MV King Seaways
ex King of Scandinavia, Val De Loire, Nils Holgersson
© Andreas Wörteler
Steel twin screw motor vessel built in 1987 at Schichau Seebeckwerft AG, Bremerhaven, Germany (Yard No 1059) for Wallenius Safe Felicia Ab, Trelleborg as a passenger car and commercial vehicle trailer ferry.
Technical Data
- Cost New: £70,000,000
- Length: 161.45 m (overall), 144.02m (between perpendiculars)
- Breadth: 32.01 m (extreme)
- Depth: 18.50m
- Draught: 6.20 m (maximum)
- Tonnage: 31,360 (1987), 31,395 (1993) gross/16,200 (1987), 13,212 (1993) net/4,160 (1987), 4,110 (1993) deadweight
- Engines: Four MAK 8 M 552 diesels.
- Power: 19570 kW.
- Speed: 21.0 knots
- Capacity: 1800 passengers (1987) 2280 (1993), 550 cars (1987), 570 (1993), or 120 trailers.
- Call Sign: SLVI, FNVA, OVOL2
- IMO Number: 8502406
- MMSI Number: 220449000
- Registry: Trelleborg/Sweden 🇸🇪 , Morlaix/France 🇫🇷, Copenhagen/Denmark 🇩🇰
- Sister ships: Peter Pan (1058), Olau Hollandia (II) (1067), Olau Britannia (II) (1068)
Current AIS Location
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History
The second of a quartet of “Peter Pan” class built, at Schichau Seebeckwerft AG, Bremerhaven, between 1985 – 1989.
August 16th 1986: Launched to Ab Swedcarrier, Trelleborg.
© Wolfgang Fricke (Travemunde, 01/01/1987)
February 20th 1987: Sold, under construction, to Wallenius Line and delivered to Wallenius Safe Felicia Ab, Trelleborg, then bare-boat chartered to Swedcarrier, Trelleborg.
June 26th 1987: Introduced by TT Line between Trelleborg – Travemunde. The company then changed name to Wallenius Ferry Ab.
© Simonwp (Left) and © Dirk Jankowsky (Right)
© Frank Heine (Travemunde 22/05/1988)(Left) and (Travemunde 10/09/1989)(Right)
© Frank Heine (Trelleborg, 25/07/1991)
January 1st 1992: Chartered to Rederi Ab Gotland, Visby.
February 1992: Sold to SweFerry Ab, Trelleborg in February. She continued all this time on the same route.
December 21st 1992: Last day on that route.
January 1993: Sold to Bretagne Angleterre Irlande SA, Roscoff, France (Brittany Ferries) and renamed VAL DE LOIRE. Overhauled at Flender Werft, Lübeck.
Dirk Jankowsky Collection (Left) 🆕 © Dirk Jankowsky (Flender-Shipyard Lubeck, 13/01/1993) (Right)
January 1993: Arrived at INMA, La Spezia, Italy and was extensively rebuilt.
May 1993: Left Italy for Plymouth via Santander.
June 4th 1993: Arrived in Plymouth.
June 9th 1993: Introduced between Plymouth – Santander and Roscoff – Cork/Plymouth.
© Andreas Wörteler
© Tony Garner
February 2005: Refit at Remontowa, Gdansk, Poland.
February 17th 2005: Left Remontowa.
2005: Services between St Malo – Portsmouth/ Cherbourg – Portsmouth.
© Jakub Bogucki
November 25th 2005: Sold to DFDS A/S, Copenhagen for deliver in 2006.
February 19th 2006: Final day in service between Caen – Portsmouth.
2006: Renamed KING OF SCANDINAVIA.
March 2nd 2006: Arrived IJmuiden
March 11th 2006: Commenced services between IJmuiden – Newcastle.
© Andreas Wörteler
January 4th 2007 – January 16th 2007: Refit at Ørskov, Frederikshavn.
February 28th 2007: In heavy seas, collided with the quay in IJmuiden. Damaged her stern, but after the repair, returned to service.
