P&O Irish Sea

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

P&O House Flag

P&O Irish Sea was the trading name of P&O Ferries in the Irish Sea from 1998 to 2010, when it was merged back into and rebranded 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 Ltd (who operated routes between England, Scotland and France to Ireland).[1]

In 1999, 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 – 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. In 2005, the company withdrew from the Rosslare – Cherbourg route; this was taken over by a new company, Celtic Link Ferries, who also purchased European Diplomat.[2]

In 2010, P&O Irish Sea was merged back into P&O Ferries and rebranded accordingly.

Routes

P&O Irish Sea operated many routes across the Irish Sea:

Fleet

P&O Irish Sea operated a large fleet of vessels during its twelve years in operation.

Name Built In service Tonnage Fate
Celtic Star 1991 1999–2003
2008–2010
11,086 GT Chartered
European Ambassador 2000 2000–2004 24,206 GT Sold to Stena Line
European Causeway 2000 2000–2010 20,646 GT Continued service with P&O Ferries
European Diplomat 1978 2001–2005 18,732 GT Sold to Celtic Link Ferries
European Endeavour 1978 1998–2002 8,097 GT Sold to Transeuropa Ferries
European Endeavour 2000 2007–2010 22,152 GT Continued service with P&O Ferries
European Envoy 1979 1998–2004 6,310 GT Sold to Kystlink
European Highlander 2002 2002–2010 20,464 GT Continued service with P&O Ferries
European Leader 1975 1998–2004 12,879 GT Sold to Stena Line
European Mariner 1978 1998–2010 1,598 GT Broken up in 2011
European Navigator 1976 1998–2002 3,809 GT Sold to AB Maritime
European Pathfinder 1976 1998–2002 3,335 GT Sold to Transeuropa Ferries
European Pioneer 1975 1998–2004 10,957 GT Sold to Stena Line
European Seafarer 1975 1998–2004 10,957 GT Sold to Stena Line
Express 1998 2005–2010 5,902 GT Continued service with P&O Ferries
Jetliner 1996 1998–2000 4,675 GT Chartered
Norbank 1994 2002–2010 17,464 GT Continued service with P&O Ferries
Norbay 1993 2002–2010 17,654 GT Continued service with P&O Ferries
Norcape 1979 2010–2010 14,087 GT Continued service with P&O Ferries
Pride of Rathlin 1973 1998–2000 12,503 GT Sold to Indonesian ferry operator
RR Triumph 1997 2006–2007 7,606 GT Chartered
Superstar Express 1998 2000–2004 5,517 GT Chartered

See also

References

  1. "P&O Irish Sea Ferries - History 1". Retrieved 24 July 2009.
  2. "P&O Irish Sea Ferries - History 8". Retrieved 18 December 2015.
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