MS Norsea
| History | |
|---|---|
| Name: |
"MV Pride Of York" 1987-2003: MV Norsea |
| Owner: |
|
| Operator: |
|
| Port of registry: | Nassau, Bahamas |
| Route: | |
| Builder: | Govan Shipbuilders Ltd. (Now Kværner Govan), Glasgow, United Kingdom |
| Yard number: | 265 |
| Laid down: | 1985 |
| Launched: | 9 September 1986 |
| Acquired: | 2 May 1987 |
| Maiden voyage: | 8 May 1987 |
| In service: | 8 May 1987 |
| Identification: | IMO number: 8501957 |
| Status: | In service |
| General characteristics [1][2] | |
| Tonnage: | 31,785 GT |
| Length: | 179.41 m (588 ft 7 in) |
| Beam: | 25.35 m (83 ft 2 in) |
| Draught: | 6.13 m (20 ft 1 in) |
| Installed power: | 4 x Stork-Werkspoor |
| Propulsion: |
|
| Speed: | 19 kn (35 km/h; 22 mph) |
| Capacity: |
|
The MV Pride of York was built as the MV Norsea for North Sea Ferries as part of their response to the need for larger vessels in the mid to late 1980's. The 1974 ships MV Norland and MV Norstar were proving to be very popular, and were running at capacity. Therefore, North Sea Ferries designed their "3rd Generation" overnight ferry. The two parent companies within North Sea Ferries placed their orders in two separate locations. P&O placed theirs at Govan Shipbuilders Ltd. on the Clyde, and Nedlloyd placed their order at Nippon Kokkan .KK Ltd. (Now JFE Holdings) in Yokohama, Japan.
The MV Norsea entered service on the Hull-Rotterdam route. Whilst taking the title of being the largest passenger ship to be built on the Clyde since the QE2. It was also the last passenger ship ever to be built in the United Kingdom. In May 2001, now owned and operated by P&O Ferries ordered the MS Pride of Hull and the MS Pride of Rotterdam. Once relieved of service on the Hull-Rotterdam route, the ship was sent off for two months major refurbishment and branding realignment, prior to entering service on the Hull-Zeebrugge route, and replacing the 27-year-old MV Norland in the new P&O colours.
The ship's name was also changed from MV Norsea to MV Pride of York, to bring the names in line with the rest of the P&O Ferries fleet. The MV Pride of York still operates with her sistership MV Pride of Bruges (previously MV Norsun)
Sister ships
Accidents and Incidents
- On 5 February 1992, the lifeboat launching equipment at No 3 lifeboat station suffered a catastrophic failure during operational tests. The damage was very serious, including damage to the lifeboat and the vessel itself. The lifeboat then fell onto the dockside, where two of the four men on board the lifeboat were killed. The ship was under the operation of North Sea Ferries at the time of the accident.
- On 14 August 2002, Norsea had a fire in the forward engine room. This was caused by ignition of thermal heating oil, which leaked during repairs.
- On 2 September 2002, her aft engine room suffered a fire whilst on passage from Hull-Zeebrugge. She was about 7 miles off the East Anglian coast. The necessary steps were taken to extinguish the fire and no passengers were injured. However the third engineer was affected by smoke inhalation. The fire was caused by the failure of a low pressure fuel pipe on the main diesel generator. There were no connections between the two fires.
- On 17 March 2014 the ferry suffered a 20mm gash caused by metal protruding from the lock gate at King George Dock. It meant that the ferry did not set depart until 6am the next day, resulting in 168 passengers walking off and cancelling their trip. P&O Ferries spokesman Brian Reese said: "We want all our passengers to get away on their trip in good time, unfortunately this isn't always possible. People worked very hard through the night to get the ship away in the morning. In transport, we get tenchical glitches from time to time but, everyone did their best in the circumstances." More than 230 passengers stayed on board, many of which are thought to have been long-distance lorry drivers.
References
- ↑ "M/S Norsea (1987)". Faktaomfartyg. Retrieved March 2011.
- ↑ "M/F Pride of York". The Ferry Site. Retrieved March 2011.