© Willem Oldenburg
© Carsten Dettmer (Ijmuiden, 06/03/2012)
February 22nd 2008: “Broke free from her moorings at North Shields during high winds, drifting across the River Tyne and colliding with an oil rig moored on the opposite bank. There were no passengers on board at the time of the incident. Sailings were suspended while repairs were carried out”. (Source: BBC News)
© Henk Bos (IJmuiden, 16/02/2011)
January 27th 2011: Renamed KING SEAWAYS at the Fayard, Odense Shipyard, Denmark.
© Andreas Wörteler
December 28th 2013: A fire broke out on board. The fire broke out in a cabin at around 10.45pm GMT but was extinguished within 15 minutes, according to a spokesman for DFDS. RAF helicopters from Leconfield near Hull, and Boulmer, Northumberland were scrambled to the vessel along with two RNLI lifeboats from Bridlington and Filey. Four crew members and two passengers had to be winched off the ferry, which was heading to Amsterdam from North Shields, after they inhaled smoke when the fire broke out 30 miles off the Humberside coast. The six people were taken to Scarborough Hospital by RAF helicopter but are not thought to be in a serious condition. A 26-year-old Sunderland man was arrested on suspicion of arson after the fire alert. Northumbria Police said they had also arrested a 28-year-old man, also from Sunderland, on suspicion of affray.
© Gena Anfimov (Gdansk, January 2014)
© Simonwp (Tyne, 14/05/2015)
© Erwin Willemse (Ijmuiden. 23/04/2018)
January 2019: Refit which included new livery.
© Patrick Hill (Tyne, 17/03/2019)
September 6th 2019: Announcement made that DFDS had purchased MOBY AKI and MOBY WONDER to replace the current vessels on the Newcastle – Amsterdam route.
“Moby will in turn acquire the two passenger ferries currently operating on the Amsterdam – Newcastle route: KING SEAWAYS and PRINCESS SEAWAYS…………”
“We expect to take over the new ferries during the second half of October. Therefore, DFDS will bareboat-charter KING SEAWAYS and PRINCESS SEAWAYS from Moby until January and February 2020, when the new ferries will be deployed.”
October 29th 2019: Agreement between DFDS and Moby cancelled.
© Marcel and Ruud Coster (Ijmuiden, 01/03/2020)
March 21st 2020: All sailings Newcastle – Amsterdam cancelled owing to COVID-19 pandemic. Vessel remained in Ijmuiden.
July 15th 2020: Reduced passenger capacity services resumed.
© Marcel and Ruud Coster (Ijmuiden, 15/07/2020)
February 8th 2021: Came off service and sailed to Damen, Botlek, Rotterdam for refit.
February 23rd 2021: Resumed service Newcastle – Amsterdam.
November 2021: New livery added to funnel.
© Marcel and Ruud Coster (Ijmuiden, 22/02/2022)(Left) © Willem Oldenburg (Ijmuiden, 26/02/2022)(Right)
© Willem Oldenburg (Ijmuiden, June 2022)
July 7th 2023: Experienced problems with her bow doors and taken off service.
July 9th 2023: Replaced “hydraulic cylinder” and resumed service.
© Bernd Crause (Ijmuiden, 16/11/2023)
January 2nd 2024: Came off service at Ijmuiden.
January 5th 2024: Arrived at Remontowa Yard, Gdansk for refit.
February 5th 2024: Left Gdansk and sailed to Ijmuiden.
February 8th 2024: Arrived Ijmuiden,
February 9th 2024: Resumed sailings Ijmuiden – Newcastle.
🆕 © Willem Oldenburg (Ijmuiden, 09/04/2024)
All information is believed to be correct and no responsibility is accepted for any errors or omissions. All items included in this article are subject to © copyright. We would like to take this opportunity of thanking: Gena Anfimov, Jakub Bogucki, Marcel and Ruud Coster, Bernd Crause, Carsten Dettmer, Wolfgang Fricke, Tony Garner, Frank Heine, Patrick Hill, Dirk Jankowsky, Willem Oldenburg, Simonwp, Henk Bos, Erwin Willemse and Andreas Wörteler for their assistance in producing this feature.