MV Leif Ericson

Leif Ericson
History
Name	1991–2001: Stena Challenger 2001–present: Leif Ericson
Operator	1991–1995: Stena Sealink Line 1995–2001: Stena Line 2001–present: Marine Atlantic
Port of registry	1991–2001: Dover, 2001–present St Johns,
Builder	Fosen Mekaniske Verksteder (Fosen Yards), Rissa Municipality, Norway
Yard number	50
Laid down	13 March 1990 [1]
Launched	4 October 1990 [1]
Completed	1 May 1991 [1]
Identification	IMO number:  8917388 Call sign: VOCJ
Status	In service
General characteristics [1] [2]
Tonnage	18,523  GT 5,556  NT 4,598  DWT
Length	LOA 158 m (518 ft 4 in) LBP 142 m (465 ft 11 in)
Beam	24.3 m (79 ft 9 in)
Draught	7.9 m (25 ft 11 in)
Depth	13.2 m (43 ft 4 in)
Ice class	DNV ICE-1B
Installed power	2 × Sulzer 8 ZAL40S diesels
Propulsion	2 × controllable pitch propellers
Speed	18 knots (33 km/h; 21 mph)
Capacity	500 passengers 1550 lane meters

MV Leif Ericson is a commercial passenger/vehicle ferry in service with the Canadian operator Marine Atlantic. She is currently the oldest vessel in the Marine Atlantic fleet. She was built along with two sister ships by Fosen Mekaniske Verksteder, Norway in the early 1990s. These two are Oslofjord and Patria Seaways. She also has two half sisters in Gryf and Lider Express. Leif Ericson and Patria Seaways were originally owned by the Swedish Company Stena Line AB as their Stena Challenger and Stena Traveller respectively.

Vessel specifications

The vessel has a capacity of 500 passengers and 300 passenger vehicles (combination of automobiles and tractor trailers). She usually operates carrying commercial vehicles only on the North Sydney–Port aux Basques route. Passenger traffic on the North Sydney-Port aux Basques route is usually handled by MV Blue Puttees and MV Highlanders year-round, and MV Ala'suinu services the North Sydney–Argentia route three times per week from mid-June to late-September.

Stena

The vessel was built at Fosen Yard, Norway in 1990 as Stena Challenger for Stena Line. She originally operated across the English Channel between Dover, England, and Calais, France, and also operated for awhile in freight only mode on Sealink Stena Line's roll-on/roll-off freight service to Dunkirk alongside SNCF's train ferry Nord-pas-de-Calais. On 19 September 1995 Stena Challenger ran aground on Blériot Plage whilst waiting to enter the port of Calais. ^[3]

Marine Atlantic

Leif Ericson, seen in her original Marine Atlantic livery

The vessel was purchased by the Government of Canada for its Crown corporation Marine Atlantic in 2001 and underwent modifications in preparation for operating the 178-kilometre (111 mi) route between North Sydney, Nova Scotia and Port aux Basques, Newfoundland and Labrador. She was renamed Leif Ericson in honour of the 1,000th anniversary of Leif Ericson's settlement in Newfoundland, reportedly the first European to set foot in the New World.

On 26 October 2006 Leif Ericson collided with a concrete structure at Port aux Basques after losing power. ^[4]

In June 2010, Marine Atlantic announced an extensive midlife refit of approximately $18 million over the next twelve months for Leif Ericson. ^[5]

References

1. "Leif Ericson (16855)". Vessel Register for DNV. DNV . Retrieved 15 November 2011.
2. "Marine Atlantic". Archived from the original on 3 March 2008. Retrieved 12 September 2007.
3. Investigation into the grounding of the Passenger Ro-Ro Ferry Stena Challenger (PDF) (Report). London: Marine Accident Investigation Branch. 1996. ISBN   0-11-5518460 . Retrieved 6 January 2012.
4. "Marine Atlantic ferry loses power, hits barrier". CBC News. 26 October 2006. Retrieved 6 January 2012.
5. "Government of Canada Invests Over Half a Billion Dollars in the Revitalization of Marine Atlantic Inc" (PDF). Government of Canada. 5 July 2010. Archived from the original (PDF) on 24 November 2010. Retrieved 13 July 2010.

External links

Media related to IMO 8917388 at Wikimedia Commons