MS ''Oujda'' was a roll-on/roll off

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 ...

built as ''Viking Venturer'' by Aalborg Værft AS in 1974 for

Townsend Thoresen European Ferries Group plc was a company that operated in passenger and freight ferries, harbour operation and property management in the United Kingdom and the United States. It was taken over by the Peninsular and Oriental Steam Navigation Com ...

History

''Viking Venturer'' was initially put into service on the route from

Southampton Southampton () is a port city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. It is located approximately south-west of London and west of Portsmouth. The city forms part of the South Hampshire built-up area, which also covers Po ...

Le Havre Le Havre (, ; nrf, Lé Hâvre ) is a port city in the Seine-Maritime department in the Normandy region of northern France. It is situated on the right bank of the estuary of the river Seine on the Channel southwest of the Pays de Caux, very cl ...

then latterly

Portsmouth Portsmouth ( ) is a port and city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire in southern England. The city of Portsmouth has been a unitary authority since 1 April 1997 and is administered by Portsmouth City Council. Portsmouth is the most dens ...

Cherbourg Cherbourg (; , , ), nrf, Chèrbourg, ) is a former commune and subprefecture located at the northern end of the Cotentin peninsula in the northwestern French department of Manche. It was merged into the commune of Cherbourg-Octeville on 28 Feb ...

. She was sold to

P&O European Ferries P&O European Ferries (formerly Townsend Thoresen), a division of P&O Ferries, was a ferry company which operated in the English Channel from 1987 after the ''Herald of Free Enterprise'' disaster, when '' Townsend Thoresen'' was renamed ''P&O E ...

and renamed ''Pride of Hampshire''. With the takeover of Townsend Thoresen by P&O, and the sinking of the ''

Herald of Free Enterprise MS ''Herald of Free Enterprise'' was a roll-on/roll-off (RORO) ferry which capsized moments after leaving the Belgian port of Zeebrugge on the night of 6 March 1987, killing 193 passengers and crew. The eight-deck car and passenger ferry was ow ...

'' in 1987, P&O wanted to drop the Townsend Thoresen name and the ship names associated with the company. She was repainted from her Townsend Thoresen orange and white livery to the new P&O blue and white, the TT logo on her funnel replaced by the P&O house flag. Townsend Thoresen became

and in 1989 ''Viking Venturer'' became ''Pride of Hampshire''. She continued to sail under that name until 2002. She was transferred to the Portsmouth-Cherbourg route in 1994 as a result of larger vessels ''Pride of Le Havre'' & being chartered for the

route. In 1986, the ship was taken to Bremerhaven for "

jumboisation Jumboization is a technique in shipbuilding consisting of enlarging a ship by adding an entire section to it. By contrast with refitting or installation of equipment, jumboization is a long and complex endeavour which can require a specialized shi ...

" , which added an extra deck to the ship, making it appear comparatively top heavy. She was sold in 2002 after 27 years service on the

English Channel The English Channel, "The Sleeve"; nrf, la Maunche, "The Sleeve" (Cotentinais) or ( Jèrriais), (Guernésiais), "The Channel"; br, Mor Breizh, "Sea of Brittany"; cy, Môr Udd, "Lord's Sea"; kw, Mor Bretannek, "British Sea"; nl, Het Kana ...

. At the time she, was the eldest cross-channel ferry sailing from the United Kingdom. Her new owner,

El Salam Maritime El Salam Maritime Transport is an Egyptian ferry operator that operates a fleet of fifteen vessels on Red Sea routes between ports in Egypt, Saudi Arabia and Jordan. The company transports over one million passengers a year and is the largest ...

, renamed her the ''Pride of Al Salam 2'' then latterly ''Oujda'' sailing between Sète and Nador in her final days with a

Panama Panama ( , ; es, link=no, Panamá ), officially the Republic of Panama ( es, República de Panamá), is a transcontinental country spanning the southern part of North America and the northern part of South America. It is bordered by Cos ...

flag. She was sold for demolition in India in 2010.

Sister ships

''Viking Venturer'' was one of four sister ships ordered by Townsend Thoresen. The other three were: * - later the ''Pride of Cherbourg'' ², then ''Mogador'' and was scrapped in May 2010. * - later ''Pride of Cherbourg'' ¹, now ''Samothraki''. * ''Viking Viscount'' - later ''Pride of Winchester'', now ''Vitsentzos Kornaros''.

References

Notes

Bibliography

External links

From the scrapyard Oujda (blog)'Uglyships.wordpress.com' Pride of Hampshire
{{DEFAULTSORT:Oujda Ferries of the United Kingdom Ferries of France Ferries of Egypt 1974 ships