The ''MS Finbo Cargo'' is a

roll-on/roll-off 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 ...

passenger ferry that was previously called the ''European Endeavour'' which was owned and operated by P&O Ferries until May 2019.

Eckerö Line Eckerö Line is a Finnish shipping company owned by the Åland-based Rederiaktiebolaget Eckerö. Eckerö Line operates one ferry between Helsinki (Finland) and Tallinn (Estonia). Eckerö Line should not be confused with the similarly named Eck ...

purchased the ship from P&O in 2019 and is expected to take delivery in June 2019 and renamed her MS ''Finbo Cargo''. P&O took delivery of the ship in October 2007 from

Acciona Trasmediterránea Acciona, S.A. () is a Spanish multinational conglomerate dedicated to the development and management of infrastructure (construction, water, industrial and services) and renewable energy. The company, via subsidiary Acciona Energy, produces 21 te ...

. She was the second P&O ship to have carried the name ''European Endeavour''.

History

The ship was built in 2000 for Merchant Ferries as ''Midnight Merchant'' for a planned service between

Liverpool Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a populat ...

and

Belfast Belfast ( , ; from ga, Béal Feirste , meaning 'mouth of the sand-bank ford') is the capital and largest city of Northern Ireland, standing on the banks of the River Lagan on the east coast. It is the 12th-largest city in the United Kingdom ...

, however, the ship was chartered to

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 ...

for their new service between Dover and Dunkirk and remained on that route until July 2006 when she was replaced by Maersk Dover, a newbuild. In August 2006, she was chartered to

for service in the Mediterranean and renamed ''El Greco'' registered under the Spanish flag. On 26 June 2007, it was announced that P&O Ferries had agreed to purchase the ship in order to meet the growing demand for space from haulage customers throughout its operations. The ship will primarily be used on the Dover– Calais route but also on P&O Ferries

Irish Sea The Irish Sea or , gv, Y Keayn Yernagh, sco, Erse Sie, gd, Muir Èireann , Ulster-Scots: ''Airish Sea'', cy, Môr Iwerddon . is an extensive body of water that separates the islands of Ireland and Great Britain. It is linked to the Ce ...

and

North Sea The North Sea lies between Great Britain, Norway, Denmark, Germany, the Netherlands and Belgium. An epeiric sea, epeiric sea on the European continental shelf, it connects to the Atlantic Ocean through the English Channel in the south and the ...

routes to cover for the refit of other vessels. The ship entered service with P&O on their Liverpool-Dublin route on 6 November 2007. The ship has been involved in two incidents. On 22 March 2008, the ships mooring ropes parted resulting is her drifting across the eastern entrance of Dover Harbour. The ship was assisted back to her berth by a Dover Harbour tug. On 29 August 2008, the ship suffered a partial loss of electrical power, which resulted in a collision with Linkspan 7 in Calais. ''European Endeavours 'cow catcher', a metal structure welded to the bow to support the bow ramp when deployed, was demolished and significant damage was caused to the linkspan. European Endeavour (IMO 9181106)

Due to a downturn in freight traffic P&O Ferries laid up the ship in

Tilbury Tilbury is a port town in the borough of Thurrock, Essex, England. The present town was established as separate settlement in the late 19th century, on land that was mainly part of Chadwell St Mary. It contains a 16th century fort and an ancie ...

in May 2010. She was chartered to

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 August 2010 and early September 2010 to provide refit cover on the

Birkenhead Birkenhead (; cy, Penbedw) is a town in the Metropolitan Borough of Wirral, Merseyside, England; historically, it was part of Cheshire until 1974. The town is on the Wirral Peninsula, along the south bank of the River Mersey, opposite Liver ...

–

Dublin Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of the Wicklow Mountains range. At the 2016 c ...

and

routes. On completion of this charter the ship was sent for its annual overhaul and then proceeded to Dunkerque for layup. She remained in Dunkerque until early February 2011, when she sailed for

in preparation for returning to service on the Liverpool-Dublin service replacing the M/V Norcape. In May 2019, P&O sold ''European Endeavour'' to

. She is to act as a complement to Eckerö's current vessel the ''Finlandia'' on the Helsinki to Tallinn Route commencing in June berthing at Vuosaari on the outskirts of Helsinki. She will join the service following another dry docking with an increased capacity of 366 passengers. She only left the dry dock at Cammell Laird on 2 May 2019, in what looks like the last dry dock visit as a P&O vessel.

Regular routes

*'' Dover– Dunkirk'' October 2000 - July 2006. *''

Barcelona Barcelona ( , , ) is a city on the coast of northeastern Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within ci ...

- Palma de Mallorca'' August - October 2006. *''

Valencia Valencia ( va, València) is the capital of the autonomous community of Valencia and the third-most populated municipality in Spain, with 791,413 inhabitants. It is also the capital of the province of the same name. The wider urban area al ...

-Palma de Mallorca/ Ibiza/ Maó'' October 2006 - September 2007. *''Dover- Calais'' 11 January 2008 - May 2010. *

From February 2011 to May 2019. *

Helsinki Helsinki ( or ; ; sv, Helsingfors, ) is the capital, primate, and most populous city of Finland. Located on the shore of the Gulf of Finland, it is the seat of the region of Uusimaa in southern Finland, and has a population of . The city ...

Tallinn Tallinn () is the most populous and capital city of Estonia. Situated on a bay in north Estonia, on the shore of the Gulf of Finland of the Baltic Sea, Tallinn has a population of 437,811 (as of 2022) and administratively lies in the Harju '' ...

from June 2019 It was P&O's intention that the ship would primarily be used between Dover and Calais but would also cover the refits of other ships on the following routes:- *Hull-Rotterdam *Hull-Zeebrugge *Liverpool-Dublin 6 November 2007 – 16 December 2007 *Tilbury - Zeebrugge January 2009. It was discovered that the ship was too wide to fit through the lock at Hull so she did not serve the routes from that port as intended. She was briefly used on a re-established Dover-Zeebrugge route but the service only lasted for one day due to lack of freight.

Sister ships

* MS Kaiarahi * MV Cracovia - heavily modified sister ship * MV Isle of Inisheer * AQUARIUS BRASIL (ex NORMAN BRIDGE / AVE LIEPAJA / BRAVE MERCHANT) imo: 9147306 (now accommodation vessel)

References

External links

P&O Ferries official site
{{DEFAULTSORT:Finbo Cargo Ferries of the United Kingdom Ferries of France 1999 ships Ships of P&O Ferries Ferries of Finland