MS Bari

Summary

The MS Bari was a ferry built in 1980 as the St Anselm[4] for Sealink. Starting life on the Dover-Calais, she operated with Ventouris Ferries in her last routes in the Mediterranean.

Bari as Isla de Botafoc
History
Name
  • Altair (2021–2021)
  • Bari (2010–2021)
  • Winner 9 (2010–2010)
  • Isla de Botafoc (1999–2010)
  • Stena Cambria (1991–1999)
  • St Anselm (1980–1991)[1]
Operator
Port of registryLimassol,  Cyprus[1]
BuilderHarland & Wolff, Belfast
Yard number1715
Launched5 December 1979[2]
Christened4 December 1979[2]
Completed1980
Maiden voyage27 October 1980[3]
In service1980
Out of service2021
IdentificationIMO number: 7813937[1]
FateScrapped
General characteristics
Tonnage12,705 gross register tons (GRT)
Length129.65 m (425.4 ft)[1]
Beam21.62 m (70.9 ft)[1]
Draught4.84 m (15.9 ft)[1]
Propulsion2xPielstick 16PC2[1]
Speed18 kn (33.3 km/h)[1]
Capacity1,125 passengers[1]
Bari operating at the port of Bari in 2019.

Sealink edit

MS Bari started life as the St Anselm, order by and for Sealink services in the English Channel.[3] She was launched at the Harland & Wolff shipyard in Belfast[3] on 5 December 1979 and completed her maiden voyage on 27 October 1980.[3]

After two years in service, on 31 December 1982,[3] the St Anselm returned to Belfast for a £750,000 extension to her aft decks.[3] This extension provided an enlarged duty-free shopping area and additional accommodation, increasing her tonnage by 402 GT to 7,405 GT and her passenger capacity to 1,400.[3] On 28 March 1983 during her trip back to Dover through the Irish Sea, the St Anselm was temporarily brought into service on the Fishguard-Rosslare route following the failure of Stena Normandica's engines.[3]

In 1990, the St Anselm was displaced from the Dover-Calais route by Sealink's acquisition of the Fantasia, the St Anselm instead took up a service operating between Folkestone and Boulogne.[3] Not long after this transition, Sealink was acquired by Stena Line, in 1991 the St Anselm was transferred to Holyhead,[3] being renamed the Stena Cambria as a refit relief during February and March,[3] briefly returning to Dover before resuming service in the Irish Sea in July that same year.[3]

Stena Line edit

In July 1995, SNAT announced they would be terminating the pooling agreement that had been in place with Stena Sealink Line, which as a result, dropped the "Sealink" name, becoming just Stena Line. As a result of the loss of the two French vessels, Stena Line transferred the Stena Cambria and the Stena Empereur back to the Dover-Calais route for the 1996 season.[5] In March 1997 she provided refit relief in Stranraer and on 3 May 1997 became the last conventional ferry to sail out of Dun Laoghaire to Holyhead having provided overhaul relief for the Stena Explorer.[3] In March 1998 she transferred to the Newhaven-Dieppe route under the newly formed P&O Stena Line, staying there until the routes withdrawal in January 1999.[5]

Post P&O Stena Line edit

Following the routes withdrawal in January 1999, the Stena Cambria was laid up in Zeebrugge awaiting sale,[5] eventually being purchased by UMAFISA, entering service for them between Barcelona and Ibiza that November[5] as the Isla de Botafoc. In August 2003, UMAFISA and the Isla de Botafoc were acquired by rivals, Balearia.[5] She continued services with Balearia to Ibiza and Menorca[5] until her eventual sale to Ventouris Ferries of Greece in 2010, briefly being renamed Winner 9 and then to the Bari.[1]

Sister ships edit

MS Bari has three sister ships;

References edit

Notes edit

  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k "M/F Bari". Ferry-site.dk. Retrieved 28 June 2010.
  2. ^ a b "MS Stena Cambria Part One". HHVFerry.com. Retrieved 28 June 2010.
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m "Stena Cambria". Sealink-Holyhead.com. Retrieved 28 June 2010.
  4. ^ "Stena Cambria". SimplonPC.co.uk. Retrieved 28 June 2010.
  5. ^ a b c d e f "MS Stena Cambria Part Two". HHVFerry.com. Retrieved 28 June 2010.

Bibliography edit

  • Cowsill, Miles; Hendy, John (2006). The Saints go marching on: British Rail's Last Cross-Channel Ferries. Kilgetty, Pembrokeshire: Ferry Publications. ISBN 187194774X.