MV St Clare is a ship currently sailing on 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...

 to Fishbourne

Fishbourne

-United Kingdom:* Fishbourne, Isle of Wight, a village* Fishbourne, West Sussex, a village.* Fishbourne Roman Palace, an archaeological site in West Sussex....

 route operated by Wightlink

Wightlink

Wightlink is a ferry company operating routes between Hampshire and the Isle of Wight in southern England.Their core routes are car ferries from Lymington to Yarmouth and Portsmouth to Fishbourne...

. Built in Gdansk

Gdansk

Gdańsk is a Polish city on the Baltic coast, at the centre of the country's fourth-largest metropolitan area.The city lies on the southern edge of Gdańsk Bay , in a conurbation with the city of Gdynia, spa town of Sopot, and suburban communities, which together form a metropolitan area called the...

 in 2001, she was the newest ship in the fleet until the MV Wight Light

MV Wight Light

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.-History:...

 and MV Wight Sky

MV Wight Sky

MV Wight Sky is a new design of roll-on/roll-off car and passenger ferry operating on Wightlink's Lymington to Yarmouth, Isle of Wight route.-History:MV Wight Sky was constructed at the Kraljevica shipyard in Croatia and launched on 12 April 2008...

 entered service in 2008. 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

Red Funnel

The Southampton Isle of Wight and South of England Royal Mail Steam Packet Company Limited, which trades as Red Funnel, is a ferry company that carries passengers and vehicles on routes between the English mainland and the Isle of Wight...

's following that vessel's stretching. She is still the broadest vessel (widest beam) serving the island.

St Clare is Wightlink's flagship

Flagship

A flagship is a vessel used by the commanding officer of a group of naval ships, reflecting the custom of its commander, characteristically a flag officer, flying a distinguishing flag...

 and also the biggest ship in Wightlink's fleet, able to hold 878 passengers and 186 cars across 3 vehicle decks compared to all other vessels operating on 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...

 to Fishbourne

Fishbourne, Isle of Wight

for disambiguation.Fishbourne is a small village between Wootton and Ryde, on the Isle of Wight.The name "Fishbourne" might mean "stream of fish" or "fish spring."...

 route which carry 771 passengers and 142 cars.

Her service speed is 13 knots and weighs 5359 gross tons, with a length of 86 metres, beam

Beam (nautical)

The beam of a ship is its width at the widest point. Generally speaking, the wider the beam of a ship , the more initial stability it has, at expense of reserve stability in the event of a capsize, where more energy is required to right the vessel from its inverted position...

 of 18 metres and loaded draught

Draft (hull)

The draft of a ship's hull is the vertical distance between the waterline and the bottom of the hull , with the thickness of the hull included; in the case of not being included the draft outline would be obtained...

of 2.6 metres. The ship has a double end design, where the ship can travel in both directions, so that when it arrives, the vehicles are always facing the correct direction for disembarkation, so does not have to turn around before docking.

Facilities on board include a café, bar, lifts, TVs in seating areas, a shop and toilets.

External links

• Wightlink website on wightlink.co.uk
• MV ST CLARE on faktaomfartyg.se
• ST CLARE on marinetraffic.com