P&O Irish Sea

P&O Irish Sea

Fate	rebranded as P&O Ferries
Founded	1998
Defunct	2010
Headquarters	Dover, England
Area served	Irish Sea
Services	Passenger transportation Freight transportation
Parent	P&O
Website	www.poirishsea.com

P&O Irish Sea was the trading name of P&O Ferries in the Irish Sea from 1998 - 2010. It has now merged back to being P&O Ferries.

History

P&O Irish Sea was formed in 1998, following the merger of the Cairnryan-based service of P&O European Ferries (Felixstowe) Ltd and Pandoro (who operated routes between England, Scotland and France to Ireland).^[1] The following year (1999), the new P&O Irish Sea announced its intentions to purchase a purpose-built Ro-Pax (roll-on, roll-off, vehicle/passenger) vessel from Mitsubishi of Japan for the Liverpool to Dublin route. This would see the transfer of the European Leader to the Fleetwood route.

In 2004, P&O closed its Fleetwood – Larne services with the sale of all interests. In addition to the service rights, European Leader, European Pioneer and European Seafarer were sold to the Swedish Stena Line group. At the same time, P&O announced the closure of the Mostyn – Dublin service due to low passenger numbers. This led to the sale of European Ambassador and European Envoy for further service in Europe.^{[citation needed]}

In 2010, P&O Irish Sea was merged back to being its parent company again.

Routes

Registered in Dover, P&O Irish Sea operates routes in the Irish Sea:

• Cairnryan - Larne - conventional ferries (all year round with fast craft service from Spring to Autumn)
• Troon - Larne - fast craft service (Spring to Autumn)
• Liverpool - Dublin - conventional ferries (all year round)

P&O also operate a number of routes across the English Channel and North Sea under the name P&O Ferries.

Former routes

• Fleetwood - Larne (1973 - 2004, route and ships sold to Stena Line.)
• Mostyn - Dublin (2001 - 2004)
• Liverpool - Belfast (1971 - 1981)
• Ardrossan - Larne (service moved to Troon in 2001)
• Rosslare - Cherbourg (1993 - 2005, taken over by Celtic Link Ferries)

Fleet

Current ships

Name	Built	Entered service	Tonnage	Passengers	Registered	Notes
European Causeway	2000	2000	20,646	410	Nassau
European Endeavour	2000	2007	22,152	300	Nassau
European Highlander	2002	2002	20,464	410	Nassau
Norbank	1993	2002	17,654	114	Rotterdam
Norbay	1994	2002	17,464	114	Hamilton
Norcape	1979	2010	14,087	12	Nassau
Express	1998	2005	5,902	900	Nassau	Chartered from Buquebus

Former ships

• HSC Jetliner (1996 - 2000) - Now with Sri Lankan Navy
• HSC Superstar Express (2000 - 2004) - Now with Balearia in Spain
• MS European Leader - ex Buffalo (1974 - 2004) - Now with Stena Line
• MS European Seafarer - ex Puma (1980 - 2004) - Now with Stena Line
• MS European Pioneer - ex Bison (1974 - 2004) - Now with Stena Line
• MS European Navigator - ex Leopard, Viking Trader - Now sailing in the Red Sea
• MS European Pathfinder - ex Panther, European Clearway - Now with BSL
• MS European Envoy - ex Ibex (1996 - 2004) - Now operating on charter to DFDS Tor Line
• MS Celtic Star (1999-2003, 2008-2010)
• MS European Ambassador (2000 - 2004) - Now with Stena Line
• MS Pride of Ailsa - ex Pride of Sandwich, Free Enterprise VI - Sunk in the Suez Canal
• MS Pride of Rathlin - ex Pride of Walmer, Free Enterprise VII - Now operating in Singapore
• RR Triumph (2006-2007) - Now with Seatruck Ferries
• MS Equine (2007-2008) - Now with RMR Shipping
• MV European Mariner (1993 - 2011) - Sold for scrap and replaced by MV Norcape.
• MV Norman Trader (2011) - Used on Liverpool-Dublin as refit cover.

See also

• P&O Ferries
• P&O Stena Line
• P&O Portsmouth

References

1. ^ "History 1". http://www.poirishsea.com/information/history.htm. Retrieved 2009-07-24. 

External links

• P&O Irish Sea Corporate Site
• 'The Pride of Aisla and the Pride of Rathlin' - Scaled models built for Motis Ireland Ltd.
• Larne Ferry Web - for news & history of ferry services to Larne