MS King of Scandinavia - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

MS King Seaways is a cruiseferry
Cruiseferry
A cruiseferry is a ship that combines the features of a cruise ship with a Ro-Pax ferry. Many passengers travel with the ships for the cruise experience, staying only a few hours at the destination port or not leaving the ship at all, while others use the ships as means of...

operated and owned by the Danish
Denmark
Denmark is a Scandinavian country in Northern Europe. The countries of Denmark and Greenland, as well as the Faroe Islands, constitute the Kingdom of Denmark . It is the southernmost of the Nordic countries, southwest of Sweden and south of Norway, and bordered to the south by Germany. Denmark...

shipping company DFDS Seaways
DFDS
DFDS is a Danish shipping company. It is one of the world's largest ferry operators. The companies name is an acronym of Det Forenede Dampskibs-Selskab DFDS is a Danish shipping company. It is one of the world's largest ferry operators. The companies name is an acronym of Det Forenede...

on a route connecting Newcastle
Newcastle upon Tyne
Newcastle upon Tyne is a city and metropolitan borough of Tyne and Wear, in North East England. Historically a part of Northumberland, it is situated on the north bank of the River Tyne...

, England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...

to IJmuiden in the Netherlands
Netherlands
The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...

. She was built in 1987 as MS Nils Holgersson by Schichau Unterweser, Bremerhaven

Bremerhaven

Bremerhaven is a city at the seaport of the free city-state of Bremen, a state of the Federal Republic of Germany. It forms an enclave in the state of Lower Saxony and is located at the mouth of the River Weser on its eastern bank, opposite the town of Nordenham...

, West Germany

West Germany

West Germany is the common English, but not official, name for the Federal Republic of Germany or FRG in the period between its creation in May 1949 to German reunification on 3 October 1990....

for TT-Line

TT-Line

TT-Line is a shipping company based in Lübeck, Germany, which has been providing a ferry service between Travemünde in Mecklenburg-Vorpommern and Trelleborg in southern Sweden since 1962. From 1992 on, Rostock is also offered as starting harbor to Trelleborg...

. Between 1993 and 2006 the ship was named MV Val de Loire, owned by Brittany Ferries
Brittany Ferries
Brittany Ferries is a French ferry company that runs ships between France, the UK, Ireland and Spain.-1970s and 1980s:Following the provision of the deep-water port at Roscoff, the company commenced in January 1973 at the instigation of Alexis Gourvennec, when existing ferry companies showed...

and used on traffic across the English Channel
English Channel
The English Channel , often referred to simply as the Channel, is an arm of the Atlantic Ocean that separates southern England from northern France, and joins the North Sea to the Atlantic. It is about long and varies in width from at its widest to in the Strait of Dover...

. A DFDS vessel since 2006, she was originally named MS King of Scandinavia, before being given her current name in 2011.

MS Nils Holgersson 1987–1993

The MS Nils Holgersson (fourth ship to bear the name in TT-Line's fleet) was built as the younger sister of the MS Peter Pan. The sisters were notably larger than any ships to have sailed for TT-Line before. Originally the Nils Holgersson was ordered by Ab Swecarrier (owners of TT-Line), but during construction she was sold to Wallenius Rederiet. When she was delivered in February 1987 the ship was bareboat-chartered back to Swecarrier, and began service between Trelleborg

Trelleborg

Trelleborg is a locality and the seat of Trelleborg Municipality, Skåne County, Sweden with 25,643 inhabitants in 2005. It is the southernmost town in Sweden.-History:...

(Sweden

Sweden

Sweden , officially the Kingdom of Sweden , is a Nordic country on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. Sweden borders with Norway and Finland and is connected to Denmark by a bridge-tunnel across the Öresund....

) and Travemünde

Travemünde

Travemünde is a borough of Lübeck, Germany, located at the mouth of the river Trave in Lübeck Bay. It began life as a fortress built by Henry the Lion, Duke of Saxony, in the 12th century to guard the mouth of the Trave, and the Danes subsequently strengthened it. It became a town in 1317 and in...

