MV Reine Mathilde
Encyclopedia
Reine Mathilde was a ferry
operated by Brittany Ferries
. She was built as the MS Prince of Fundy in 1970 by Schiffbau Gesellschaft Unterweser, AG, Bremerhaven, Germany for service between Portland, Maine
and Yarmouth, Nova Scotia
.
to sail on the Varberg
- Grenå
route between 27 November 1976 and March 1978.
Chartered by Brittany Ferries
from 17 April 1978 initially to sail on the Portsmouth
-Santander
her main route was Portsmouth
-Saint Malo under the name Prince of Brittany. She was subsequently bought and registered in France in 1980. On 30 December 1988 she was renamed Reine Mathilde in preparation for her transfer to the Portsmouth
-Caen
(Ouistreham
) route alongside the Duc de Normandie
. Prior to the arrivial of the Normandie
Reine Mathilde was retired from service with Brittany Ferries
and sold. She was quickly chartered by British Channel Island Ferries
(in which Brittany Ferries held a large share). In 1992 she took up service between Poole
and the Channel Islands
as the Bahamas
registered Beauport. By the end of 1993 BCIF were experiencing financial difficulties due to competition from Condor Ferries
and the Beauport was returned to its owner, her passenger ship role with BCIF being taken by the Havelet.
Beauport was laid up in Southampton
until mid-1994 when she was chartered to the Stern Maritime Line for their Bari
- Cesme
route. After sailing for SML, the ship was laid up again in 1994 but quickly found work with a Greek shipping company between Brindisi
, Igoumenitsa
and Patras
. After which she continued on the Mediterranean
regularly sailing to Morocco
for COMANAV. Between work with COMANAV Beauport was chartered to the Private Media Group
and carried the marketing name of Private Lady.
In 2000 Beauport moved to Sancak Lines for service between Brindisi
and Cesme
. Later that year she was chartered to the Government of Trinidad and Tobago
. In 2005 she was sent to India
and was scrapped on a beach at Alang.
Bars and Restaurants
Shops
Other Facilities
Motor ship
A motor ship or motor vessel is a ship propelled by an internal combustion engine, usually a diesel engine. The name of motor ships are often prefixed with MS, M/S, MV or M/V.- See also :...
operated by Brittany Ferries
Brittany Ferries
Brittany Ferries is a French ferry company that runs ships between France, the UK, Ireland and Spain.-1970s and 1980s:Following the provision of the deep-water port at Roscoff, the company commenced in January 1973 at the instigation of Alexis Gourvennec, when existing ferry companies showed...
. She was built as the MS Prince of Fundy in 1970 by Schiffbau Gesellschaft Unterweser, AG, Bremerhaven, Germany for service between Portland, Maine
Portland, Maine
Portland is the largest city in Maine and is the county seat of Cumberland County. The 2010 city population was 66,194, growing 3 percent since the census of 2000...
and Yarmouth, Nova Scotia
Yarmouth, Nova Scotia
Yarmouth is a town and fishing port located on the Gulf of Maine in rural southwestern Nova Scotia, Canada. It is the shire town of Yarmouth County. The town is located in the heart of the world's largest lobster fishing grounds and has Canada's highest lobster catch.- History :The townsite may...
.
History
In 1976 the ship was chartered to Lion FerryLion Ferry
Lion Ferry was a Swedish ferry company which operated passenger and freight ferry services in Scandinavia and North America.-History:1960The Prins Bertil enters service between Halmstad and Aarhus....
to sail on the Varberg
Varberg
Varberg is a locality and the seat of Varberg Municipality, Halland County, Sweden with 26,041 inhabitants in 2005.Varberg and all of Halland are well known for their 'typical west coast' sandy beaches. In Varberg the coast changes from wide sandy beaches to rocky terrain that continues north into...
- Grenå
Grenå
Grenaa or Grenå is a town in central Denmark with a population of 14,308 . The town centre is about 2 km west of the east coast of the Djursland peninsula in Jutland's Region Midtjylland...
route between 27 November 1976 and March 1978.
Chartered by Brittany Ferries
Brittany Ferries
Brittany Ferries is a French ferry company that runs ships between France, the UK, Ireland and Spain.-1970s and 1980s:Following the provision of the deep-water port at Roscoff, the company commenced in January 1973 at the instigation of Alexis Gourvennec, when existing ferry companies showed...
from 17 April 1978 initially to sail 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...
