MV Expedition
ex Alandsfarjan, nf Tiger, Kattegat
© Jurgen Stein
Steel twin screw motor vessel, built and engined in 1972 by the Helsingør Skibsværft og Maskinbyggeri, Aktieselskab, Helsingor (Yard No. 398) , for Jydsk Færgefart A/S.
Technical Data
- Length: 104.04m (overall), 94.01m (between perpendiculars)
- Breadth of Hull: 18.93m
- Depth: 11.56m
- Draught: 4.71m
- Tonnage: 4,044.92 (1985) 3,873 (1992)3,961 gross./1,480 (1985) 1,450 (1992)1,441 (net)
- Engines: 2 x 10-cylinder Helsingor Skibs. & Msk/B&W 10U45HU 4 stroke diesels.
- Power: 8096 kW
- Speed: 17.0 knots
- Capacity: 963 passengers, 180 cars (before her rebuild as a cruise vessel)
- Number of Crew: 48 (1985)
- Call Sign: GXYP, SLVF, A8QL4
- IMO Number: 7211074
- MMSI Number: 636013956
- Official Number: 377612
- Registry: London/UK 🇬🇧, Norrtalje/Sweden 🇸🇪, Monrovia/Liberia 🇱🇷
- Sister Ship: Panther (399)
History
Kattegat – M / S Museum of Maritime Affairs
March 24th 1972: Launched as KATTEGAT.
July 14th 1972: Delivered to Jydsk Færgefart A/S, Hundested, Denmark.
July 15th 1972: Commenced service between Grenå – Hundested.
© Alf Avidsson (1976)
December 30th 1977: Final day in operation between Grenå – Hundested.
March 2nd 1978: Sold to Midland Montague Leasing (U.K.) Ltd, London, England for P&O Normandy Ferries Ltd, London.
March 6th 1978: Arrived at Vlissingen East and laid up.
April 14th 1978: Refitted at Caillard S.A., Le Havre, France.
© Philippe Brébant
June 9th 1978: Redelivered after refit. Renamed nf TIGER by Lord George-Brown and 5-year-old Loretta Jarrett, at the request of the BBC-tv programme ‘Jim’ll Fix It’. The “nf” prefix to her name of course stands for Normandy Ferries… Commenced service between Dover – Boulogne. Although scheduled to enter service on June 1 (1978), the TIGER was late arriving at Dover and did not take up service until the 02.15 sailing on June 10.
© Fotoflite (Left) Roy Thornton Collection (Right)
© Derek Longly (Left) © Simonwp (Right)
December 29th 1979: Off service for two days with engine trouble
June 31st 1980: Overhaul which lasted until February 16th.
June 1980: Off service with engine trouble on June 1st – 2nd
January 1983: Refit in Rotterdam.
© Simonwp (Dover, 01/06/1983)
1984: Registered Owner; Midland Montague Leasing (U.K.) Ltd. Manager; P&O Normandy Ferries Ltd.
© Ken Larwood (both)
Nigel Thornton Collection
© Ken Larwood (both)
© Fotoflite (Roy Thornton Collection)
© Ken Larwood (Left) © A G Jones (Right)
© Ken Larwood
© Kevin Hoggett (@ Zeebrugge owing to French strikes)
January 4th 1985: P&O Ferries Channel operations (Normandy Ferries) were sold to the European Ferries group then absorbed into the Townsend Thoresen fleet and painted in their livery (although wording on her hull was smaller than that of her sister) . Continued between Dover – Boulogne.
© Simonwp (Immingham, 16/04/1985)
© Gary Davies (Maritime Photographic)(Left), Brian Fisher (Dover, June 1985)(Right)
July 18th 1986: Final day operating between Dover – Boulogne. Thereafter laid up at Chatham.
© Manuel Dhondt (Left) and © Fotoflite (Right)
© Ken Larwood
© Ken Larwood (July 1986 @ Chatham)
November 1986: Sold to Finlandshamnen Ab, Norrtälje, Sweden (Name brand SF-Line).
December 11th – December 20th 1986: Rebuilt on the river Tyne.
© Gary Davies (Maritime Photographic) (Left) © Tony Garner (Right)
December 22nd 1986: Arrived at original builder for further rebuild. Renamed ÅLANDSFÄRJAN.
April 29th 1987: Arrived at Mariehamn.
May 18th 1987: Commenced service for Viking Line between Kapellskär – Mariehamn.
1993: Introduced between Kapellskär – Mariehamn – Nådendal and transferred to Rederi Ab Viking Line, Norrtälje.
© Andreas Wörteler (all)
January 3rd 2003 – February 3rd 2003: Rebuilt with stern sponsors at Baltic Ship Repairers, Tallinn.
© Andreas Wörteler (Left) © Carsten Dettmer (Right)
February 15th 2002: Redelivered to operational service between Kapellskär – Mariehamn.