(West Germany

West Germany

West Germany is the common English, but not official, name for the Federal Republic of Germany or FRG in the period between its creation in May 1949 to German reunification on 3 October 1990....

) in June of the same year. In February 1992 the ship was sold to SweFerry, but kept in the same traffic.

MV Val de Loire 1993–2006

In January 1993 the Nils Holgersson was sold to Brittany Ferries

Brittany Ferries

Brittany Ferries is a French ferry company that runs ships between France, the UK, Ireland and Spain.-1970s and 1980s:Following the provision of the deep-water port at Roscoff, the company commenced in January 1973 at the instigation of Alexis Gourvennec, when existing ferry companies showed...

and renamed MV Val de Loire. Before entering service for her new owners, the ship was rebuilt at INMA, La Spezia

La Spezia

La Spezia , at the head of the Gulf of La Spezia in the Liguria region of northern Italy, is the capital city of the province of La Spezia. Located between Genoa and Pisa on the Ligurian Sea, it is one of the main Italian military and commercial harbours and hosts one of Italy's biggest military...

, Italy

Italy

Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...

with a new streamliner forward superstructure, a new bow door and refurbished interiors. Inside the theme used was "Maritime Tradition", with many artifacts and ship models on display in her public areas. The facilities on board Val de Loire were very similar in style to those found on board the Normandie
MV Normandie
MV Normandie is a ferry operated by Brittany Ferries. She was built at Kvaener Masa Yards in Finland and has been sailing for Brittany Ferries since 1992.-Routes served:*Portsmouth-Caen 1992–present...

and the Barfleur
MV Barfleur
MV Barfleur is a ferry operated by Brittany Ferries. She was built at Masa Yards in Finland for the Brittany Ferries subsidiary Truckline and entered service in 1992. In 1999 she was repainted in Brittany Ferries standard livery. She sails under the French flag and is registered in Cherbourg...

. The Val de Loire was the first Brittany Ferries vessel to include a swimming pool, though when the ship was transferred to the Portsmouth

Portsmouth

Portsmouth is the second largest city in the ceremonial county of Hampshire on the south coast of England. Portsmouth is notable for being the United Kingdom's only island city; it is located mainly on Portsea Island...

–St Malo route it was rarely open.

After the rebuild was completed in June 1993, the ship entered service on Brittany Ferries' Plymouth

Plymouth

Plymouth is a city and unitary authority area on the coast of Devon, England, about south-west of London. It is built between the mouths of the rivers Plym to the east and Tamar to the west, where they join Plymouth Sound...

–Santander

Santander, Cantabria

The port city of Santander is the capital of the autonomous community and historical region of Cantabria situated on the north coast of Spain. Located east of Gijón and west of Bilbao, the city has a population of 183,446 .-History:...

route, as well as Plymouth–Roscoff

Roscoff

Roscoff is a commune in the Finistère department of Brittany in northwestern France.The nearby Île de Batz, called Enez Vaz in Breton, is a small island that can be reached by launch from the harbour....

and Cork

Cork (city)

Cork is the second largest city in the Republic of Ireland and the island of Ireland's third most populous city. It is the principal city and administrative centre of County Cork and the largest city in the province of Munster. Cork has a population of 119,418, while the addition of the suburban...

–Roscoff. In 2004 the new MV Pont-Aven

MV Pont-Aven

M/V Pont-Aven is a cruiseferry operated by Brittany Ferries. She was built at Meyer Werft shipyard in Germany and has been sailing for Brittany Ferries since March 2004. She is the current Brittany Ferries flagship...

replaced the Val de Loire on her old routes, and she was transferred to serve on the Portsmouth

Portsmouth

–St Malo and Portsmouth–Cherbourg routes . In November 2005 the Val de Loire was sold to DFDS Seaways

DFDS Seaways

DFDS Seaways is a large Danish shipping company operating passenger and freight services across Northern Europe. Following the acquisition of Norfolkline in 2010, DFDS restructured its other shipping divisions into the previously passenger only operation of DFDS Seaways.-History:The company has...

for delivery in 2006. Her final crossing with Brittany Ferries was between Portsmouth and Cherbourg on 20 February 2006.

