Norse Irish Ferries was an Irish Sea

Irish Sea

The Irish Sea separates the islands of Ireland and Great Britain. It is connected to the Celtic Sea in the south by St George's Channel, and to the Atlantic Ocean in the north by the North Channel. Anglesey is the largest island within the Irish Sea, followed by the Isle of Man...

 ferry company that operated a passenger and freight roll-on/roll-off service between Belfast

Belfast

Belfast is the capital of and largest city in Northern Ireland. By population, it is the 14th biggest city in the United Kingdom and second biggest on the island of Ireland . It is the seat of the devolved government and legislative Northern Ireland Assembly...

 and Liverpool

Liverpool

Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough of Merseyside, England, along the eastern side of the Mersey Estuary. It was founded as a borough in 1207 and was granted city status in 1880...

.

History

Norse Irish Ferries was formed as a joint venture between the Norwegian

Norway

Norway , officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic unitary constitutional monarchy whose territory comprises the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula, Jan Mayen, and the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard and Bouvet Island. Norway has a total area of and a population of about 4.9 million...

 Roed Group and a consortium

Consortium

A consortium is an association of two or more individuals, companies, organizations or governments with the objective of participating in a common activity or pooling their resources for achieving a common goal....

 of hauliers who were discontented by the existing RoRo services on the Irish Sea. Following Belfast Car Ferries

Belfast Car Ferries

Belfast Car Ferries was an Irish Sea ferry company that operated a passenger and freight roll-on/roll-off service between Northern Ireland and England.-History:...

 withdrawal from the Belfast - Liverpool route in October 1990 ferry services from Northern Ireland only operated to Stranraer

Stranraer

Stranraer is a town in the southwest of Scotland. It lies in the west of Dumfries and Galloway and in the county of Wigtownshire.Stranraer lies on the shores of Loch Ryan on the northern side of the isthmus joining the Rhins of Galloway to the mainland...

 and Cairnryan

Cairnryan

Cairnryan is a small Scottish village in Dumfries and Galloway on the eastern shore of Loch Ryan. The village has been of vital importance in maritime history.-Ferry Port:...

 requiring a lengthy drive along single carriageway

Single carriageway

A single carriageway is a road with 1, 2 or more lanes arranged within a single carriageway with no central reservation to separate opposing flows of traffic. Two-lane road or two-lane highway are single carriageway with one lane for each direction...

 to reach England.

Sailings commenced in November 1991 using the Norse Lagan and Transgermania. Initially they operated a freight only service, passenger were later accepted onto sailing operated by the Norse Lagan.

In July 1997 Norse Irish Ferries took delivery of the first of two new Italian

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...

 built vessels. The new vessels also introduced a new brand identity

Brand

The American Marketing Association defines a brand as a "Name, term, design, symbol, or any other feature that identifies one seller's good or service as distinct from those of other sellers."...

 featuring a colourful viking ship

Viking ship

Viking ships were vessels used during the Viking Age in Northern Europe. Scandinavian tradition of shipbuilding during the Viking Age was characterized by slender and flexible boats, with symmetrical ends with true keel. They were clinker built, which is the overlapping of planks riveted together...

 sail

Sail

A sail is any type of surface intended to move a vessel, vehicle or rotor by being placed in a wind—in essence a propulsion wing. Sails are used in sailing.-History of sails:...

.

In October 1999, Norse Irish Ferries was acquired by Cenargo for US$36 million. The operations of Norse Irish Ferries were merged with that of Merchant Ferries and Belfast Freight Ferries in February 2001 to create Norse Merchant Ferries

Norse Merchant Ferries

Norse Merchant Ferries was an Irish Sea ferry company that operating passenger and freight RORO services between England the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland.-History:...

.

Fleet

Norse Irish Ferries operated 6 vessels during its 10 years of operation.

Name	Built	Tonnage	Passengers	Notes
Norse Lagan	1967	21,717	400	Sold to Moby Lines Moby Lines Moby Lines is an Italian shipping company that operates ferries and cruiseferries between the Italian or French mainland and the islands of Elba, Sardinia and Corsica. The company was founded in 1959 under the name Navigazione Arcipelago Maddalenino .In 2006 Moby Lines purchased Lloyd Sardegna... , Broken up 2007
Transgermania	1976	5,631	63	now Translandia with Eckerö Line Eckerö Line Eckerö Line is a Finnish shipping companies owned by the Åland-based Rederiaktiebolaget Eckerö. Eckerö Line operates two ferries between Helsinki and Tallinn...
Norse Mersey	1969	20,914	150	now Claudia M with Ustica Lines
Norse Mersey	1995	14,820	25	now Eurocargo Napoli with Grimaldi Ferries Grimaldi Group The Grimaldi Group is a private shipping company owned by Guido Grimaldi and based in Livorno, Italy. Grimaldi operates a large fleet of ro-ro vessels.- Shipping :...
Mersey Viking	1997	21,856	340	now Stena Feronia with 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,...
Lagan viking	1997	21,856	340	now Liverpool Seaways with 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...