British Railways Board (BRB)British Transport Commission (BTC)FerriesIsle of Wight FerriesPast and PresentSealinkSouthern Region

MV Fishbourne (II) – Past and Present

MV Kibris I

ex Fishbourne (II)

© British Railways Board

Fishbourne – © British Railways Board

Steel twin Voith Schneider double ended vessel built in 1961 at Philip & Son Ltd., Dartmouth (Yard Number. 1318) for the British Railways Board, London, England as a passenger and vehicle ferry

Technical Data

  • Length: 50.68 m (overall) 44.20 m (between perpendiculars)
  • Breadth: 13.11 m
  • Depth: 3.36 m
  • Draught: 1.829 m
  • Tonnage: 292.86 gross/117 net/91 deadweight
  • Engines: 2 Oil 4SA 8 – cylinder Crossley Bros diesels
  • Power: 471 kW/640 bhp
  • Speed: 10.5 knots
  • Capacity: 165/175 passengers (max), 36 cars (max)
  • Call Sign:
  • IMO Number: 5115587
  • Official Number: 303149
  • Port of Registry: Portsmouth/UK, Turkey
  • Sister Ship: Camber Queen

History

March 15th 1961: Fishbourne (II) launched.

1961: Delivered to the British Transport Commission Southern Region, London, England.

  Sealink News

July 7th 1961: Commenced service Portsmouth – Fishbourne.

Postcard.

July 9th 1961: Taken off service with ramp problems.

September 5th 1961: Grounded on the ramp at Fishbourne.

©  A G Jones

“New” ©  A G Jones (Fishbourne, 11/04/1970)

1977: Given extra watertight bulkhead in the two passenger lounges aboard in order to increase their weight carrying capacity. This meant the loss of the bar area aboard the sisters and about ten seats on each. The work was estimated to be a cost in the region of £30,000.

© Tim Webb  © Tim Webb

© Tim Webb (06/05/1978) (Left) and (27/08/1980) (Right)

January 1st 1979: Registered to Sealink UK Ltd.

© Heritage Promotions Ltd 

© Heritage Promotions Ltd

© Brian Fisher  © Brian Fisher

© Brian Fisher (Portsmouth, April 1983)

1984: Final sailing Portsmouth – Fishbourne.

April 1984: Docked at Chatham.

© Ken Larwood  © Ken Larwood

© Ken Larwood

© Ken Larwood (All)

1984: To Pounds Shipping Marine (Scrapyard) at Tipner, Portsmouth, who quickly resold her.

May 1984: Sold to Seagull Marine, Ltd, Famagusta, North Cyprus (Turkey) and renamed KIBRIS I.

June 1984: Having previously been sealed for “Deep Sea”, left Portsmouth, under her own power, for Cyprus.

1984: Services between Kyrenia – Mersin.

February 5th 1985: Suffered engine problems in Morphou Bay, Northern Cyprus when a north-northwest storm hit the area. She was hit by the bad weather drifted/collided with the breakwater, swamped and later sank.


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: Brian Fisher, A G Jones, Ken Larwood, Tim Webb and Andreas Wörteler for their assistance in producing this feature.

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

One Comment

  1. God bless you for keeping history alive Nigel. So few ship plans survive and it’s fantastic to see photos of inside with the wooden benches. These are the things I’m writing about in my book to immortalize (and explain ~ lol) the lives of baby boomers. Well done!

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