MS Princess of Norway is a cruiseferry operated and owned by the Danish shipping company DFDS Seaways on a route connecting Newcastle, England to IJmuiden in the Netherlands. She was built in 1986 as MS Peter Pan by Schichau Unterweser, Bremerhaven, Germany for TT-Line. Between 1993 and 2002 the ship was named MS Spirit of Tasmania, owned by the Tasmanian Government and operated by TT-Line Pty. Ltd. and used on traffic across the Bass Strait. In 2002 the ship was sold to Fjord line, renamed MS Fjord Norway for service from Denmark. In 2006 she was sold to DFDS Seaways, and renamed MS Princess of Norway.

History

MS Princess of Norway was built as the MS Peter Pan (the third ship to bear the name in TT-Line fleet) for the TT-line (Germany) at Schichau Unterweser, Bremerhaven, in 1986. The Peter Pan began operations for the TT-line (Germany) on the Travemünde–Trelleborg route on February 6, 1986. In 1990 TT-line (Tasmania) decided it was time to replace the current ferry MS Abel Tasman, so they arranged to buy the large ferry. It was expected they could get the ferry in late 1992 but TT-line (Germany) could not let her go until 1993. She sailed from Germany in October 1993 and began sailing from Devonport to Melbourne late November. She sailed four return trips a week. The crossings were overnight and one day/night and took approximately 15 hours.

In 2002 TT-Line (Tasmania) secured two new ferries the and from Superfast Ferries to replace the MS Spirit of Tasmania and her fleet mate the HSC Devil Cat. The two new Superfasts were renamed Spirit of Tasmania I & Spirit of Tasmania II and began operations on September 1 2002. Consequently the MS Spirit of Tasmania was laid up in Melbourne for a few days and then sailed to Sydney to be laid up and offered for sale. She was sold to Nordsjøferger and charted to Fjord Line. She sailed from Sydney on December 24, 2002, as the MS Spir. On arrival in Denmark she was refitted at Ørskov Yard in Frederikshavn. She was then renamed MS Fjord Norway and began on the Bergen–Haugesund–Egersund–Hanstholm route until November 17, 2005, when she took over the Bergen–Stavanger–Newcastle route from the MS Jupiter.

MS Fjord Norway was purchased by Danish shipping company DFDS Seaways. and renamed MS Princess of Norway; she joined the DFDS Seaways fleet on 8 November 2006, and was then refurbished at Frederikshavn and began sailing on the Newcastle - Stavanger - Haugesund - Bergen route. The MS Princess of Norway swapped routes with the MS Queen of Scandinavia. Taking over the IJmuiden - Newcastle route from May 2007 onward with her sister ship MS King of Scandinavia.

Sister ships

The third MS Peter Pan was the first of four sisters, the others being: sold to Brittany Ferries in 1993, renamed MS Val de Loire. she was sold to DFDS Seaways in late 2005 to serve the IJmuiden (Netherlands)–Newcastle (Britain) route as MS King of Scandinavia. was the third of the sisters and the fourth. The two Olau sisters were charted in 1994 to P&O Ferries renamed MS Pride of Portsmouth and MS Pride of Le Havre. In 2005 they stopped operating for P&O and were subsequently sold to SNAV in Italy, renamed MS SNAV Lazio and MS SNAV Sardegna.

References

• Ferry to Tasmania, A short History by Peter Plowman ISBN 1 877058 27 0.
• Super~Ferries of Britain, Europe and Scandinavia by Russell Plummer ISBN 0 85059 7.

External links

• Photos of Tasmanian ferries
• Fakta om Fartyg (Swedish)
• The ferry site