MS ''Pride of Hull'' is a

Bahamas The Bahamas (), officially the Commonwealth of The Bahamas, is an island country within the Lucayan Archipelago of the West Indies in the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic. It takes up 97% of the Lucayan Archipelago's land area and is home to ...

registered

passenger A passenger (also abbreviated as pax) is a person who travels in a vehicle, but does not bear any responsibility for the tasks required for that vehicle to arrive at its destination or otherwise operate the vehicle, and is not a steward. The ...

and

cargo Cargo consists of bulk goods conveyed by water, air, or land. In economics, freight is cargo that is transported at a freight rate for commercial gain. ''Cargo'' was originally a shipload but now covers all types of freight, including trans ...

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 ...

cruiseferry A cruiseferry is a ship that combines the features of a cruise ship and a Ro-Pax ferry. Many passengers travel with the ships for the cruise experience, staying only a few hours at the destination port or not leaving the ship at all, while oth ...

in service with

P&O North Sea Ferries P&O Ferries is a British shipping company that operates ferries from United Kingdom to Ireland, and to Continental Europe (France, Belgium and the Netherlands). The company was created in 2002 through mergers and acquisitions within P&O. It h ...

on the Hull –

Rotterdam Rotterdam ( , , , lit. ''The Dam on the River Rotte'') is the second largest city and municipality in the Netherlands. It is in the province of South Holland, part of the North Sea mouth of the Rhine–Meuse–Scheldt delta, via the ''"N ...

route.

Design

''Pride of Hull'' was designed as two ships in one, both a car ferry and a cargo transporter, with three large freight decks, loaded by a single stern door and a car deck, on deck 7, loaded via a side ramp. She is long with a beam of and a draught of . She is powered by four

Wärtsilä Wärtsilä Oyj Abp (), trading internationally as Wärtsilä Corporation, is a Finnish company which manufactures and services power sources and other equipment in the marine and energy markets. The core products of Wärtsilä include technol ...

9L46C

diesel engine The diesel engine, named after Rudolf Diesel, is an internal combustion engine in which ignition of the fuel is caused by the elevated temperature of the air in the cylinder due to mechanical compression; thus, the diesel engine is a so-call ...

s which have a total power output of which can propel her at . She has two bow thrusters, two stabilisers and twin rudders. With Mampaey quick release disc type towing hook.

Service

''Pride of Hull'' was originally ordered as ''Pride of Rotterdam'', along with a sister ship ''Pride of Hull'' on 24 January 1999 from

Fincantieri Fincantieri S.p.A. () is an Italian shipbuilding company based in Trieste, Italy. Already the largest shipbuilder in Europe, after the acquisition of Vard in 2013, Fincantieri group doubled in size to become the fourth largest in the world (2014 ...

, Italy to replace the aging and which had been operating the Hull –

route since 1987. On 11 March 2001, ''Norstar'' suffered a major engine room fire and was subsequently withdrawn from service upon arrival at

Zeebrugge Zeebrugge (, from: ''Brugge aan zee'' meaning "Bruges at Sea", french: Zeebruges) is a village on the coast of Belgium and a subdivision of Bruges, for which it is the modern port. Zeebrugge serves as both the international port of Bruges-Zeeb ...

. As a result of this, the MS ''Norsun'' was required to go into refit early for subsequent transfer to the Kingston upon Hull – Zeebrugge as had been planned. The Hull – Rotterdam route operated with one British and one Dutch crew, the Dutch crew being assigned to ''Pride of Rotterdam'' and the British to ''Pride of Hull'', as a result, in March 2001, with ''Pride of Hull'' having already been completed the names of the two vessels were swapped so that she could enter service as ''Pride of Rotterdam'' with the Dutch crew. The newly renamed ''Pride of Hull'' was launched on 11 April 2001, finally being delivered to

P&O Ferries P&O Ferries is a British shipping company that operates ferry, ferries from United Kingdom to Ireland, and to Continental Europe (France, Belgium and the Netherlands). The company was created in 2002 through mergers and acquisitions within P&O ...

on 16 November 2001. She was christened by

Cherie Blair Cherie, Lady Blair, (; born 23 September 1954), also known professionally as Cherie Booth, is an English barrister and writer. She is married to the former Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, Sir Tony Blair. Early life and education Booth ...

in Hull on 30 November 2001, entering service on 2 December 2001. Upon entering service she was the joint title holder of the World's Largest

Cruiseferry A cruiseferry is a ship that combines the features of a cruise ship and a Ro-Pax ferry. Many passengers travel with the ships for the cruise experience, staying only a few hours at the destination port or not leaving the ship at all, while oth ...

with her sister, the ''Pride of Rotterdam'' On 17 March 2022, P&O announced they were to fire 800 seafaring employees, including the entirety of the ''Pride of Hull''’s crew, in a bid to save costs. In protest, the ship’s crew refused to leave, and Captain Eugene Favier raised the gangplank and refused access to P&O’s security, who were sent to forcefully remove the crew should they fail to leave the vessel. The standoff ended after five hours, when Captain Favier held discussions with P&O bosses, who agreed to provide the relevant documents to the crew, as requested by the

National Union of Rail, Maritime and Transport Workers The National Union of Rail, Maritime and Transport Workers (commonly known as the RMT) is a British trade union covering the transport sector. Its current President is Alex Gordon and its current General Secretary is Mick Lynch. The RMT is on ...

Engine room fires

On 10 December 2008, ''Pride of Hull'' suffered a minor engine room fire whilst en route to Kingston upon Hull. Another engine room fire broke out on 20 October 2020, this time en route to Rotterdam.

Sister ships

''Pride of Hull'' has one sister ship: *

Gallery

File:PrideofRotterdam.png, An early image of ''Pride of Hull'' File:Pride of Hull - geograph.org.uk - 854062.jpg, ''Pride of Hull'' dominates Hull's skyline when she is docked.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Pride of Hull Ferries of the United Kingdom Cruiseferries 2001 ships Ships built by Fincantieri Ships built in Venice Merchant ships of the United Kingdom Ships of P&O Ferries