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P&O Ferries

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P&O Ferry Pride of Rotterdam one of the Hull-Rotterdam sister flagships of P&O Ferries
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P&O Ferry Pride of Rotterdam one of the Hull-Rotterdam sister flagships of P&O Ferries

P&O Ferries (formerly P&O European Ferries) is a constituent company of DP World (which took over its parent company, the Peninsular and Oriental Steam Navigation Company (P&O) in March 2006). P&O Ferries is registered in Dover, Kent. P&O Ferries also operates a number of routes in the Irish Sea under the name P&O Irish Sea.

Contents
  • 7 External links

    • History

    In 1987, the Peninsular and Oriental Steam Company purchased the ferry company, Townsend Thoresen. The operations of Townsend Thoresen were renamed P&O European Ferries with operations from Portsmouth, Dover and Hull. Following a consultation with the Competition Commission in November 1996, P&O European Ferries was split into three separate subsidiaries, P&O Portsmouth, P&O North Sea and the creation of a joint venture between P&O and the Swedish ferry company Stena to create the P&O Stena Line operations in Dover. [link]

    Following the sale of Stena Line's 40% share of the Dover joint venture, the Portsmouth and North Sea operations were merged with the Dover operations to create P&O Ferries which were jointly managed from Dover.

    In September 2004, P&O Ferries conducted a business review that concluded with the announcement of closure of several of its long term Portsmouth based routes, leaving only the Portsmouth – Bilbao route in operation. These closures were predominantly blamed in the expansion of Low-Cost airlines and the increasing usage of the Channel Tunnel as a faster alternative to ferry operations. [link]

    Dover – Calais

    P&O Ferries currently operates a fleet of 5 multi-purpose passenger ferries and a freight only vessel.

    Following the closure of the Dover – Zeebrugge route in 2003, the European Pathway and European Highway were returned to their builders and converted to full passenger mode, eventually re-entering service as the Pride of Canterbury and the Pride of Kent. The fourth, European Seaway was transferred to the Dover – Calais route in early 2005 where she still operates as a replacement to the Pride of Provence.

    Two other ships, the Pride of Aquitaine and the Pride of Provence were withdrawn from service as part of the review of P&O Ferries operations announced in September 2004.

    Portsmouth Routes

    Portsmouth – Cherbourg

    The Portsmouth – Cherbourg route began operation under P&O European Ferries in 1989 with the two vessels, Pride of Cherbourg (I) and Pride of Winchester and remained in operation until 1994 when they were replaced with the larger Pride of Cherbourg (II), formerly Pride of Le Havre and Pride of Hampshire which served the route until their eventual replacement by the Pride of Cherbourg (III), formerly the Isle of Innisfree of Irish Ferries in 2002.

    Additionally, between 1998 and 2004 a FastCat service ran between Portsmouth and Cherbourg. Initially between 1998 and 2000 on the Austal Ships 82m catamaran the Superstar Express which was chartered from Star Cruises. In 2000 the Superstar Express was replaced with the new Incat 91m catamaran Catalonia which was chartered from Buquebus and traded under the name of Portsmouth Express until 2003. For its final season in 2004, the vessel was officially renamed the Express and the route traded under the name Cherbourg Express.

    Following the announcement of the 2004 P&O Ferries business review, the Portsmouth - Cherbourg fastcat service ceased operation in September 2004 and the ferry route closed in January 2005 and is consequently now run solely by P&O's rival company Brittany Ferries.

    Portsmouth – Le Havre

    P&O Ferries closed its route to Le Havre in late September 2005. Pride of Portsmouth (ex Olau Britannia) and Pride of Le Havre (ex Olau Hollandia) were laid up in Falmouth until January 2006 when they left for their new owners SNAV in Italy. The were renamed SNAV Lazio and SNAV Sardegna respectively.

    Prior to the introduction of Pride of Portsmouth and Pride of Le Havre, Pride of Hampshire (ex Viking Venturer) and the original Pride of Le Havre (ex Viking Valiant) had been used since before P&O purchased Townsend Thoresen. In 1994 Pride of Portsmouth and new Pride of Le Havre entered service on the Portsmouth-Cherbourg route due to delays in the completion of a new ferry terminal in Le Havre.

    LD Lines now operates a one-ship service from Portsmouth to Le Havre with the ferry Norman Spirit, formerly P&O's Pride of Aquitaine (ex PO Aquitaine, P&OSL Aquitaine, Stena Royal and Prins Filip).

    Portsmouth – Bilbao

    The Bilbao route was launched in 1993 using the Pride of Bilbao (formerly the Olympia of Viking Line). It is the only surviving P&O route out of Portsmouth.

    Portsmouth – Ouistreham (Caen)

    Operated for one season between April and September 2004 using the Incat 91 m catamaran Max Mols from Mols Linien, trading under the name Caen Express.

    On September 28, 2004 P&O Ferries made the announcement that it would shut down all its Portsmouth services, except for Portsmouth–Bilbao. ''Caen Express was returned to her owner and Cherbourg Express was sent to P&O Irish Sea. Pride of Cherbourg's last crossing for P&O was on January 14, 2005. The Le Havre service closed on September 30, 2005.

    North Sea Operations

    Hull – Rotterdam

    Previously known as P&O North Sea Ferries, the Kingston upon Hull to Rotterdam route is taken by P&O's flagships of the ferry fleet, sister ships Pride of Hull and Pride of Rotterdam. Both ships were built in Venice, Italy by Fincantieri's Marghera Shipbuilders, and were delivered to P&O in 2001. Both ships took 14 months to build, have an overall length of 215.1m, a gross tonnage of 59,925t, displacement tonnage of 25,113t and have a service speed of 22 knots. In terms of gross tonnage, these sister ships were the biggest passenger ferries in the world but this title is now held by the 75,027t Color Fantasy, they are however still the largest passenger ferries to operate from the United Kingdom. The Pride of Rotterdam was launched by Queen Beatrix of the Netherlands on April 25th 2001. The Pride of Hull was named on November 30, 2001 by the British prime Minister's wife Cherie Blair.

    Hull – Zeebrugge

    Also previously known as P&O North Sea Ferries, this route is taken by two older ships, Pride of York (formerly Norsea) and Pride of Bruges (formerly Norsun). Norsun was built in 1987 by NKK, Tsurumi, Japan, for P&O North Sea Ferries. She entered service between Hull-Rotterdam, but following internal rebuilding, transferred to the Hull-Zeebrugge service in 2002, receiving P&O Ferries livery at the same time. In 2003 Norsun was renamed Pride of Bruges, and received the revised P&O colours, along with the Pride of York''.

    Routes

    Current Continental Routes

    Closed Routes

    (1977 - 1987 Townsend Thoresen. 3 December 1984 - 4 January 1985 P&O Normandy Ferries. 1987 - 2005 P&O Ferries)

    (1976 - 1987 Townsend Thoresen. 1987 - 2005 P&O Ferries)

    Ships Operated by P&O Ferries

    Dover – Calais

    Portsmouth – Bilbao

    Hull – Rotterdam/Zeebrugge

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    Former P&O Ships

    External links

     

    From Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia. Original article here. Support Wikipedia by contributing or donating.
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