Pride of Bruges in the Port of Zeebrugge
History
Name
  • Norsun (1987-2003)
  • Pride of Bruges (2003-2020)
GNV Antares (2021-)
Owner
Grandi Navi Veloci (2021-)
Operator
Grandi Navi Veloci (2021-)
Port of registry
Route
BuilderNKK, Japan
Yard number1033
LaunchedAugust 1986
Maiden voyageMay 1987
Out of service25 January 2021
Identification
StatusIn Service
General characteristics [1]
Tonnage31,598 GT
Length179.35 m (588 ft 5 in)
Beam25.09 m (82 ft 4 in)
Draught6.10 m (20 ft 0 in)
Installed power
Propulsion
  • 2 × controllable pitch propellors
  • 2 × bow thrusters
Speed19 kn (35 km/h)
Capacity
  • 930 passengers
  • 850 cars

MS GNV Antares, originally the MS Norsun and then MS Pride of Bruges, is a ship operated by Grandi Navi Veloci.

History

As Norsun in 1987

The ship was built by Nippon Kokan K.K. Tsurumi Yard in Yokohama, Japan. The keel was laid in 1985 and was launched in 1986. Upon completion, the ship entered service in 1987 for North Sea Ferries, then a joint-venture between Dutch Nedlloyd and British P&O. The first years it sailed on the Rotterdam-Hull route with sister ship Norsea, replacing Norstar and Norland. The Norsun sailed under the Dutch flag and was owned by the Dutch half of the joint-venture, while the Norsea was British.

In 1996 ownership transferred to P&O Ferries when Nedlloyd sold its 50% stake to P&O. The ships sailed the Rotterdam route until 2001 when they were replaced by the Pride of Rotterdam and the Pride of Hull.

In 2002 the ships were transferred to the Zeebrugge-Hull route,[2] again replacing Norstar and Norland. Both ships were internally modernised before entering service on this new route. Norsun was renamed Pride of Bruges, her sister ship becoming Pride of York

In October 2016 it was announced that the two ships would be refitted.[3]

In October 2020, P&O announced that Pride of Bruges and Pride of York were to be taken out of service due to the decline in traffic caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. On 15 December 2020, P&O announced on Twitter that the service would be stopped from 1 January 2021.[4] Both Pride of Bruges and sister ship Pride of York were sold to Grandi Navi Veloci.[5]

Docking

Hull

Pride of Bruges docked at terminal 2, King George Dock, Hull. Just a few hundred yards away is the terminal for the Hull-Rotterdam ferries. To leave Hull the ship had to squeeze through the lock bow first which only has a few centimetres of clearance on each side. To come back to dock in Hull, she passed through the lock bow first before she had to turn clockwise and reverse into the dock.

Zeebrugge

Zeebrugge was much easier to dock at compared to Hull. The ship simply sailed into Zeebrugge harbour, turned to starboard into a docking area just south of Albert-II Dok and backed into the berth, opening her stern door on the linkspan. [6]

In the media

The Pride of Bruges featured in Episode Three of the BBC Documentary Engineering Giants: Ferry Strip-Down, first broadcast on BBC Two on Sunday 29 July 2012. Her sister ship, MS Pride of York, was also shown.[7]

References

  1. ↑ "Faktaomfartyg.se – Pride of Bruges (1987)". Faktaomfartyg. Retrieved 18 February 2011.
  2. ↑ "Ferries Hull To Bruges". 29 May 2019. Retrieved 30 May 2019.
  3. ↑ "MS Pride of York relaunched after refurbishment at Remontowa SA". 29 March 2017. Retrieved 30 May 2019.
  4. ↑ Riley, Anna (15 December 2020). "P&O Ferries Hull to Zeebrugge route axed due to Covid impact". HullLive. Retrieved 29 December 2020.
  5. ↑ Former North Sea pair sold to Italy Ships Monthly June 2021 page 10
  6. ↑ "Cheap Ferries to France, Ireland & Europe | P&O Ferries – UK". www.poferries.com. Retrieved 19 September 2016.
  7. ↑ "Engineering Giants: Ferry Strip Down". You Tube. Retrieved 8 October 2023.

Media related to IMO 8503797 at Wikimedia Commons

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