The MS ''Madeleine'' is a car/passenger ferry owned and operated by Coopérative de Transport Maritime et Aérien between Souris and

Cap-aux-Meules Grindstone (local English name, officially Cap-aux-Meules) is a former village municipality located on Grindstone Island in Quebec's Magdalen Islands. The previous municipal government was, on 1 January 2002, incorporated into the urban agglo ...

. The ship was originally named ''Leinster'' and owned and operated by

B&I Line The British and Irish Steam Packet Company Limited was a steam packet and passenger ferry company operating between ports in Ireland and in Great Britain between 1836 and 1992. It was latterly popularly called the B&I, and branded as B&I Line ...

. The ship later sailed with

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 ...

as ''Isle of Inishturk'' as well as operating under the name ''Isle of Inishmore''.

History

''Madeleine'' was built in 1981 as ''Leinster'' for the

overnight

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 ...

–

Liverpool Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. With a population of in 2019, it is the 10th largest English district by population and its metropolitan area is the fifth largest in the United Kingdom, with a popul ...

route. Following heavy losses the overnight Dublin – Liverpool route closed in 1988. ''Leinster'' transferred to the shorter Dublin – Holyhead route until 1993 when she was transferred to the Pembroke Dock – Rosslare route, for this role she was renamed ''Isle of Inishmore''. In 1995 ''Isle of Inishmore'' received the new

livery following the

privatization Privatization (also privatisation in British English) can mean several different things, most commonly referring to moving something from the public sector into the private sector. It is also sometimes used as a synonym for deregulation when ...

. The ship was renamed ''Isle of Inishturk'' a year later to free the name for a new vessel under construction in 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 ...

. The new ''Isle of Inishmore'' was delivered in 1997 enabling ''Isle of Innisfree'' to replace ''Isle of Inishturk'' on the Pembroke Dock – Rosslare route. After a few months laid up, ''Isle of Inishturk'' was sold to Coopérative de Transport Maritime et Aérien (CTMA) and renamed ''Madeleine''. Prior to entering service the lifeboats were removed and replaced with a

Marine evacuation system A marine evacuation system (MES) is a lifesaving device found on many modern passenger ships or oil rigs consisting of an inflatable slide or escape chute where a passenger can evacuate straight into waiting life rafts. Developed in 1979 by RFD, a ...

. In 2006 ''Madeleine'' was rebuilt to comply with the latest safety regulations. This included the addition of large

sponsons Sponsons are projections extending from the sides of land vehicles, aircraft or watercraft to provide protection, stability, storage locations, mounting points for weapons or other devices, or equipment housing. Watercraft On watercraft, a spon ...

to the stern. The Government of Canada is currently in talks with

Davie Shipbuilding Davie Shipbuilding is a historic shipbuilding company located in Lauzon, Quebec, Canada. The facility is now operating as Chantier Davie Canada Inc. and is the oldest continually operating shipbuilder in North America. History The Davie shipyard ...

to build a ship that will replace ''Madeleine'', which is nearing the end of its life-cycle .

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Madeleine Ferries of Quebec Ships built in Ireland 1980 ships Transport in Gaspésie–Îles-de-la-Madeleine Transport in Kings County, Prince Edward Island Ferries of Prince Edward Island Magdalen Islands