History | |
---|---|
Name |
|
Owner | Tallink (2007–Present) |
Operator |
|
Port of registry | Limassol, Cyprus (2023–Present) |
Route | Holyhead - Dublin - Cherbourg |
Ordered | 1 August 2005 |
Builder | Aker Finnyards Helsinki Shipyard, Finland |
Yard number | 1356 |
Laid down | 30 May 2006 |
Launched | 23 November 2006 |
Christened | 23 November 2006 |
Acquired | 10 March 2007 |
Maiden voyage | 2007 |
In service | 12 April 2007 |
Identification |
|
Status | In service |
General characteristics | |
Type | Fast ropax ferry |
Tonnage | |
Length | 186.00 m (610 ft 3 in) |
Beam | 27.70 m (90 ft 11 in) |
Draught | 6.50 m (21 ft 4 in) |
Ice class | 1 A Super |
Propulsion |
|
Speed | 27 kn (50.0 km/h; 31.1 mph) |
Capacity |
|
MS Oscar Wilde is a fast Ro-Pax ferry operated by Irish Ferries on the Dublin to Holyhead and Cherbourg routes on charter from Tallink. She was built as the Star at Aker Finnyards Helsinki Shipyard, Finland for Tallink and entered service on their Helsinki - Tallinn service on 12 April 2007.
Star was the first fast ferry capable of around-the-year service used on the Helsinki–Tallinn route. [1] 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". [2]
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. [3]
During the COVID-19 outbreak crisis the ship was assigned [4] to a government emergency service between Paldiski, 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.
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. [5] [6] 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 . [7]
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 [8] on the company’s two primary services from Dublin, sailing to Cherbourg in France on one weekend rotation and to Holyhead in Wales for the rest of the week.
The ship's design is heavily based on that of MS SeaFrance Rodin, built by Aker Finnyards for SeaFrance in 2001. [9]
Stena Line is a Swedish shipping line company and one of the largest ferry operators in the world. It services Denmark, France, Germany, the United Kingdom, Ireland, Latvia, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Finland and Sweden. Stena Line is a major unit of Stena AB, itself a part of the Stena Sphere.
MS Silja Europa is a cruiseferry constructed at Meyer Werft Germany for the Swedish ferry operator Rederi AB Slite, a part of Viking Line. At 59,914 gross tonnage (GT), she is the largest ship commissioned for and to ever operate for Tallink Silja, and is the tenth-largest cruiseferry in the world.
Tallink is an Estonian shipping company operating Baltic Sea cruiseferries and ropax ships from Estonia to Finland, Estonia to Sweden and Finland to Sweden. It is the largest passenger and cargo shipping company in the Baltic Sea region. It owns Silja Line and a part of SeaRail. Tallink Hotels runs four hotels in Tallinn. It is also the co-owner of a taxi company Tallink Takso.
MS Vana Tallinn was a cruiseferry owned by the Estonian ferry company Tallink and operated on the line between Kapellskär and Paldiski. She was built in 1974 by Aalborg Skibsværft AS, Aalborg, Denmark for DFDS as MS Dana Regina, and has sailed under the names MS Nord Estonia and MS Thor Heyerdahl.
MS GNV Allegra is a cruiseferry owned by MSC. The ship was built by Wärtsilä Marine's Perno shipyard in Turku, Finland for Jahre Line as MS Kronprins Harald. In 1991 she passed under ownership of Color Line, for whom she sailed until sold to Irish Ferries in 2007. She was sold by Irish Ferries to Mediterranean Shipping Company (MSC) in 2019 and renamed GNV Allegra for service in the fleet of MSC subsidiary Grandi Navi Veloci.
Cotentin is a ROPAX ferry owned and operated by Brittany Ferries between Poole and Cherbourg from January until March 2021 and then Portsmouth and Le Havre from March 2021 until June 2021. She previously operated for Brittany Ferries between 2007 and 2013 between Poole–Cherbourg before being chartered to Stena Line as Stena Baltica serving the route between Gdynia and Karlskrona. The vessel was constructed by Aker Finnyards in Finland and delivered to Brittany Ferries on 9 November 2007. Cotentin sails under the French flag and is registered in Morlaix. The ship's gross tonnage is 22,308.
