GB Conte departing from Carloforte harbour. | |
History | |
---|---|
Name |
|
Operator | |
Port of registry | |
Builder | Robb Caledon Shipbuilders, Leith |
Cost | £5 million |
Yard number | 534 [2] |
Launched | 30 March 1983 |
Completed | 1983 |
In service | 3 July 1983 |
Identification |
|
Status | In Service |
General characteristics | |
Class and type | Roll-on/roll-off car ferry |
Tonnage | |
Length | 77.05 m (252.8 ft) |
Beam | 17.22 m (56.5 ft) |
Draught | 2.48 m |
Installed power | 3x 850bhp Harland & Wolff-MAN 6ASL25/30 diesel engines driving Voith Schneider cycloidal propellers |
Speed | 12.5 knots (23.2 km/h; 14.4 mph) |
Capacity |
|
MV St Catherine is a Roll-on/roll-off car and passenger ferry. She served the Wightlink crossing from Portsmouth to Fishbourne, Isle of Wight from 1983 to 2009. In 2010, she was sold to Delcomar and renamed GB Conte.
St Catherine was built by Robb Caledon Shipbuilders of Leith at a cost of £5 million. When she entered service on 3 July 1983, she was the biggest ferry ever in the Sealink Isle of Wight fleet, and the first able to carry more than 100 cars. Local papers reported that she made the other Isle of Wight ferries looked like toys in comparison. [4] St Catherine remained the largest ship in the fleet only until her sister, St Helen entered service later in 1983.
In 2001 the ferry was used as a location for the Robbie Williams single “Road to Mandalay”. The video was filmed during a night crossing with no other passengers aboard.
St Catherine was present at the International Fleet Review in 2005, representing Wightlink with a number of her sisters. She was later laid up at Hythe in Hampshire.
In 2010 St Catherine was sold to Delcomar and sailed from Hythe to Sardinia as GB Conte on 31 July 2010, with a crew of 11 on board. In March 2015, it was announced that sisters 'St Catherine' and 'St Helen' were being reunited, after spending five years apart, as St Helen had also been sold to Delcomar. She was renamed Anna Mur.
St Catherine was the first of the Isle of Wight ferries to use a Voith Schneider asymmetric three-propeller layout with a bridge mounted forward. Two decks of passenger accommodation are provided above the car deck, with two bar areas and seating space. One of the fastest car ferries in the company at the time, she allowed Wightlink to provide a 35-minute crossing of the Solent. Two older ferries on the route were withdrawn from service, while another, Caedmon was transferred to join her sisters on the Lymington to Yarmouth route.
St Catherine entered service with Sealink in 1983; the company becoming Wightlink in 1991. She sailed between Portsmouth, on the English mainland and Fishbourne, Isle of Wight until 2009. GB Conte and Anna Mur currently sail between the Isola di San Pietro and Portovesme; an approximately 40-minute service with a frequency of 17 ferries a day in each direction during the summer season. [5]
Wightlink is a ferry company operating routes across The Solent between Hampshire and the Isle of Wight in the south of England. It operates car ferries between Lymington and Yarmouth, and Portsmouth and Fishbourne and a fast passenger-only catamaran between Portsmouth Harbour and Ryde Pier. It is jointly owned by Basalt Infrastructure Partners and Fiera Infrastructure.
Red Funnel, the trading name of the Southampton Isle of Wight and South of England Royal Mail Steam Packet Company Limited, is a ferry company that carries passengers, vehicles and freight on routes between the English mainland and the Isle of Wight. High-speed foot passenger catamarans, known as Red Jets, run between Southampton and Cowes, while vehicle ferries run between Southampton and East Cowes. It also runs the ferry between Southampton and Hythe.
Ryde Pier is an early 19th century pier serving the town of Ryde, on the Isle of Wight, off the south coast of England. It is the world's oldest seaside pleasure pier. Ryde Pier Head railway station is at the sea end of the pier, and Ryde Esplanade railway station at the land end, both served by Island Line trains.
