FerriesP&O FerriesPast and Present

MV European Causeway – Past and Present

IMO Number: 9208394

MV European Causeway

© Aubrey Dale

© Aubrey Dale

Twin screw motor vessel built in 2000 at Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, Shimonoseki, Japan (Yard No. 1065) as a passenger and vehicle roll-on/roll-off ferry.

Technical Data

  • Length: 159.50m (overall) 148.0m (between perpendiculars)
  • Breadth: 23.40m (extreme), m (overall)
  • Depth: 15.20m
  • Draught: 5.50m (maximum)
  • Tonnage: 20,646 gross, 9,516 net, 4276t (deadweight)
  • Engines: Four Wartsila 12V38 diesels.
  • Power: 43078W
  • Speed: 22.7 knots
  • Capacity: 410 passengers, 375 cars or 124 x 15m freight units
  • Crew: 61
  • Call Sign: C6RG7
  • IMO Number: 9208394
  • Official Number: 8000163
  • Registry: Nassau/Bahamas 🇧🇸
  • Near Sister-ships: European Ambassador  (1068), European Highlander  (1069).

Current AIS Location


Please note that this specific vessels AIS position data may be over an hour old and that the vessels position will only be displayed when it is within range of the VesselFinder AIS system. The AIS transponder/ship position data featured on this page is intended for information purposes only and it is in no way related to the 'Safety of Navigation at Sea'. All the AIS ship position data featured within this article is provided by VesselFinder and we are therefore not responsible for its content or its accuracy.


History

Ordered by P&O Irish Sea of the United Kingdom the vessel was built by Mitsubishi, Shimonoseki Shipyard, Japan. The vessel is the first of a trio of near-sisters and was designed by Danish naval architects Knud E Hansen as an efficient and fast RoPax vessel for operation on the Irish Sea on the Northern Corridor between Scotland and Northern Ireland. The second vessel is the EUROPEAN AMBASSADOR (1068) and the third EUOPEAN HIGHLANDER (1069).

March 20th 2000: Launched.

July 14th 2000: Delivered to Lombard Facilities/P&O Ferries, London England.

August 14th 2000: Commenced service for P&O Irish Ferries between Larne – Cairnryan.

© Trevor Kidd © Trevor Kidd  

© Trevor Kidd © Trevor Kidd  

© Trevor Kidd

July 11th 2005: Refit at the former A&P Birkenhead facility now operated by North Western Ship Repairers.

© Gordon Hislip © Gordon Hislip  

© Gordon Hislip © Gordon Hislip  

© Gordon Hislip (all)

January 2015 : Continues service between Larne – Cairnryan.

© Aubrey Dale

© Aubrey Dale

May 1st 2015 (13.00hrs): Last service ex Cairnryan.

May 1st 2015 (21.10hrs): Departed Larne for drydocking/refit/livery change.

May 2nd 2015 (10.00hrs): Entered dock at Birkenhead.

May 16th 2015 (21.00hrs): Left dock to wet basin.

May 17th 2015 (22.00hrs): Left wet basin for Larne.

© Robert Stanley © Robert Stanley 

© Robert Stanley  (Arriving back in Larne from Birkenhead, 18/05/2015)

May 18th 2015 (18.00hrs): Arrived Larne and resumed service.

© Trevor Kidd © Trevor Kidd  

© Trevor Kidd

January 27th 2019: Storm force winds broke her ropes at Larne and blew her off the berth at 0245 hrs, dragging the gangway off the quay along with her and damaging her port side.  Resecured at 0330 hrs.  Shifted to lay by 1725hrs where a mobile crane was used to lift the gangway back ashore at 1800hrs.

January 28th 2019: Resumed service, after repairs, at 1630hrs

March 31st 2019: Suffered an engine room fire in Larne. Three fire engines were deployed, but crew managed to extinguished fire by activating fire suppressing system. No injures reported.

April 2nd 2019: Resumed service 2359hrs from Larne,

June 11th 2019: Underwater survey alongside @ Larne 

July 1st 2019: Entered dry dock at Birkenhead

July 8th 2019: Departed Birkenhead for Larne.  Arrived Larne 2335hrs.  Will have to re-attend dry dock at a later stage to refit a generator that was removed for repairs.

© Barry Graham © Barry Graham © Barry Graham

© Barry Graham (Leaving the Cammell Laird shipyard for Larne, 08/07/2019)

July 10th 2019: Resumed service 0730hrs ex Larne.  

September 2nd 2019: Off service after 1630hrs ex Cairnryan. 

September 3rd 2019: Departed to dry dock at Birkenhead 0010hrs. No replacement vessel provided.