-Santander
Santander, Cantabria
The port city of Santander is the capital of the autonomous community and historical region of Cantabria situated on the north coast of Spain. Located east of Gijón and west of Bilbao, the city has a population of 183,446 .-History:...
her main route was 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...
-Saint Malo under the name Prince of Brittany. She was subsequently bought and registered in France in 1980. On 30 December 1988 she was renamed Reine Mathilde in preparation for her transfer to 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...
-Caen
Caen
Caen is a commune in northwestern France. It is the prefecture of the Calvados department and the capital of the Basse-Normandie region. It is located inland from the English Channel....
(Ouistreham
Ouistreham
Ouistreham is a commune in the Calvados department' in the Basse-Normandie region in northwestern France.Ouistreham is a small port with fishing boats, leisure craft and a ferry-harbour. It serves as the port of the city of Caen. The town is about the mouth of the Canal de Caen à la...
) route alongside the Duc de Normandie
MV Duc de Normandie
The Wisteria is a passenger car ferry operated by Acciona Trasmediterránea and FerryMaroc between Almeria and the Moroccan port of Nador.-History:...
. Prior to the arrivial of the Normandie
MV Normandie
MV Normandie is a ferry operated by Brittany Ferries. She was built at Kvaener Masa Yards in Finland and has been sailing for Brittany Ferries since 1992.-Routes served:*Portsmouth-Caen 1992–present...
Reine Mathilde was retired from service with Brittany Ferries
Brittany Ferries
Brittany Ferries is a French ferry company that runs ships between France, the UK, Ireland and Spain.-1970s and 1980s:Following the provision of the deep-water port at Roscoff, the company commenced in January 1973 at the instigation of Alexis Gourvennec, when existing ferry companies showed...
and sold. She was quickly chartered by British Channel Island Ferries
British Channel Island Ferries
British Channel Island Ferries was a ferry operator who ran services between the United Kingdom and the Channel Islands.-Channel Island Ferries:...
(in which Brittany Ferries held a large share). In 1992 she took up service between Poole
Poole
Poole is a large coastal town and seaport in the county of Dorset, on the south coast of England. The town is east of Dorchester, and Bournemouth adjoins Poole to the east. The Borough of Poole was made a unitary authority in 1997, gaining administrative independence from Dorset County Council...
and the Channel Islands
Channel Islands
The Channel Islands are an archipelago of British Crown Dependencies in the English Channel, off the French coast of Normandy. They include two separate bailiwicks: the Bailiwick of Guernsey and the Bailiwick of Jersey...
as the Bahamas
The Bahamas
The Bahamas , officially the Commonwealth of the Bahamas, is a nation consisting of 29 islands, 661 cays, and 2,387 islets . It is located in the Atlantic Ocean north of Cuba and Hispaniola , northwest of the Turks and Caicos Islands, and southeast of the United States...
registered Beauport. By the end of 1993 BCIF were experiencing financial difficulties due to competition from Condor Ferries
Condor Ferries
Condor Ferries is an operator of ferry services between mainland England and the Channel Islands, between England and France, and between France and the Channel Islands.-Recent history:...
and the Beauport was returned to its owner, her passenger ship role with BCIF being taken by the Havelet.
Beauport was laid up in 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...
until mid-1994 when she was chartered to the Stern Maritime Line for their Bari
Bari
Bari is the capital city of the province of Bari and of the Apulia region, on the Adriatic Sea, in Italy. It is the second most important economic centre of mainland Southern Italy after Naples, and is well known as a port and university city, as well as the city of Saint Nicholas...
- Cesme
Çesme
Çeşme is a coastal town and the center-town of the district of the same name in Turkey's western-most end, on a promontory on the tip of the peninsula which also carries the same name and which extends inland to form a whole with the wider Karaburun Peninsula...
route. After sailing for SML, the ship was laid up again in 1994 but quickly found work with a Greek shipping company between Brindisi
Brindisi
Brindisi is a city in the Apulia region of Italy, the capital of the province of Brindisi, off the coast of the Adriatic Sea.Historically, the city has played an important role in commerce and culture, due to its position on the Italian Peninsula and its natural port on the Adriatic Sea. The city...
