from service on 26 March 2015. She will join her sister ship, the former MV St Catherine with another operator in Sardinia.
History
MV St Helen was built by Robb Caledon Shipbuilders, the last ship to be launched from their Leith Shipyard.[1] She entered service with Sealink on 28 November 1983 shortly after her sister MV St Catherine,[4] She was positioned on the Portsmouth to Fishbourne route, the route she has taken through her life and was the largest Isle of Wight ferry until 1990 when MV St Faith was introduced weighing 26 tones more. This was a record held until 2001 when MV St Clare entered service.
Deck collapse
The St Helen generated unwelcome headlines late on Friday 18 July 2014 at the Fishbourne ferry terminal, when a section of the mezzanine car deck with nine cars on board, dropped about six feet (1.80m) on to the deck below, while being lowered. Three passengers and a crew member were injured and transferred to St Mary's Hospital in Newport. The Marine Accident Investigation Branch is carrying out an investigation.
The ship had just arrived on the 21:30 sailing from Portsmouth with 181 passengers and 11 crew on board. The next sailing, operated by sister ship MV St Clare, had to wait 90 minutes before being able to dock.[5]
Beginning of the End!
after the deck collapse the St.Helen stayed out of service for a few weeks while wightlink engineers were removing the twisted mezzanine deck and her sister ships St.Clare,St.Cecilia,St.Faith were only in service. as a precaution the St.Clare only runs late night runs across the solent to fishbourne on the hour.
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 "Leith Built Ships". Robbs Built Ships. Retrieved 27 June 2010.
- ↑ Hendy, John (1989). Sealink Isle of Wight. Staplehurst: Ferry Publications.
- ↑ Widdows, Nick (1998). Ferries of the British Isles & Northern Europe. Ferry Publications.
- ↑ "Chronological history of Wightlink's services". Wightlink. Archived from the original on 2008-03-08. Retrieved 2008-04-06.
- ↑ http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-hampshire-28382187
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