September 26th 2019: Depart Birkenhead for Larne

September 28th 2019: Resumed service with 1630hrs ex Larne 

© Trevor Kidd © Trevor Kidd © Trevor Kidd © Trevor Kidd

© Trevor Kidd

October 21st 2019: Off service with technical problem after 1330hrs ex Cairnryan.  Laid up at Larne.

October 23rd 2019: Resumed service with 1630hrs ex Larne

December 10th 2019: Running late after suffering electrical problems on passage.  Kept sailing and managed to make up lost time by 12/12/2019.

© Luke Wilson

© Luke Wilson (Larne, 03/05/2020)

May 23rd 2020: Belfast dry dock.  Technical problems with dock gate she remained afloat

May 24th 2020: Returned to Larne, dry docking cancelled.

May 25th 2020: Resumed service with 2200hrs ex Larne.

© Trevor Kidd

© Trevor Kidd

June 13th 2020: Maintenance period at Larne until 14/06/2020.

June 30th 2020: Larne – Cairnryan sailings increased to 5 per day due to increasing freight demand.

July 11th 2020: Maintenance lay over at Larne until 12/07/2020.

July 25th 2020: Off service for planned maintenance until 26/07/2020.

August 21st 2020: Missed 1 round trip due to engine trouble

August 22nd 2020: Carried out MES deployment at Larne

© Trevor Kidd

© Trevor Kidd

November 7th 2020: Belfast dry dock until 09/11/2020.

September 23rd 2021: Came off service at Larne and sailed to Harland and Wolff, Belfast for scheduled dry-docking. 

October 6th 2021: Resumed service Larne – Cairnryan.

March 17th 2022: Instructed to come off service at Larne as crews had been made redundant. 

March 25th 2022: Detained in Larne by Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MCA) :

“It has been detained due to failures on crew familiarisation, vessel documentation and crew training. The vessel will remain under detention until all these issues are resolved by P&O Ferries. Only then will it be reinspected.”

April 6th 2022: Announcement made that the vessel would resume service week commencing 11/04/2022.

April 8th 2022: MCA announced that she had been released from detention.

April 9th 2022: Resumed service Larne – Cairnryan initially “Freight Only” but, expected to resume passenger sailings in the coming week.

© Trevor Kidd © Trevor Kidd © Trevor Kidd  © Trevor Kidd © Trevor Kidd © Trevor Kidd

© Trevor Kidd (Larne, 09/04/2022)

April 9th 2022: Completed her first full “Round Trip” Larne – Cairnryan – Larne since being laid up.

© Trevor Kidd  © Trevor Kidd

© Trevor Kidd (Larne, 09/04/2022)

April 26th 2022:

A P&O ferry from Scotland to Northern Ireland has regained power after spending hours adrift in the Irish Sea.

The European Causeway, which can carry up to 410 passengers, has docked at Larne Harbour.

It left Cairnryan at about 12:00 BST and was due to arrive at Larne Harbour at 14:00 but got into trouble at 13:30.

P&O said the incident was caused by a “temporary mechanical issue” that had been resolved and a full independent inspection would take place at Larne.

It returned to port “under its own propulsion, with local tugs on standby, where it will discharge its passengers and cargo as planned,” said a P&O spokesperson.

No injuries have been reported and the Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MCA) told the BBC there were no concerns over the safety of passengers.”.

www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-northern-ireland

© Aubrey Dale © Trevor Kidd © Trevor Kidd  © Trevor Kidd

© Trevor Kidd (12/11/2022)

May 13th 2023: Came off service at Larne and sailed to Belfast.

May 13th 2023: Arrived Belfast for refit at Harland and Wolff.

© Luke Wilson © Luke Wilson © Luke Wilson © Luke Wilson © Luke Wilson

© Luke Wilson (Belfast, 13/05/2023)

May 27th 2023: Left Belfast.

© Trevor Kidd © Trevor Kidd © Trevor Kidd © Trevor Kidd © Trevor Kidd

© Trevor Kidd (Belfast, 27/05/2023)

© Luke Wilson © Luke Wilson

© Luke Wilson (Belfast, 27/05/2023)

May 27th 2023: Arrived Larne to resume Larne – Cairnryan.

© Trevor Kidd © Trevor Kidd

© Trevor Kidd (Larne, 27/05/2023)

May 28th 2023: Resumed service Larne – Cairnryan.

September 27th 2023: Single service Cairnryan – Larne cancelled owing to “Storm Agnes”.

© Luke Wilson © Luke Wilson © Luke Wilson

🆕© Luke Wilson (Larne, 29/09/2023)

 


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: Aubrey Dale, Barry Graham, Robert Stanley, Luke Wilson and Andreas Wörteler for their assistance in producing this feature.

Special thanks to Trevor Kidd

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

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