January 6th 2004 – February 6th 2004: Laid up.
February 7th 2004: Returned to service between Kapellskär – Mariehamn.
January 2005 – February 10th 2005: Laid up.
February 11th 2005: Returned to service between Kapellskär – Mariehamn.
July 5th 2005: Vessel collided with a mooring Dolphin at Mariehamn following the failure of the hydraulics on her port controllable pitch propeller.
July 7th 2005: Re-entered service following repairs.
October 23rd 2007: Vessel ‘touched bottom’ on the Marbadan reef just outside of Mariehamn. After berthing in Mariehamn an inspection revealed extensive hull damage. The ship was taken out of service for repairs in Tallinn, Estonia.
© Tim Vogel (Mariehamn, 25/06/2008)
November 23rd 2007: Re-entered service following repairs.
May 27th 2008: Sold to GAP Shipping Co Ltd, Barbados (G Adventures Cruises) for conversion into a cruise vessel dedicated to cruising the waters of the Antarctic.
May 29th 2008: Last day in service between Kapellskär and Mariehamn.
June 26th 2008: Departed Mariehamn for the shipyard of STX in Rauma, Finland.
June 27th 2008: Taken over by her new owners under the Liberian flag. Renamed EXPEDITION.
April 2009: Commenced cruising.
May 1st 2009: Due at Portsmouth to take part in “Britain and Ireland in bloom” itinerary.
April 3rd 2009: Passed through Kiel Canal.
© Juergen Braker (both)
April 30th 2009: Arrived in Portsmouth. Thereafter she continued cruising.
© Gary Davies (Maritime Photographic)
November 2009: Arrived in Las Palmas with engine problems.
January 2010: Re-enters service following engine repairs.
Bernt Anderson Collection
© Karl Gohlen
© Marcel and Ruud Coster (Ijmuiden, 19/09/2019)
March 16th 2020: G Adventures suspended all tours effective Monday, March 16, and running through April 30, due to the Coronavirus Pandemic. She was laid up in Ushuaia, Argentina.
October 14th 2020: Sailed from Montedevideo to Las Palmas.
November 3rd/4th 2020: Arrived Las Palmas then sailed to La-Seyne-Sur-Mer and continued lay up. “G Adventures cancels rest of sailings of G Expedition in 2020 and other tours until October 31, except for a few departing in Europe”.
August 1oth 2021: Arrived at Genoa and continued lay-up.
September 21st 2021: Arrived at Le-Seyne-Sur-Mer and continued lay-up;
December 15th 2021: Remains in La-Seyne-Sur-Mer.
July 3rd 2022: Left La-Seyne-Sur-Mer.
July 4th 2022: Arrived in Genoa and entered Dry Dock 3 for refit..
July 25th 2022: Left dry dock and remains in Genoa.
© Patrick Heard (Genoa, 28/07/2022)
September 14th 2022: Announcement made that the vessel would resume cruising: Falklands, South Georgia and Antarctica (calling at Montevideo, Falklands, South Georgia etc.)
May 2023: Still in service.
All information is believed to be correct and no responsibility is accepted for any errors or omissions found. All items included in this article are subject to © copyright. We would like to take this opportunity of thanking: Micke Asklander (Faktaomfartyg), Juergen Braker, Philippe Brébant, Marcel and Ruud Coster, Gary Davies (Maritime Photographic), Carsten Dettmer, Manuel Dhondt, Brian Fisher, Fotoflite, Tony Garner, Karl Gohlen, Patrick Heard, Kevin Hoggett, A G Jones, Ken Larwood, Derek Longly, Stéphane Poulain, Jurgen Stein, Tim Vogel, Simonwp and Andreas Wörteler for their assistance in compiling this feature.
This must be the most travelled former Dover ferry. Having spent our winter working between Ushuaia and Antarctica, sje is now on a cruise from Leith via Geiranherfjord, Trondheim, the Lofoten Islands, Tromso and now onto Svalbard – almost the Arctic. It would be nice to see a link for this ship with the AIS tracker like the current Dover ferries.
The latest photos on marinetraffic.com show her dry docked on her way north from Antarctica.
Many thanks for the superb website.
Hi Andrew,
Thank you for all the comments you have posted to the website.
It’s always good to receive feedback on what we do and receive up to date information. With regards to the nf Tiger AIS link I will endeavour to add this to the ships Past and Present file.
Best Wishes
Ray
Sailed on the TIGER on Sunday 20th May 1979 on a return school coach trip from Holland from Boulogne to Dover, when I was 10;
The school diary states that it was ‘not a smooth trip, but that we spent 1 1/2 hours eating beefburgers chips and beans, and that 44 kids and 5 teachers were happy to be heading home to North London !’
Glad to see TIGER is still at sea 37 years later !