MS Galaxy 1 is a cruise ferry built in 2006 by Aker Finnyards, Rauma, Finland and was at the time the largest ship delivered to ferry operator Tallink. Between 2006–2008 she held the distinction of being the largest ship ever to be registered in Estonia; a title later held by her replacement the sister ship MS Baltic Princess.
MS Romantika is a cruiseferry owned by the Estonian ferry company Tallink. The ship's latest use was on a charter to Holland Norway Lines for the route Kristiansand to Emden, until the ferry company's bankruptcy in 2023.
MS Victoria I is a cruiseferry owned by AS Tallink Grupp. It was chartered by the Scottish Government to provide temporary accommodation to those fleeing the war in Ukraine. The vessel was docked in the port of Leith, in Edinburgh, Scotland. The ship, which was chartered until July 2023, had been providing people with accommodation until they secure somewhere to stay longer term. It took in its first Ukrainian residents in July 2022.
MS Stena Superfast VII is a fast Ro-Pax ferry owned by Stena Line and operated on their service between Belfast and Cairnryan. Built in 2001 by Howaldtswerke-Deutsche Werft (HDW) in Kiel, Germany for Attica Group's subsidiary Superfast Ferries, The ship was sold to its current owners in 2017.
MS Stena Superfast VIII is a fast Ro-Pax ferry owned and operated by Stena Line between Belfast and Cairnryan. The ship was built in 2001 by Howaldtswerke-Deutsche Werft (HDW), Kiel, Germany for Attica Group's subsidiary Superfast Ferries. She was sold to her current owners in 2017.
MV Atlantic Vision is a fast ro-pax ferry owned by the Estonian ferry company Tallink, under charter to Canadian operator Marine Atlantic. In February 2015, Marine Atlantic announced that the lease on the vessel had been renewed until November 2017 for a cost of Can$40 million. It was subsequently extended again, and the vessel is under Marine Atlantic control through November 2019. Atlantic Vision operates on Marine Atlantic's services between North Sydney, Nova Scotia, and the Newfoundland ports of Channel-Port aux Basques and Argentia, Placentia.
The MS Pascal Lota is a fast ferry owned by the Corsica-based Corsica Ferries - Sardinia Ferries. She was built in 2008 at the Fincantieri shipyard in Ancona, Italy.
The MS Normandy was a ferry, last owned by the Singapore-based oil service company Equinox Offshore Accommodation, under charter to the Morocco-based ferry operator Ferrimaroc. She was built in 1981 by Götaverken, Gothenburg, Sweden, and first entered service in 1982 as MS Prinsessan Birgitta for Stena Sessan Line. She also served under the names MS St Nicholas and MS Stena Normandy.
MS Baltic Princess is a cruiseliner owned by the Estonia-based ferry operator Tallink and operated under their Silja Line brand. She was built by Aker Finnyards Helsinki New Shipyard in Helsinki, Finland in 2008. The ship began service on the cruise route between Helsinki, Finland to Tallinn, Estonia on 17 August 2008. From 1 February 2013 the ship began service on the Turku–Mariehamn–Stockholm route.
MS Isle of Inishmore is a ro-ro ferry owned by Irish Ferries and operated on their Dover-Calais service. At the time of her introduction, she was the largest car ferry operating in Northern Europe. She is named after Inishmore, the largest of the Aran Islands. The name of the ferry is tautologous, since "Inishmore" derives from the Irish for "big island". Despite not being sister ships, the ship's design is copied from the Stena Line vessel Stena Jutlandica up until the superstructure.
Stena Nordica is a ro-pax ferry owned and operated by Stena Line.
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 Regal Star is a Ro-Ro ship owned by the Estonian shipping company Tallink. The vessel was built in 1993 in Saint Petersburg and completed in 2000 in Naples, Italy. Regal Star is registered under the Estonian flag and its home port is Tallinn.
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. She holds a total of 1600 passengers and 640 vehicles and has 430 beds in 161 cabins for passengers. She has four MAN B&W 8L58 / 64 diesel engines, with combined power of 44,480 kW and reaches speeds of up to 27 knots.
Media related to IMO 9364722 at Wikimedia Commons