MS ''Oscar Wilde'' is a fast Ro-Pax

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 ...

operated by Irish Ferries on the

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

Holyhead Holyhead (,; cy, Caergybi , "Cybi's fort") is the largest town and a community in the county of Isle of Anglesey, Wales, with a population of 13,659 at the 2011 census. Holyhead is on Holy Island, bounded by the Irish Sea to the north, and is ...

and

Cherbourg Cherbourg (; , , ), nrf, Chèrbourg, ) is a former commune and subprefecture located at the northern end of the Cotentin peninsula in the northwestern French department of Manche. It was merged into the commune of Cherbourg-Octeville on 28 Feb ...

routes on charter from

Tallink Tallink () is an Estonian shipping company operating Baltic Sea cruiseferries and ropax ships from Estonia to Finland, Estonia to Sweden to Sweden and Finland to Sweden. It is the largest passenger and cargo shipping company in the Baltic Sea r ...

. She was built as the ''Star'' at

Aker Finnyards STX Finland Oy, formerly Aker Yards Oy, was a Finnish shipbuilding company operating three shipyards in Finland, in Turku, Helsinki and Rauma, employing some 2,500 people. It was part of STX Europe, a group of international shipbuilding companie ...

Helsinki Shipyard Helsinki Shipyard Oy is a Finnish shipbuilding company based at Hietalahti shipyard in Helsinki, Finland. The company was established in 2019 to continue the shipbuilding activities of Arctech Helsinki Shipyard in Finland. History Helsinki S ...

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 ...

for

and entered service on their

Helsinki Helsinki ( or ; ; sv, Helsingfors, ) is the Capital city, capital, primate city, primate, and List of cities and towns in Finland, most populous city of Finland. Located on the shore of the Gulf of Finland, it is the seat of the region of U ...

Tallinn Tallinn () is the most populous and capital city of Estonia. Situated on a bay in north Estonia, on the shore of the Gulf of Finland of the Baltic Sea, Tallinn has a population of 437,811 (as of 2022) and administratively lies in the Harju ' ...

service on 12 April 2007.

History

Tallink

''Star'' was the first fast ferry capable of around-the-year service used on the Helsinki–Tallinn route. The green external livery of the ship is according to Tallink promotion material "meant to reflect the environmentally friendly aspects of the ship's design". ''Star'' operated three daily departures from both Helsinki and Tallinn, each crossing taking two hours. In Tallink marketing, ''Star'' has often been referred to as "Tallink Star". The ship's planned original delivery date was 5 April 2007, but this was postponed until 12 April 2007, owing to problems with the main engines. During the

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by a virus, the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The first known case was COVID-19 pandemic in Hubei, identified in Wuhan, China, in December ...

outbreak crisis the ship was assigned to a government emergency service between

Paldiski Paldiski is a town and Baltic Sea port situated on the Pakri Peninsula of northwestern Estonia. Since 2017, it's the administrative centre of Lääne-Harju Parish of Harju County. Previously a village of Estonia-Swedes known by the historical ...

, Estonia, and Sassnitz, Germany to ease the transportation of goods between Estonia and Central Europe. Poland had closed its borders and required health declarations from truck drivers which introduced long truck queues on its borders and slowed transportation.

Irish Ferries

On April 6, 2023, Irish Ferries announced they were chartering the ''Star'' from Tallink for 20 months, with possible extensions of 2+2 years, and an eventual possibility of purchase. The ship was renamed ''Oscar Wilde'' and will initially be positioned on the Rosslare - Pembroke route, replacing the also chartered Greek ferry ''

Blue Star 1 ''Blue Star 1'' is a Greek ferry, which is owned by Blue Star Ferries. She is a motor Ro-Ro/Passenger ferryboat, built in 2000 by Van der Giessen de Noord shipward in Krimpen aan den IJssel, Netherlands. She is a sistership to '' Blue Star 2''. ...

''. On 31 January 2024 she was replaced on the route from Rosslare by the ''Norbay'', allowing ''Oscar Wilde'' to be deployed from 11 February 2024 on the company’s two primary services from

, sailing to

in France on one weekend rotation and to

in Wales for the rest of the week.

Specifications

The ship's design is heavily based on that of MS ''SeaFrance Rodin'', built by Aker Finnyards for SeaFrance in 2001.FCBS Forum: Tallink tilasi nopeakulkuisen lautan Aker Finnyardsilta
retrieved 8. 10. 2007

References

External links

Tallink official website for ''Star''
*

Star at marinetraffic.com
Ferries of Estonia Ships built in Helsinki Cruiseferries 2006 ships {{ferry-stub