, Igoumenitsa
Igoumenitsa
Igoumenitsa , is a coastal city in northwestern Greece. It is the capital of the regional unit Thesprotia. Its original ancient name used to be Titani....
and Patras
Patras
Patras , ) is Greece's third largest urban area and the regional capital of West Greece, located in northern Peloponnese, 215 kilometers west of Athens...
. After which she continued on the Mediterranean
Mediterranean Sea
The Mediterranean Sea is a sea connected to the Atlantic Ocean surrounded by the Mediterranean region and almost completely enclosed by land: on the north by Anatolia and Europe, on the south by North Africa, and on the east by the Levant...
regularly sailing to Morocco
Morocco
Morocco , officially the Kingdom of Morocco , is a country located in North Africa. It has a population of more than 32 million and an area of 710,850 km², and also primarily administers the disputed region of the Western Sahara...
for COMANAV. Between work with COMANAV Beauport was chartered to the Private Media Group
Private Media Group
Private Media Group, Inc. is a production and distribution company that distributes adult entertainment via print publications, DVDs, the internet, and mobile....
and carried the marketing name of Private Lady.
In 2000 Beauport moved to Sancak Lines for service between Brindisi
Brindisi
Brindisi is a city in the Apulia region of Italy, the capital of the province of Brindisi, off the coast of the Adriatic Sea.Historically, the city has played an important role in commerce and culture, due to its position on the Italian Peninsula and its natural port on the Adriatic Sea. The city...
and Cesme
Çesme
Çeşme is a coastal town and the center-town of the district of the same name in Turkey's western-most end, on a promontory on the tip of the peninsula which also carries the same name and which extends inland to form a whole with the wider Karaburun Peninsula...
. Later that year she was chartered to the Government of Trinidad and Tobago
Trinidad and Tobago
Trinidad and Tobago officially the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago is an archipelagic state in the southern Caribbean, lying just off the coast of northeastern Venezuela and south of Grenada in the Lesser Antilles...
. In 2005 she was sent to India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
and was scrapped on a beach at Alang.
Onboard Facilities
The facilities listed as known to have been onboard the vessel during its time as the Reine Mathilde and Beauport during its service with British Channel Island Ferries. It is likely that during the vessels time as Prince of Brittany the facilities and names remained much the same as they were on Reine Mathilde. The range of facilities on Beauport after her BCIF service is unknown at this time.Bars and Restaurants
- Restaurant - Deck 6 (Restaurant Deck)
- Known as La Bisquine when the vessel was named Reine Mathilde (a bisquine is a traditional sailing vessel, see one on the ChauseyChauseyChausey is a group of small islands, islets and rocks off the coast of Normandy, in the English Channel. It lies from Granville, and forms a quartier of the Granville commune, in the Manche département...
page). When the vessel became the Beauport of British Channel Island Ferries the forward section of the restaurant area became a reclining seat lounge while the remaining part of the restaurant became the Dolphin Carvery Restaurant.- Self Service Restaurant - Deck 6 (Restaurant Deck).
- Known as Le Verger on Reine Mathilde and Orchard Restaurant on Beauport.
- Bar - Deck 7 (Boarding Deck/Boat Deck)
- Le Semaphore on Reine Mathilde. Renamed Corbiere Bar on Beauport after the first vessel of Channel Island Ferries and the JerseyJerseyJersey, officially the Bailiwick of Jersey is a British Crown Dependency off the coast of Normandy, France. As well as the island of Jersey itself, the bailiwick includes two groups of small islands that are no longer permanently inhabited, the Minquiers and Écréhous, and the Pierres de Lecq and...
lighthouse.
Shops
- Shop - Deck 6 (Restaurant Deck)
- Perfume Shop - Deck 5 (Cabin Deck)
- Removed when renamed Beauport and combined with the main shop.
- 'The Newsstand' - Magazine and newspaper kiosk - Deck 5 (Cabin Deck)
- Does not appear on plans for the vessel as Beauport.
Other Facilities
- Children's Play Area - Deck 6 (Restaurant Deck).
- Cabins (De-luxe, 2 and 4 berth standard cabins - Deck 2 (Inferior Deck/Lower Cabin Deck) and Deck 5 (Cabin Deck)
- Reclining Seat Lounges - Deck 6 (Restaurant Deck).
- As previously mentioned part of the restaurant became a reclining seat lounge when the vessel was renamed Beauport.