MV ''Duc de Normandie'' was a passenger car ferry built in 1978 as the ''Prinses Beatrix''. She subsequently operated under the names ''Wisteria'' and ''Voronskiy''. She was beached in February 2021 and subsequently dismantled.

History

She was built in 1978 as the ''Prinses Beatrix'' by Verolme Shipyard, in

Heusden Heusden () is a municipality and a town in the South of the Netherlands. It is located between the towns of Waalwijk and 's-Hertogenbosch. The municipality of Heusden, including Herpt, Heesbeen, Hedikhuizen, Doeveren, and Oudheusden, merged with ...

, the

Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...

and worked for

Stoomvaart Maatschappij Zeeland Stoomvaart Maatschappij Zeeland (known as SMZ or in English as Zeeland Steamship Company ) was a Dutch ferry operator that ran services from the Netherlands to the United Kingdom between 1875 and 1989.Haws (1993), p.197 History The Stoomvaart Ma ...

on its joint

Sealink 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, Folkesto ...

route between Hook of Holland and Harwich, Parkeston Quay. She was named and launched by

Princess Beatrix Beatrix (Beatrix Wilhelmina Armgard, ; born 31 January 1938) is a member of the Dutch royal house who reigned as Queen of the Netherlands from 1980 until her abdication in 2013. Beatrix is the eldest daughter of Queen Juliana and her husban ...

on 14 January 1978.

Brittany Ferries Brittany Ferries is the trading name of the French shipping company, BAI Bretagne Angleterre Irlande S.A. founded in 1973 by Alexis Gourvennec, that operates a fleet of ferries and cruiseferries between France and the United Kingdom, Ireland, ...

bought the vessel on 1 October 1985 and, after chartering the vessel for a year back to SMZ, renamed her ''Duc de Normandie'', operating between

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 ...

and

Ouistreham Ouistreham () is a commune in the Calvados department in Normandy region in northwestern France. Ouistreham is a small port with fishing boats, leisure craft and a ferry harbour. It serves as the port of the city of Caen. The town borders the mo ...

from 5 June 1986. The ferry sailed alongside on its favoured route to

. On 10 July 2002, she was transferred to the

Plymouth Plymouth () is a port city and unitary authority in South West England. It is located on the south coast of Devon, approximately south-west of Exeter and south-west of London. It is bordered by Cornwall to the west and south-west. Plymouth ...

Roscoff Roscoff (; br, Rosko) is a commune in the Finistère département of Brittany in northwestern France. Roscoff is renowned for its picturesque architecture, labelled (small town of character) since 2009. Roscoff is also a traditional departure ...

route, replacing the . She ended her Brittany Ferries career on this route, her final sailing being on 30 September 2004. Brittany Ferries sold her in 2005 to TransEuropa Ferries, operating between

Port of Ramsgate The Port of Ramsgate (also known as Port Ramsgate, Ramsgate Harbour, and Royal Harbour, Ramsgate) is a harbour situated in Ramsgate, south-east England, serving cross-Channel freight traffic and smaller working and pleasure craft. It is owned an ...

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 ...

under the name ''Wisteria''. In 2006 she was chartered to

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 Acciona Trasmeditarranea for use on their Almeria (Spain) to Nador (Morocco) route. The vessel sailed on the Nador-Almeria route until September 2013 under the name ''Vronskiy'', where it had operated till 2008 during the summer-season while Transeuropa Ferries operated it on the Oostend-Ramsgate route during the rest of the year. Until 2013 the owner of the ship was Wisteria Hawthorn Shipping but after TEF went bankrupt in April 2013 it was sold to Nizhniy Shipping, which renamed it ''Vronskiy'', although the existing charter to Acciona was continued. The ''Vronskiy'' then operated on the route Algeciras–Tanger except during the high-summer season when she operated the Nador-Almeria route.

In the media

''Prinses Beatrix'' is visible during the opening credits of the first series of the British

comedy-drama Comedy drama, also known by the portmanteau ''dramedy'', is a genre of dramatic works that combines elements of comedy and drama. The modern, scripted-television examples tend to have more humorous bits than simple comic relief seen in a typical ...

Auf Wiedersehen, Pet ''Auf Wiedersehen, Pet'' () is a British comedy-drama television programme about seven British construction workers who leave the United Kingdom to search for employment overseas. In the first series, the men live and work on a building site in ...

.''

References

External links

Photos
from shipphoto-keil-canal.de Ferries of the United Kingdom Ferries of France 1978 ships Transeuropa Ferries Ferries of the Netherlands {{ferry-stub