MS King of Scandinavia 2006-2011

In February 2006 the Val de Loire ended her service with Brittany Ferries and was renamed MS King of Scandinavia (she is the third ship of the same name to sail with DFDS Seaways). Between 2 and 11 March she was refitted for her new service in IJmuiden, the Netherlands

Netherlands

The Netherlands is a constituent country of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, located mainly in North-West Europe and with several islands in the Caribbean. Mainland Netherlands borders the North Sea to the north and west, Belgium to the south, and Germany to the east, and shares maritime borders...

, and on 11 March she began serving on DFDS Seaways' Newcastle

Newcastle upon Tyne

Newcastle upon Tyne is a city and metropolitan borough of Tyne and Wear, in North East England. Historically a part of Northumberland, it is situated on the north bank of the River Tyne...

- IJmuiden route, running parallel to MS Queen of Scandinavia. In May 2007 the MS Queen of Scandinavia

M/S Queen of Scandinavia

MS Princess Maria is a cruiseferry operated by St. Peter Line under charter from DFDS Seaways on a service connecting Helsinki, Finland to St. Petersburg, Russia. She was built in 1981 as MS Finlandia for Effoa at Wärtsilä's Perno shipyard in Turku, Finland, and placed in service on Silja Line's...

swapped routes with MS Princess of Norway, a sister ship of the King of Scandinavia. Because of the equal capacity and layout of these sister ships, caravans are accepted at every sailing.

On 22 February 2008, the King of Scandinavia broke free from its moorings at North Shields during high winds, drifting across the River Tyne and colliding with an oil rig moored on the opposite bank. There were no passengers on board at the time of the incident. Sailings were suspended while repairs were carried out.
. .

MS King Seaways 2011-present

The King of Scandinavia ran with this name for nearly five years. In January 2011 she sailed from Newcastle to IJmuiden for the last time named as the King of Scandinavia, leaving IJmuiden on 16 January without any passengers and heading to Denmark

Denmark

Denmark is a Scandinavian country in Northern Europe. The countries of Denmark and Greenland, as well as the Faroe Islands, constitute the Kingdom of Denmark . It is the southernmost of the Nordic countries, southwest of Sweden and south of Norway, and bordered to the south by Germany. Denmark...

for her annual docking period. She headed back to IJmuiden on the 29 January with brand new paintwork and also running with the new name of King Seaways.

Sister ships

The Nils Holgersson was the second of four sisters in the Peter Pan class, the others being:

MS Peter Pan (1986) was the first of the sisters build by Schichau Unterweser, Bremerhaven

Bremerhaven

, Germany

Germany

Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...

for TT-Line

TT-Line

. She was sold in 1990 to TT-line (Tasmania)

TT-Line (Australia)

TT-Line Company Pty. Ltd. is a company operating ferries from Tasmania to the mainland of Australia since 1985. The company was separated from the department of Transport Tasmania in 1993, becoming a government business enterprise wholly owned by the Government of Tasmania.- 1985-1992 :TT-Line was...

and in 1993 renamed as the first Spirit of Tasmania
Spirit of Tasmania (first ship)
MS Princess Seaways is a cruiseferry operated and owned by the Danish shipping company DFDS Seaways on a route connecting Newcastle, England to IJmuiden in the Netherlands. She was built in 1986 as MS Peter Pan by Schichau Unterweser, Bremerhaven, Germany for TT-Line...

. She was sold in 2002 to Nordsjøferger and charted in 2003 to Fjord Line

Fjord Line

Fjord Line is a Norwegian ferry operator offering services between Norway and Denmark. In addition to passenger transport, Fjord line operates cargo transport through its cargo division in Norway and Denmark.-History:Fjord Line was founded in 1993...

as MS Fjord Norway. In 2006 she was sold to DFDS Seaways

DFDS Seaways

to serve the IJmuiden (Netherlands

Netherlands

)–Newcastle

Newcastle upon Tyne

Newcastle upon Tyne is a city and metropolitan borough of Tyne and Wear, in North East England. Historically a part of Northumberland, it is situated on the north bank of the River Tyne...

