M/F ''Sherbatskiy'' was a RORO Passenger and Freight ferry operating services between Almeria and Nador on a time-charter basis to the Spanish ferry operator

Acciona Trasmediterranea 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 ...

. The ship was formerly called the M/F ''Oleander'' (2001-2013), ''P&OSL Picardy'' (1999-2001), ''Pride of Bruges'' (1987-1999) and ''Pride of Free Enterprise'' (1980-1987). She was operated by

FerriMaroc FerriMaroc was a Moroccan ferry company which started services between Nador Port in Morocco and the Port of Almeria in Spain. Since 2010 the company has been part of the Spanish operator Acciona Trasmediterránea.The Ferry site oFerriMaroc visit ...

and

Comarit Comarit (Compagnie Maritime Maroco-Norvegiènne) was a Moroccan ferry operator. Comarit operated a freight and passenger ferry service between Morocco and Spain, France and Italy from 1984 to 2012. It was based in Tangier, one of the main points o ...

between 2010 and 2011 and previously owned and operated by TransEuropa Ferries between

Ramsgate Ramsgate is a seaside resort, seaside town in the district of Thanet District, Thanet in east Kent, England. It was one of the great English seaside towns of the 19th century. In 2001 it had a population of about 40,000. In 2011, according to t ...

and

Ostend Ostend ( nl, Oostende, ; french: link=no, Ostende ; german: link=no, Ostende ; vls, Ostende) is a coastal city and municipality, located in the province of West Flanders in the Flemish Region of Belgium. It comprises the boroughs of Mariakerk ...

. TransEuropa Ferries owned the ferry between 2001 and 2013 and operated her between 2001 and 2010 before placing her on charter. She was scrapped at Alang in late 2015 under the name ''Sher''.

History

''Pride of Free Enterprise '' was built by Schichau Unterweser AG for

European Ferries 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 ...

services between Dover and Calais, initially entering service with them in 1980. In 1987

was purchased by

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 ...

; in the same year her sister ship, ''

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 ...

'' capsized just outside

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 these two events, ''Pride of Free Enterprise'' was renamed ''Pride of Bruges'' under a rebranding exercise undertaken by P&O following the bad publicity of the ''Herald of Free Enterprise'' disaster. In 1998 P&O European Ferries merged its Short sea routes with

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 ...

to form

P&O Stena Line P&O Stena Line was formed in 1998 after the merger of P&O European Ferries (Dover) Ltd and the Dover and Newhaven operations of Stena Line. History The idea for a joint service was initially put forward in July 1996 and in October of the same ...

. As a result of this merger the vessels were again rebranded, this time the vessel was renamed to ''P&OSL Picardy''. In 2000 ''P&OSL Picardy'' was laid up pending sale, eventually being sold to Transeuropa Ferries. Transeuropa Ferries renamed the vessel ''Oleander'' and introduced a freight only service between

and

which began on 4 July 2002. Two years later, on 20 July 2004 ''Oleander'' was joined by ''Larkspur'' to provide a joint passenger/freight service also operating between the two ports. From 2010 onwards ''Oleander'' was often sailing on the Spain - Morocco lines on short term leases from TEF to

. When TEF went into bankruptcy in April 2013 the Oleander moved on more permanent basis to Acciona Trasmediterránea and sailed on the Almeria to Nador route as M/F ''Sherbatskiy''. The ship was renamed ''Sher'' for her last voyage to the scrapyard at Alang, India and broken up in late 2015.

Sister ships

*'' Spirit of Free Enterprise'' (1979) - ''Pride of Kent'' (1987) - ''MS Anthi Marina'' (2006) - scrapped: September 2012. *''

'' (1979) - capsized 6 March 1987 in Zeebrugge harbour - re-floated, renamed to ''Flushing Range'' for the final trip to the scrapyard. Scrapped: 1988

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sherbatskiy Ferries of the United Kingdom Ferries of France Ferries of Belgium Ferries of Morocco 1980 ships Connections across the English Channel Transeuropa Ferries