A merchant ship, merchant vessel, trading vessel, or merchantman is a watercraft that transports cargo or carries passengers for hire. This is in contrast to pleasure craft, which are used for personal recreation, and naval ships, which are used for military purposes.
Roll-on/roll-off 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 a platform vehicle, such as a self-propelled modular transporter. This is in contrast to lift-on/lift-off (LoLo) vessels, which use a crane to load and unload cargo.
MV Princess Victoria was one of the earliest roll-on/roll-off ferries. Completed in 1947, she operated from Stranraer, Scotland, to Larne, Northern Ireland, initially by the London, Midland and Scottish Railway (LMS) until 1 January 1948 and thereafter by LMS's successor British Railways. During a severe European windstorm on 31 January 1953, she sank in the North Channel with the loss of 135 lives. This was then the deadliest maritime disaster in United Kingdom waters since World War II. For many years it was believed that 133 people had lost their lives in the disaster. However, research by a local historian, Liam Kelly, identified two other victims—Gordon Wright and Thomas Saunders—who had not been identified as there had been no passenger list at the time.
M/V William Carson was a CN Marine passenger/vehicle icebreaker ferry named in honour of Newfoundland colonial politician William Carson.
Cairnryan is a village in the historical county of Wigtownshire, Dumfries and Galloway, Scotland. It lies on the eastern shore of Loch Ryan, six miles north of Stranraer and 81 miles (130 km) southwest of Glasgow.
P&O Ferries is a British shipping company that operates ferries from United Kingdom to Ireland, and to Continental Europe. The company was created in 2002 through mergers and acquisitions within P&O. It has been owned by Dubai-based DP World since 2019.
The MS al-Salam Boccaccio 98 was an Egyptian Ro/Ro passenger ferry, operated by El Salam Maritime Transport, that sank on 3 February 2006 in the Red Sea en route from Duba, Saudi Arabia, to Safaga in southern Egypt.
Blue Wave Harmony is a ferry formerly known as MS Sea Anatolia and originally launched in 1991 for P&O as European Seaway. From Spring 2023 it was owned by Blue Wave Corporation.
MS Pride of Kent was a cross-channel ferry operated by P&O Ferries, it operated on the Dover to Calais route from 2003 until its retirement in June 2023. Before that, between 1992 and 2002, it had operated on the Dover to Zeebrugge route.
P&O Irish Sea was the trading name of P&O Ferries in the Irish Sea from 1998 to 2010, when it was rebranded P&O Ferries.
MS Isle of Innisfree is a passenger and car ferry to be operated by Irish Ferries between Dover and Calais. Originally built at Boelwerf as the Prins Filip originally sailing between Dover and Ostend, later between Ostend and Ramsgate, she has since 1997 operated for a wide variety of companies.
The HSC Superexpress is a 91-metre (299 ft) wave piercing catamaran built by Incat, owned by Golden Star Ferries and chartered to Viking Line. During her delivery voyage on 9 June 1998, as Catalonia, she set the record for the fastest Atlantic Eastbound Record, previously held by another Incat craft Hoverspeed Great Britain. She made the 3,125 mi (5,029 km) run from Manhattan, US to Tarifa, Spain in 3 days 7 hours 54 minutes, traveling at an average speed of 38.877 knots.
Riverdance was a roll-on/roll-off ferry in service with Seatruck Ferries on the Irish Sea. On 31 January 2008 she was hit by a wave that caused her cargo to shift and she beached at Blackpool, very close to the boundary with Cleveleys. Large amounts of the ship's cargo was spilled overboard after the ship ran aground, resulting in much of it being salvaged by members of the public. Attempts to refloat her failed, and she was scrapped on site during 2008.
The European Mariner was a ro-ro freight ferry owned by P&O Irish Sea.
Stena Nordica is a ro-pax ferry owned and operated by Stena Line.
MV European Highlander is a ferry operated by P&O Irish Sea on their Cairnryan to Larne service. The vessel is an enlarged version of European Causeway, the Highlander being 6 metres longer. Other differences include minor revisions to the passenger deck layout, additional passenger lifts and the use of larger lifeboats rather than Marine evacuation systems. On 7 June 2012, it carried the Olympic Flame across the Irish Sea from Northern Ireland to Scotland.
MS Norbay is a ro-pax vessel owned by the British ferry company P&O Ferries and currently chartered to Irish Ferries. She was built by Van Der Giessen-de Noord N.V., Netherlands in 1994.
MS Norman Atlantic was a roll-on/roll-off passenger (ROPAX) ferry owned by the Italian ferry company Visemar di Navigazione. The ferry was chartered by ANEK Lines from December 2014. On 28 December 2014, she caught fire in the Strait of Otranto, in the Adriatic Sea.
MS Norstream is a cargo ferry owned by the Bore Ltd subsidiary company Bore Sky and operated by P&O Ferries with sister ship MS Norsky on the Tilbury–Zeebrugge route.
MS Europic Ferry was a roll-on/roll-off car ferry built in 1967 by Swan Hunter for the Atlantic Steam Navigation Company (ASN). She was acquired by European Ferries in 1971 when they took over the ASN and served with them under the Townsend Thoresen branding. The Europic Ferry was requisitioned by the British government in April 1982 and transported stores, equipment and troops to the South Atlantic during the Falklands War. After the war she returned to service with European Ferries until that company was sold to P&O in 1987. She was sold again to Namora Shipping in 1993 and served on routes in the Mediterranean until sold for scrapping in 2004.
P&O Ferries [1] 
Bahamas [1] 
