MS Viking Valiant
Encyclopedia

Pride of Le Havre was the name of ferry
Ferry
A ferry is a form of transportation, usually a boat, but sometimes a ship, used to carry primarily passengers, and sometimes vehicles and cargo as well, across a body of water. Most ferries operate on regular, frequent, return services...

 for 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...

 that sailed between 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...

 and Le Havre
Le Havre
Le Havre is a city in the Seine-Maritime department of the Haute-Normandie region in France. It is situated in north-western France, on the right bank of the mouth of the river Seine on the English Channel. Le Havre is the most populous commune in the Haute-Normandie region, although the total...

 from 1989 to 1994. From launch until 1994, she was known as the Viking Valiant for Townsend Thoresen
European Ferries
European Ferries Group Plc was a company that operated in passenger and freight ferries, harbour operation and property management in the United Kingdom and the United States...

 and P&O. In 1994 she was renamed Pride of Cherbourg2 for P&O and continued under this name until she was sold to El Salam Maritime in 2002. El Salam Maritime renamed her Pride of Al Salam 1 for El Salam Maritime. In 2004 she was renamed Nador and chartered to COMNAV, she was again renamed 'Mogador for COMANAV in 2005, sailing under this name until being scrapped in 2010.

History

Pride of Le Havre was built in 1975 at Aalborgs Værft A/S, Ålborg, 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...

  as Viking Valiant for Townsend Thoresen to operate between Southampton
Southampton
Southampton is the largest city in the county of Hampshire on the south coast of England, and is situated south-west of London and north-west of Portsmouth. Southampton is a major port and the closest city to the New Forest...

 and Le Havre or Cherbourg. She also saw service between Felixstowe
Felixstowe
Felixstowe is a seaside town on the North Sea coast of Suffolk, England. The town gives its name to the nearby Port of Felixstowe, which is the largest container port in the United Kingdom and is owned by Hutchinson Ports UK...

 and Zeebrugge
Zeebrugge
Zeebrugge is a village on the coast of Belgium and a subdivision of Bruges, for which it is the modern port. Zeebrugge serves as both the international port of Bruges-Zeebrugge and a seafront resort with hotels, cafés, a marina and a beach.-Location:...

. In 1984 Townsend Thoresen moved its western channel passenger services from Southampton to Portsmouth. After two years sailing from Portsmouth Viking Valiant was sent to 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...

 in 1986 to be enlarged in a process known as jumboisation
Jumboisation
Jumboisation is a technique in shipbuilding consisting of enlarging a ship by adding an entire section to it. By contrast with refitting or installation of equipment, jumboisation is a long and complex endeavour which can require a specialised shipyard....

. This involved removing the superstructure of the vessel from its original hull, adding an upper vehicle deck and reattaching the superstructure to mostly new hull, the stern section of the hull was retained for use as part of the new hull. The enlarged vessel re-entered service later that same year and sailed between Portsmouth and Le Havre.

With the takeover of Townsend Thoresen
European Ferries
European Ferries Group Plc was a company that operated in passenger and freight ferries, harbour operation and property management in the United Kingdom and the United States...

 by P&O and the sinking of the Herald of Free Enterprise in 1987, P&O wanted to drop the Townsend Thoresen name and the ship names associated with the company. Later in 1987 Townsend Thoresen became P&O European 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 in 1989 Viking Valiant became Pride of Le Havre 1. She continued to sail under that name until 1994 when she was transferred to the Portsmouth-Cherbourg route as a result of the larger Pride of Le Havre
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...

 2 and being chartered for the Le Havre route. She was renamed Pride of Cherbourg 2, the second vessel to carry that name, and sailed to Cherbourg with the odd period of refit cover on the Le Havre route until 2002 when she was replaced and sold by what was now 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...

. Prior to her replacement she briefly carried the name Pride of Cherbourg A to free the original name for her replacement.

After her service with P&O she was sold to El Salam Maritime as the Pride of Al Salam 1. She was later chartered to COMANAV and was then named Mogador with a Pananma flag.

She was sold for demolition in India early 2010 for $352 per ton.

Sister Ships

Viking Valiant was one of four sister ships ordered by Townsend Thoresen.

The other three were:
  • Viking Venturer - later the Pride of Hampshire, ended up Oudja & was scrapped May 2010 - later Pride of Cherbourg (I), now Samothraki
  • Viking Viscount
    Pride of Winchester
    The MS Pride of Winchester was built in 1975 for Townsend Thoresen. Her original name was Viking Viscount. European Ferries Group was purchased by P&O and became P&O European Ferries and the ship was renamed Pride of Winchester in 1989 and remained on the Portsmouth to Cherbourg route until 1994...

    - later Pride of Winchester, now Vitsentzos Kornaros
The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.  The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.
 
x
OK