The MS ''Express Aphrodite'' was a

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 ...

originally named ''St. Columba''. Built in 1977, at the

Aalborg Shipyard Aalborg Shipyard (''Danish: Aalborg Værft A/S'') was a shipyard located in Aalborg, Denmark. Founded in 1912 by brothers Immanuel Stuhr and Peter Philip Stuhr, the shipyard was founded under the name Stuhr Engine and Ship Construction, a develo ...

in Denmark, ''St. Columba'' was originally a

Sealink UK Sealink was a ferry company based in the United Kingdom from 1970 to 1984, operating services to France, Belgium, the Netherlands, Isle of Man, Channel Islands, Isle of Wight and Ireland. Ports served by the company included: Dover, F ...

, operating between

Holyhead Holyhead (,; cy, Caergybi , "Cybi's fort") is the largest town and a community in the county of Isle of Anglesey, Wales, with a population of 13,659 at the 2011 census. Holyhead is on Holy Island, bounded by the Irish Sea to the north, and is ...

and Dún Laoghaire in the Irish Sea. She laterally operated between Duba and Jeddah for Namma Shipping Lines. She was beached at Gadani for scrapping in December 2021.

Fire

On 31 January 1990, a fire broke out in the engine room of ''St. Columba''. None of the 199 passengers on board were injured, however a fireman suffered a fractured ulna. The

Captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police department, election precinct, e ...

praised the work of the staff on board the

in preventing the spread of the fire, and keeping the passengers safe and re-assured. As there was too much oil to re-ignite the engines, the ship had to be towed for the remainder of the journey to

port.

Ownership by Stena Line

In 1990, Sealink was taken over by

Stena Line Stena Line is a Swedish shipping line company and one of the largest ferry operators in the world. It services Denmark, Germany, the United Kingdom, Ireland, Latvia, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland and Sweden. Stena Line is a major unit of Ste ...

, and with this new investment, came an £8 million re-fit for ''St Columba'', and her name was changed to ''Stena Hibernia''. In 1996, with the introduction of the HSS fast ferries, ''Hibernia'' was again re-named, this time as ''Stena Adventurer'', with the intention of her moving to the English Channel to serve the

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 ...

Calais Calais ( , , traditionally , ) is a port city in the Pas-de-Calais department, of which it is a subprefecture. Although Calais is by far the largest city in Pas-de-Calais, the department's prefecture is its third-largest city of Arras. Th ...

route. This move, however, never materialised, and ''Stena Adventurer'' was sold to Agapitos Express Ferries of Greece.

Ownership by Agapitos Express Ferries

''Stena Adventurer'' was renamed ''Express Aphrodite''.

Ship's names

* ''St. Columba'' (1977–1990) * ''Stena Hibernia'' (1990–1996) * ''Stena Adventurer'' (1996–1997) * ''Express Aphrodite'' (1997–2007) * ''Masarrah'' (2007–2021) * ''Asarrah'' (2021)

Scraping

''Masarrah'' was beached as ''Asarrah'' at Gadani Ship Breaking Yard, Pakistan, on the morning of 2 December 2021 for scrapping. She was flying the flag of Gabon at the time.

References

*https://web.archive.org/web/20110711165356/http://www.hhvferry.com/stcolumba.html *http://www.sealink-holyhead.com/sealink/ships/st_columba_sealink/fire.html *http://www.sealink-holyhead.com/sealink/ships/st_columba_sealink/home.html Cruiseferries 1976 ships Ships built in Aalborg Ships of British Rail {{ferry-stub