MV Wight Light is a car and passenger ferry built for the British ferry operator Wightlink. She is in service between mainland England and the Isle of Wight. She has a double end design so she doesn’t have to turn around considering she docks in narrow busy areas along with her sister ships Wight Sun and Wight Sky.
There are currently three different ferry companies that operate vessels carrying passengers and, on certain routes, vehicles across the Solent, the stretch of sea that separates the Isle of Wight from mainland England. These are Wightlink, Red Funnel and Hovertravel.
MV St Helen was a vehicle and passenger ferry operated by Wightlink on its route from Portsmouth to Fishbourne on the Isle of Wight. Due to her age, she was sold and was removed from service on 26 March 2015. She now operates in Sardinia with the name Anna Mur, operated by Delcomar, together with her sister ship GB Conte, the former MV St Catherine.
MV Wight Sun is an Isle of Wight ferry built in 2008 for the British company Wightlink.
MV St Clare currently sails on the Portsmouth to Fishbourne route operated by Wightlink. She was built in Gdańsk in 2001. From her introduction in 2001 until January 2004, St Clare was the longest ship regularly crossing between the Isle of Wight and the British mainland, but was overtaken by Red Funnel's Red Osprey following that vessel's stretching.
MV St Cecilia is a vehicle and passenger ferry formerly operated by Wightlink on its route from Portsmouth to Fishbourne on the Isle of Wight, the route she took throughout her life.
MV St Faith is a vehicle and passenger ferry operated by Wightlink on its route from Portsmouth to Fishbourne on the Isle of Wight. As with former sister ship St Cecilia, there were plans to increase St Faith's capacity by extending her length by 12 metres (39 ft). Entering service in 1990, the ferry's name is taken from St Faith's Church, Cowes.
MV Red Osprey is a Raptor Class vehicle and passenger ferry operated by Red Funnel on their route from Southampton to East Cowes on the Isle of Wight. She was built by Ferguson Shipbuilders in Port Glasgow.
MV Caedmon was an Isle of Wight 'C' class ro-ro vehicle and passenger ferry. She operated for ten years on the Portsmouth to Fishbourne route before transferring to Wightlink's route from Lymington to Yarmouth. After 37 years of service, she was broken up in 2010.
MV Cenwulf was one of Wightlink's 'C' class vehicle and passenger ferries on their route from Lymington to Yarmouth on the Isle of Wight.
MV Cenred was one of Wightlink's 'C' class vehicle and passenger ferries on their route from Lymington to Yarmouth on the Isle of Wight.
HSC Our Lady Pamela was a high-speed catamaran ferry which operated between the Isle of Wight and mainland England. She had operated on the Wightlink Ryde Pier to Portsmouth route since 1986 under Sealink along with her now scrapped sister ship HSC Our Lady Patricia. Both ships were named after the daughters of Lord Mountbatten, who had been the Governor of the Isle of Wight.
HSC FastCat Shanklin is a high speed catamaran ferry which operated between the Isle of Wight and mainland England. She operated on the Wightlink Ryde Pier to Portsmouth route from 2000 to 2009 along with her sister ship HSC FastCat Ryde. Prior to working for Wightlink, the ship worked in Singapore and was named Water Jet 2. In 1999, the year before it was sold to Wightlink, its name was changed to Supercat 18.
MV Cuthred was an Isle of Wight roll-on/roll-off ferry built in 1969. From 1990 until 2009, she operated as Mira Praia in Portugal.
Portsmouth International Port, also known as Portsmouth Continental Ferry Port, is the harbour authority for the city of Portsmouth, Hampshire, located on the south coast of Great Britain.
MV Victoria of Wight is a ship sailing on the Portsmouth to Fishbourne route operated by Wightlink. She entered service on 26 August 2018. Built by the Cemre Shipyard in Yalova for £30 million, she is the newest ship in the fleet and completed Wightlink's £45 million investment in the Portsmouth to Fishbourne route. In addition, upon introduction into service Victoria of Wight became the largest ship in the fleet and the new flagship.
TSMV Brading was a passenger ferry that operated between Portsmouth and the Isle of Wight between 1948 and 1986.