MV ''Ulysses'' is a

RORO 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 ...

car ferry currently owned and operated by

Irish Ferries Irish Ferries is an Irish ferry and transport company that operates passenger and freight services on routes between Ireland, Britain and Continental Europe, including Dublin Port–Holyhead; Rosslare Europort to Pembroke as well as Dublin ...

. The ship was launched on 1 September 2000 at Aker Finnyards shipyard in Rauma,

Finland Finland ( fi, Suomi ; sv, Finland ), officially the Republic of Finland (; ), is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It shares land borders with Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of B ...

and services the

Dublin Dublin (; , or ) is the capital and largest city of Ireland. On a bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the province of Leinster, bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, a part of the Wicklow Mountains range. At the 2016 c ...

- Holyhead route. The vessel stands 12 decks high, at a height of 167.5 feet (approx 51 metres) from keel to mast. The vessel has five vehicle decks, including a stowable mezzanine deck consisting of two 'swing decks', called 'Plates', which are lowered to accommodate a greater number of 'low vehicles' (i.e. vehicles up to 2 metres high) - these swing decks are primarily used in holiday seasons when there is a much greater number of passenger vehicles. When launched she was the world's largest car ferry in terms of vehicle capacity.

Design

''Ulysses'' was designed by Aker Finnyards and based on their Cruise Ferry 4000 concept design. She measures 50,938 GT, and is long, with a beam of and a draft of . She can carry 2,000 passengers and crew, 1,342 cars or 241 articulated trucks and trailers (or a mix of cars and freight vehicles). She has 228 passenger berths in 96 cabins, with passenger space spread over 12 decks. She is powered by four MaK M43 diesel engines, each delivering at 500rpm for a total power output of , that give her a service speed of via two propellers. She also has three thrusters at the bow and one at the stern to aid in maneuvering.

History

Irish Ferries ordered ''Ulysses'' from Aker Finnyards in late 1999. She was laid down on 24 January 2000 and launched on 1 September. She was handed over to her owners,

Irish Continental Group Irish Continental Group plc is an Irish shipping and transport group. Operating roll on/roll off passenger, freight and container freight services on routes between Ireland, the United Kingdom and Continental Europe. Irish Continental Group als ...

, at the Rauma yard on 22 February 2001, leaving under the command of Captain Peter Ferguson on 28 February and arriving in Dublin Bay at 07:00 on Sunday 4 March. The

naming ceremony A naming ceremony is a stage at which a person or persons is officially assigned a name. The methods of the practice differ over cultures and religions. The timing at which a name is assigned can vary from some days after birth to several months o ...

was undertaken by swimmer

Mairead Berry Mairead Berry (born 1975) is a former Irish Paralympic swimmer who competed in international level events. In 2001, Berry officially launched and named a 50,000-ton ship, '' MV Ulysses'' at a special ceremony Dublin Port Dublin Port ( g ...

. Following the 2003 sailing season, ''Ulysses'' underwent a refit at the

A&P Group A&P Group Ltd is the largest ship repair and conversion company in the UK, with three shipyards located in Hebburn, Middlesbrough and Falmouth. The company undertakes a wide variety of maintenance and repair work on commercial and military shi ...

's Birkenhead shipyard. She has sailed on Irish Ferries' Dublin–Holyhead route for her entire career, uninterrupted until the 2018 season when she suffered mechanical problems with her starboard propeller, requiring drydock repairs that took several weeks in June and July.

Replacement

On 2 January 2018, Irish Continental Group (ICG) announced that they had entered into an agreement with

Flensburger Schiffbau-Gesellschaft Flensburger Schiffbau-Gesellschaft is a German shipbuilding company located in Flensburg. The company trades as ''Flensburger'' and is commonly abbreviated ''FSG''. History ''Flensburger Schiffbau-Gesellschaft'' was founded in 1872 by a group of ...

& Co.KG ("FSG") whereby the German yard will build a new ferry for the

- Holyhead service at a contract price of €165.2m. Upon completion, like ''Ulysses'' was, the new ship will be the largest cruise ferry in the world in terms of vehicle capacity. According to ICG, the new vessel will offer a 50% increase in peak capacity over ''Ulysses'', with capacity for 330 freight units or 1,500 cars and 1800 passengers and crew. On the arrival of the new vessel, scheduled for mid-2020, ''Ulysses'', will move to the schedule of the chartered RoPax '' Epsilon.''

Gallery

MV Ulysses 3.jpg, Smokestacks MV Ulysses 6.jpg, Passenger seating on the 9th deck MV Ulysses 5.jpg, Leopold Blooms Bar on the 9th deck MV Ulysses 7.jpg, Vehicle deck 5 MV Ulysses 4.jpg,

Lifeboat Lifeboat may refer to: Rescue vessels * Lifeboat (shipboard), a small craft aboard a ship to allow for emergency escape * Lifeboat (rescue), a boat designed for sea rescues * Airborne lifeboat, an air-dropped boat used to save downed airmen ...

s MV Ulysses 1.jpg, Helicopter deck

References

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External links

M/F Ulysses - The ferry siteUlysses - Irish Ferries
{{DEFAULTSORT:Ulysses Ships built in Rauma, Finland Ferries of the Republic of Ireland 2000 ships Ro-ro ships