''Hildasay'' is a 7,606 GT 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 ...

which was built by Astilleros de Huelva, Spain in 1999 as ''Leili'' for the Estonian Shipping Company. During a charter to Crowley Maritime she was renamed ''Port Everglades Express'', reverting to ''Leili'' when the charter ended. In 2005, she was sold to Greece and renamed ''RR Shield''. In 2008, she was sold to

Seatruck Ferries Seatruck Ferries is a UK-based freight-only ferry company which commenced services in 1996. It is a subsidiary of CLdN. It operates out of four ports on the Irish Sea, including Heysham and Liverpool. History Seatruck was established in 1996 ...

and renamed ''Shield''. In January 2010 she was chartered to NorthLink Ferries and renamed ''Hildasay''.

Description

''Hildasay'' is a roll-on/roll-off

, she is long, with a beam of and a draught of . She has a total of lane capacity, which means she can carry 88 trailers, with provision for 12 passengers. She is powered by two Wärtsilä 9R32 diesel engines, which produce a total of , giving her a speed of .

History

''Varbola'' was built by Astilleros de Huelva, Huelva, Spain as yard number 572. She was built for the Estonian Shipping Company, Tallinn. Originally under the Estonian flag, she was reflagged to Cyprus in 2000. On 2 May 2002, she was chartered to Crowley Maritime, Jacksonville, Florida. ''Varbola'' was renamed ''Port Everglades Express'' for the duration of the charter. In October 2004, she reverted to ''Leili''. In October 2004, she was chartered to Norse Merchant Ferries for use on the Birkenhead - Dublin route. From 5–27 January 2005, ''Leili'' was chartered to Irish Ferries for use on the Pembroke - Rosslare routes. Following this, ''Leili'' was chartered to Norse Merchant Ferries for use on the Birkenhead - Dublin route, transferring to the Heysham - Dublin route in June 2005. In July 2005, ''Varbola'' was sold to Elmira Shipping & Trading, Piraeus and renamed ''RR Shield''. She was reflagged to Malta. Norse Merchant Ferries was taken over by

Norfolk Line Norfolkline was a European ferry operator and logistics company owned by Maersk. It provided freight ferry services on the English channel, Irish Sea, and the North Sea; and passenger ferry services on the English channel and Irish Sea; and lo ...

in 2006. In August 2006 she was sent to

Gdańsk Shipyard The Gdańsk Shipyard ( pl, Stocznia Gdańska, formerly Lenin Shipyard) is a large Polish shipyard, located in the city of Gdańsk. The yard gained international fame when Solidarity () was founded there in September 1980. It is situated on the w ...

, Poland for a refit. In September 2007 she was sold to Attica Enterprise, Piraeus, and was renamed ''Shield'' in October 2007. On 1 October 2008 she was sold to

, remaining on charter to Norfolkline. In December 2009, she was chartered to NorthLink Ferries as a replacement for their freighter ''Hascosay''. She was named ''Hildasay'' in a ceremony in

Lerwick Lerwick (; non, Leirvik; nrn, Larvik) is the main town and port of the Shetland archipelago, Scotland. Shetland's only burgh, Lerwick had a population of about 7,000 residents in 2010. Centred off the north coast of the Scottish mainland ...

on 10 February 2010. In 2012 she was reflagged to the Isle of Man. In 2019 the ship was purchased by Caledonian Maritime Assets.Northern Isles ferries bought by Scottish government
'' BBC News'' 26 March 2019

Sister vessels

*, built as ''Varbola''. *, built as ''Lembitu''. *, built as ''Lehola''.

References

External links

Current position of ''Hildasay''
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hildasay Ships of Seatruck Ferries 1999 ships Ships built in Spain Merchant ships of Estonia Merchant ships of the Isle of Man NorthLink Ferries