(Britain

United Kingdom

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...

) route as MS Princess of Norway. In 2011 she was renamed MS Princess Seaways.

was the third of the sisters build by Schichau Unterweser, Bremerhaven

Bremerhaven

, Germany

Germany

for TT-Line

TT-Line

's sister company Olau Line

Olau Line

Olau Line was a shipping company that existed between the years 1956 and 1994. It operated a ferry service from the United Kingdom to the Netherlands from 1974 until 1994. Originally based in Denmark, the company passed under ownership of the German TT-Line in 1980.-History:Olau Line was founded in...

. With her Olau sister MS Olau Britannia (1990)

MS Pride of Portsmouth

The SNAV Lazio is a Peter Pan-class cruiseferry currently owned and operated by the Italian shipping company SNAV. She was launched on 28 October 1989 by Schichau Seebeckwerft in Bremerhaven, West Germany as the Olau Britannia for Olau Line....

she was charted in 1994 to P&O Ferries

P&O Ferries

P&O Ferries is the current name for the amalgamation of a range of ferry services that operated from the United Kingdom to Ireland and Continental Europe...

and renamed MS Pride of Le Havre. In 2005 she stopped operating for P&O and was subsequently sold to SNAV

SNAV

SNAV is an Italian company that operates ferry services from Italy to Sardinia, Croatia and Sicily.- Routes :SNAV operates a large network of routes across the Mediterranean and Adriatic....

in Italy and renamed MS SNAV Sardegna

MS SNAV Sardegna

MS SNAV Sardegna is a cruiseferry owned by the Italy-based SNAV and operated on their Olbia—Civitavecchia and Palermo—Civitavecchia services. She was built in 1989 by Schichau Seebeckwerft in Bremerhaven, West Germany as MS Olau Hollandia for Olau Line...

.

MS Olau Britannia (1990)

MS Pride of Portsmouth

was the fourth of the sisters build by Schichau Unterweser, Bremerhaven

Bremerhaven

, Germany

Germany

for TT-Line

TT-Line

's sister company Olau Line

Olau Line

. With her Olau sister the she was charted in 1994 to P&O Ferries

P&O Ferries

P&O Ferries is the current name for the amalgamation of a range of ferry services that operated from the United Kingdom to Ireland and Continental Europe...

and renamed MS Pride of Portsmouth. In 2005 she stopped operating for P&O and was subsequently sold to SNAV

SNAV

SNAV is an Italian company that operates ferry services from Italy to Sardinia, Croatia and Sicily.- Routes :SNAV operates a large network of routes across the Mediterranean and Adriatic....

in Italy and renamed MS SNAV Lazio.

The former MS Koningin Beatrix

MS Stena Baltica

MS Stena Baltica is a ro-ro ferry owned by Stena Line and operated on their Karlskrona - Gdynia service. She was built in 1986 by Van der Giessen de Noord as MS Koningin Beatrix for SMZ...

(1986), sold in 1989 to Stena Line

Stena Line

Stena Line is one of the world's largest ferry operators, with ferry services serving Scotland, Sweden, Northern Ireland, Denmark, Norway, England, Wales, Ireland, Germany, the Netherlands and Poland. Stena Line is a major unit of Stena AB, itself a part of the Stena Sphere, a grouping of Stena AB,...

and renamed in 2002 as , was built by the Dutch shipyard Van der Giessen de Noord

Van der Giessen de Noord

Van der Giessen de Noord was a shipyard that mainly built ferries, located in Krimpen aan den IJssel, a town in the western Netherlands. The yard was especially suited to the construction of large vessels due to its developed undercover facilities....

for SMZ

Stoomvaart Maatschappij Zeeland

Stoomvaart Maatschappij Zeeland was a Dutch ferry operator that ran services from Hook of Holland to Harwich between 1875 and 1989.-History:The Stoomvaart Maatschappij Zeeland was founded in 1875....

to a similar design as the four sisters.

External links

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