''Delft Seaways'' is a

ro-pax Roll-on/roll-off (RORO or ro-ro) ships are cargo ships designed to carry wheeled cargo, such as cars, motorcycles, trucks, semi-trailer trucks, buses, trailers, and railroad cars, that are driven on and off the ship on their own wheels or using ...

ferry A ferry is a ship, watercraft or amphibious vehicle used to carry passengers, and sometimes vehicles and cargo, across a body of water. A passenger ferry with many stops, such as in Venice, Italy, is sometimes called a water bus or water taxi ...

owned and operated by

DFDS Seaways DFDS Seaways is a Danish shipping company that operates passenger and freight services across northern Europe. Following the acquisition of Norfolkline in 2010, DFDS restructured its other shipping divisions (DFDS Tor Line and DFDS Lisco) in ...

. She is one of three sister ships designed for the cross-Channel route from

Dover Dover () is a town and major ferry port in Kent, South East England. It faces France across the Strait of Dover, the narrowest part of the English Channel at from Cap Gris Nez in France. It lies south-east of Canterbury and east of Maidstone ...

Dunkerque Dunkirk (french: Dunkerque ; vls, label=French Flemish, Duunkerke; nl, Duinkerke(n) ; , ;) is a commune in the department of Nord in northern France.Scandinavia Scandinavia; Sámi languages: /. ( ) is a subregion#Europe, subregion in Northern Europe, with strong historical, cultural, and linguistic ties between its constituent peoples. In English usage, ''Scandinavia'' most commonly refers to Denmark, ...

n designed ship built at the

Samsung The Samsung Group (or simply Samsung) ( ko, 삼성 ) is a South Korean multinational manufacturing conglomerate headquartered in Samsung Town, Seoul, South Korea. It comprises numerous affiliated businesses, most of them united under the ...

shipyards in

South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia, constituting the southern part of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and sharing a Korean Demilitarized Zone, land border with North Korea. Its western border is formed ...

in 2005. She sails under the flag of the United Kingdom and her port of registry is

History

The ship was ordered in 2003 as the second of the three Maersk ''D-Class car ferries''. delivered in 2006 and made her maiden voyage on 27 February 2006, replacing

Northern Merchant Northern may refer to the following: Geography * North, a point in direction * Northern Europe, the northern part or region of Europe * Northern Highland, a region of Wisconsin, United States * Northern Province, Sri Lanka * Northern Range, a ra ...

which previously operated the route. She had an encounter with armed speedboats in the Gulf of Aden during the delivery voyage from Korea. ''Maersk Delft ''suffered a loss of power whilst returning to Dover following a refit at Scheldeport Dockyard, Vlissingen on 29 January 2007. The fault was blamed on a computer error, but the vessel had to be towed into Dover harbour from outside the eastern entrance where she had anchored. In July 2010

Norfolkline Norfolkline was a European ferry operator and logistics company owned by Maersk. It provided freight ferry services on the English channel, Irish Sea, and the North Sea; and passenger ferry services on the English channel and Irish Sea; and l ...

was acquired by

DFDS DFDS is a Danish international shipping and logistics company. It is the busiest shipping company of its kind in Northern Europe and one of the busiest in Europe. The company's name is an abbreviation of Det Forenede Dampskibs-Selskab (literally ...

. The Norfolkline ships and routes were re-branded as

. In 2016 the ships went into drydock at Damen shipyard in Dunkirk. They were rebranded into the new DFDS livery which dropped the Seaways branding from the side of the vessel. Delft Seaways kept the Seaways name, the same as with the other D-Class vessels.

Vessel overview

The ''Delft Seaways'', or former ''Maersk Delft'', is a member of the triplet ''D-class'' of Ro-Pax vessels, being designed to replace the older so-called ''Racehorse'' quartet of Ro/Ro ferries specialised for lorry freight. The D-class of vessels has been named so, as all the triplets have their names beginning with the letter D, with

Dunkerque Dunkirk (french: Dunkerque ; vls, label=French Flemish, Duunkerke; nl, Duinkerke(n) ; , ;) is a commune in the department of Nord in northern France.''Dunkerque Seaways'' and '' ''Dover Seaways''.

References

External links

M/F Maersk DunkerqueNorfolklineDover Harbour BoardDunkerque
{{DEFAULTSORT:Delft Seaways Ferries of the United Kingdom 2005 ships Ships built by Samsung Heavy Industries DFDS