MV St Helen

MV St Helen was a vehicle and passenger ferry operated by Wightlink on its route from Portsmouth to Fishbourne on the Isle of Wight. Due to her age, she was sold and was removed from service on 26 March 2015. She now operates in Sardinia with the name Anna Mur, operated by Delcomar, together with her sister ship GB Conte, the former MV St Catherine.

MV St Helen (right) passes one of her sister ships, MV St Faith en route to Portsmouth Harbour from Fishbourne
History
Name:

MV St Helen (1983-2015)

MV Anna Mur (2015 – present)
Operator:
  • Sealink 1983-1984
  • Sealink British Ferries 1984-1991
  • Wightlink 1991-2015
  • Delcomar Mar 2015 – present
Port of registry:

1983–2015: London

2015–present: Cagliari[1]
Builder: Robb Caledon Shipbuilders, Leith
Yard number: 535[2]
Launched: 15 September 1983[3]
In service: 28 November 1983
Identification:
Status: In Service with Delcomar.
General characteristics
Class and type: Car Passenger Ferry
Tonnage: 2,983 GT[4]
Length: 77 metres (253 ft)
Beam: 17.2 metres (56 ft)
Draught: 2.48 metres (8 ft 2 in)
Installed power: 3x 850bhp Harland & Wolff-MAN 6ASL25 diesel engines
Propulsion: 3x Voith Schneider cycloidal propellers
Speed: 12.5 knots (23.2 km/h; 14.4 mph)
Capacity:
  • 769 passengers
  • 142 cars
  • 12 Lorries

History

St Helen was built by Robb Caledon Shipbuilders; the last ship to be launched from their Leith Shipyard.[2] She entered service with Sealink on 28 November 1983 shortly after her sister St Catherine,[5] She was positioned on the Portsmouth to Fishbourne route, the route she has taken through her life and was the largest Isle of Wight ferry until 1990 when MV St Faith was introduced measuring 26 gt more. This was a record held until 2001 when MV St Clare entered service.

Deck collapse incident

The St Helen generated unwelcome headlines late on Friday 18 July 2014 at the Fishbourne ferry terminal, when a section of the mezzanine car deck with nine cars on board dropped about six feet (1.80m) on to the deck below while being lowered. Three passengers and a crew member were injured and transferred to St Mary's Hospital in Newport. The Marine Accident Investigation Branch carried out an investigation.

The ship had just arrived on the 21:30 sailing from Portsmouth with 181 passengers and 11 crew on board. The next sailing, operated by St Clare, had to wait 90 minutes before being able to dock.[6]

After the incident the St Helen was taken out of service for several weeks while Wightlink engineers removed the mezzanine deck leaving her sister ships St Clare, St Cecilia and St Faith to run the service.

Sale to Delcomar
Anna Mur moored in Carloforte harbour (Isola di San Pietro, Sardinia)

After withdrawal from service, the ship was moored at Hythe, but in March 2015 it was reported that Delcomar, a company based in Sardinia, had purchased St Helen for an undisclosed sum.[1] She joined her sister vessel St Catherine (now GB Conte), which was sold to the same company in July 2010. Both ferries currently sail between the Isola di San Pietro and Portovesme; an approximately 40-minute service with a frequency of 17 ferries a day in each direction during the summer season.[7] St Helen has been renamed Anna Mur.

References
  1. http://www.iwcp.co.uk/news/news/wightlink-to-say-farewell-to-St-Helen-car-ferry-78597.aspx
  2. "Leith Built Ships". Robbs Built Ships. Retrieved 27 June 2010.
  3. Hendy, John (1989). Sealink Isle of Wight. Staplehurst: Ferry Publications.
  4. Widdows, Nick (1998). Ferries of the British Isles & Northern Europe. Ferry Publications.
  5. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-hampshire-28382187
  6. "Carloforte - Portovesme". Delcomar (in Italian). Retrieved 14 August 2017.
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