European Star
 As Ibn Batouta in the port of Algeciras, September 2009
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The European Star is a ferry of the Italian shipping company Red Star Ferries , which entered service in 1981 as St Christopher for Sealink British Rail . The European Star was last used until 2012 under the name Ibn Batouta on the route from Algeciras to Tangier . The ship, which has been inactive since then, has had its current name since January 2019 and has been in the port of Brindisi since May 2019 , where it is being prepared for future service after extensive modernization work.
history
St Christopher (1981-1991)
The St Christopher was built at Harland & Wolff in Belfast and launched on March 20, 1980 after the previously scheduled date of March 18 had to be postponed due to bad weather. On March 14, 1981, the ship was delivered to Barclays Mercantile Industrial Finance Ltd, who chartered it to the ferry company Sealink British Rail .
The St Christopher was initially used on the route from Holyhead to Dun Laoghaire . However, in April 1981 she switched to the Dover to Calais route . In August 1982 the ship was temporarily laid up in Dover due to an engine problem, but returned to service in October. In 1983 the St Christopher was rebuilt and modernized by its builder Harland & Wolff.
In July 1984 the ship was sold to Sea Containers Ltd and registered in London. On May 4, 1984, the St Christopher collided with the Spirit of Free Enterprise off Calais and was slightly damaged.
Stena Antrim (1991-1998)
In 1990 the ship was sold to Stena Line and renamed Stena Antrim in January 1991 .
Initially, the Stena Antrim was used from Fishguard to Rosslare , but was moved to the Dover to Calais route in February 1991. In April 1991 the ship switched to the route from Stranraer to Larne . In the years to come, the Stena Antrim was used several times on changing routes.
In March 1998 the ship went to the P&O Stena Line to be used from Newhaven to Dieppe . However, after only one month in service, the ship was decommissioned and offered for sale.
Ibn Batouta (1998-2019)
From June 1998 the new owner was the Lignes Maritimes du Detroit , which renamed the ship Ibn Batouta . The ship was used from Algeciras to Tangier until it was bought by the Moroccan shipping company COMANAV in 2008. The Ibn Batouta remained on her old route until COMANAV had to file for bankruptcy in January 2012 and the ship was launched in Algeciras.
After three years lay-in, the Ibn Batouta was sold to Aliağa for scrapping. Instead, however, it was towed to Durrës in August 2015, where it was re-launched. In February 2018 the ship was towed to Tuzla and extensively modernized there in the dry dock. In August of the same year, the Ibn Batouta was transferred to the Salamis Shipyard in Ampelakia in the Larisa regional district for further work , where it was given the new name European Star in January 2019 .
European Star (since 2019)
After a stay in the dry dock of Syros, the ferry, now registered in Panama , called on its own at Brindisi in Italy in May 2019 , where the first test drives took place in October of the same year. The ship is to be used for its owner Red Star Ferries between Brindisi and Vlora .
Sister ships
The Ibn Batouta has a total of three identical sister ships, all of which are still in service. The Le Rif for Maritime International Transport Corporation , the Bari for Ventouris and the Port Link for ASDP Ferry .
Web links
- technical data and history of the ship on faktaomfartyg.se (Swedish)
- The ship on ferry-site.dk
- History of St Christopher on doverferryphotosforums.co.uk
Individual evidence
- ^ Nigel Thornton: MV St Christopher - Past and Present. In: doverferryphotosforums.co.uk. Retrieved October 10, 2019 .