FerriesNorth Sea FerriesP&O North Sea FerriesPast and PresentShips Taken Up From Trade (STUFT)Società Navigazione Alta Velocità (SNAV)

MV Norland – Past and Present

MV SNAV Sicilia

ex Norland

© Fotoflite

© Fotoflite

Steel twin screw motor vessel built in 1974 by AG ‘Weser’, Werk Seebeck, Bremerhaven, Germany (Yard No 972) for North Sea Ferries, Hull, England

Technical Data

  • Length: 153.02 m 173.29 m (overall) 138.16 m (between perpendiculars)
  • Breadth: 25.20 m
  • Depth: 16.66 m
  • Draught: 6.224 m
  • Tonnage: 12,988 – 26,290 gross/10,568 net/4046 – 5588 – 5341 deadweight
  • Engines: Two Oil 4SA 16-cylinder Stork-Werkspoor 16TM diesels
  • Power: 13243 kW/1800 bhp
  • Speed: 18 knots
  • Capacity: 1,243 passengers (1974), 1,042 (1987) 881/ 250 cars, 110 commercial trailers (1974), 519 cars 1,320 lane-metres (1974), 2,180 (1987)
  • Crew: 99 (Norland)
  • Call Sign: GUBH, ICBE
  • IMO Number: 7333822
  • Official Number: 362237 (LR 1978 – 79)
  • Port of Registry: Hull/UK, Madeira/Portugal, Napoli/Italy
  • Sister-Ship: Norstar

History

October 13th 1973: Launched

June 7th 1974: Delivered to North Sea Ferries, Hull, England.

June 10th 1974: Commenced service between Hull – Rotterdam.

© Simonwp  © Simonwp

© Simonwp (Europoort, 07/09/1979) (Left) (Immingham, 07/05/1980) (Right)

© Simonwp

🆕© Simonwp (Hull, 01/08/1980)

© Simonwp

© Simonwp (12/07/1981)

April 17th 1982: Requisitioned by Ministry of Defence, converted to a troopship at Portsmouth.

April 22nd – 25th 1982: Fitted with two helipads, freshwater generating plant, satnav and satcom, and her living spaces were modified.

April 26th 1982: Sailed from Portsmouth for Falkland Islands carrying 2 Paratroop Regiment.

April 26th 1982 @ Portsmouth, sailing for the Falkland Islands

May 21st 1982: Arrived off San Carlos Water (the first STUFT, “ships taken up from the trade” to anchor in “Bomb Alley“)

May 24th 1982: Took on survivors from HMS ANTELOPE and went with CANBERRA to South Georgia to embark Guards and Gurkhas from the QE2. During her return trip the Argentinians surrendered and she later took 2,047 more POW’s to Puerto Madryn.

Courtesy of Chris Howell    © John Jones

Courtesy of Chris Howell (left) and © John Jones (right)

June 23rd 1982: Left the Falklands to return to Britain in company with EUROPIC FERRY.

February 1st 1983: Returned to England.

April 20th 1983: Returned to service between Hull – Rotterdam after complete overhaul.

June 7th 1985: Close to Hook of Holland, outward bound from Rotterdam, NORLAND had to take emergency avoiding action to stop her ramming a cargo vessel which had suffered engine failure. The manoeuvre was miscalculated and one of her stabilisers struck the quayside. She suffered a 15-foot long gash to her starboard side and damage to her bow. She also suffered complete engine and electrical failure. She was towed to port to have some 600 passengers evacuated. Repairs took over 3 months.

© Simonwp  © Simonwp

© Simonwp (Hull, 12/07/1981) (Left) (Hook of Holland, 01/08/1985) (Right)

© Frank Heine  © Frank Heine

🆕© Frank Heine (Europoort, 26/07/1986)

May 9th 1987: Lengthened by 20.5m at Seebeckwerft, Bremerhaven, Germany.

June 28th 1987: Redelivered.

July 1st 1987: Commenced service between Hull – Zeebrugge.

© Pieter Inpyn  © Pieter Inpyn

© Pieter Inpyn (Zeebrugge, 01/08/1987) (Both)

© Simonwp

🆕© Simonwp (Hull, 01/04/1989)

January 1994: Rebuilt according to Solas (International Convention for the safety of life at sea) regulations which forced a 15% cut in her freight capacity.

1996: Transferred to P&O Group, London, England. Commenced service with P&O North Sea Ferries between Hull – Zeebrügge.

© Simonwp  

© Simonwp (Hull, 22/03/1997)

© Cees De Bijl  © Cees De Bijl

© Cees De Bijl

© Pieter Inpyn

🆕© Pieter Inpyn (Zeebrugge, 01/05/1997)

February 2002: Sold to Strup International, Hull, England (SNAV Aliscafi, Naples, Italy).

February 28th 2002: Completed her final voyage on Hull – Zeebrügge route.

March 2nd 2002: Departed Hull for Vlissingen.

March 4th 2002: Arrived at Vlissingen.

March 25th 2002: Renamed SNAV SICILIA.

© Andreas Wörteler  © Andreas Wörteler

© Andreas Wörteler

© Andreas Wörteler (Vlissingen, 16/03/2002)

March 20th 2002: Left Vlissingen for Genoa.

© Fotoflite

© Fotoflite

May 25th 2002: Commenced service between Naples – Palermo.

© Frank Heine

🆕© Frank Heine (Naples, 20/07/2002)

January 2006: Registered to Jetmarine Line SRL, (SNAV Aliscafi, Naples, Italy), Hull, England.

© Enrico Righetti

© Enrico Righetti (Naples, 17/01/2006)

June 2007 – September 30th 2010: Service between Napoli – Palermo.

© Frank Heine

🆕© Frank Heine (Palermo, 23/07/2009)

© Tim Becker

© Tim Becker  (Palermo, 28/08/2010)

October 1st 2010: Laid up in Palermo.

October 13th 2010: Left Palermo for Jeddah.

October 24th 2010: Left Jeddah for Alang, India.

October 30th 2010: Arrived at Alang for breaking.


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: Tim Becker, Cees De Bijl, Frank Heine, Chris Howell, Pieter Inpyn, John Jones, Enrico Righetti, Simonwp and Andreas Wörteler for their assistance in producing this feature.

Article © Nigel Thornton and Ray Goodfellow (Dover Ferry Photos Group)

2 Comments

  1. I was an Invited guest on the Norland Inaugural Voyage from Hull to Zeebrugge. On arrival in Zeebrugge greeted by fire hose spray and welcome from all the ships in the docks the Norland coming alongside the berth hit the Dock and the ship had a buckled plate and small hole in the side, Whilst we we away in Brugge a new plate was welded on the side for the return sailing to Hull

  2. June 7th 1985 – the Norland had to take evasive action to avoid the German coaster Sabine – this took her out of the deeper water and the angle of turn meant that the stabiliser that had been deployed hit the seabed. The practice nowadays is to not deploy the stabilisers until in open water.

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Back to top button