MS Pride of Burgundy

Pride of Burgundy at Dover, April 2004
History
Name
  • 1993–1999: Pride of Burgundy
  • 1999–2002: P&OSL Burgundy
  • 2002–2003:PO Burgundy
  • 2003–2023: Pride of Burgundy
Owner
Operator
Port of registryLimassol,  Cyprus (until 2023)
RouteDover-Calais
BuilderSchichau Seebeckwerft, Germany
Launched16 May 1992
Completed23 March 1993
Maiden voyage5 April 1993
In service1993
Out of service2023
Identification
FateSold for scrap
General characteristics
Tonnage28,138 gt
Length179.7 m (589.6 ft)
Beam28.3 m (92.8 ft)
Draft6.27 m (20.6 ft)
Installed power4 x Sulzer ZA40S Diesels
PropulsionTwo controllable pitch propellers
Speed21 knots (39 km/h; 24 mph)
Capacity
  • 1,420
  • 600 passenger vehicles or 120 15m freight vehicles

MS Pride of Burgundy was a cross-channel ferry owned by P&O Ferries. It operated on the Dover to Calais route from 1993 to 2022.

History

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MS Pride of Burgundy was planned as the fourth 'European Class' freight-only vessel, to be named European Causeway for P&O European Ferries' Dover to Zeebrugge route. Due to demand on the Dover - Calais route, the ship was converted to a multi-purpose ferry (passengers and freight) prior to completion with the addition of extra superstructure. It is a commonly stated in ferry publications and website that the original choice of name for the ship was Pride of Lille.[1] By capacity, she is one of the smallest Dover – Calais ferries, only taking 1,200 passengers and 600 cars.[citation needed]

In 2010 she was chartered to Ramsgate in east Kent to host the opening of the Thanet Wind farm. Pride of Burgundy took new crew, wind farm employees, their families and VIPs right out to sea to see the wind turbines up close. She was back in service the next day[2]

On 27 October 2012 Pride of Burgundy collided with the MyFerryLink ship Berlioz due to high winds, sustaining minor damage to the right bridge wing, which was fixed in a couple of hours.[3] Berlioz received damage to her lifeboats putting her out of service.[citation needed]

Pride of Burgundy departed Dover on 3 March 2017 for Gdansk (Poland) where she underwent a major refit.[4] She arrived at the Remontowa shipyard on 5 March and returned to Dover on 25 March, resuming her usual Dover to Calais schedule the following day.[citation needed]

In early 2019, Pride of Burgundy, like all P&O vessels on the Dover-to-Calais route, was re-flagged to Cyprus, a measure explained by the company as motivated by tax advantages in view of Brexit. She was registered in Limassol.[citation needed]

From 3 May 2020, Pride of Burgundy was docked at the Port of Leith, Scotland, as a result of the reduction in traffic across the straights of Dover due to the COVID-19 pandemic. She returned to Dover in late October that year, re-entering service on 3 November in a freight-only mode.[citation needed] On 7 December 2020 the ship was moved to the River Fal lay up berths near Falmouth, Cornwall.[5] In April 2023 it arrived in Aliağa, Turkey for scrapping.[6]

Sister ships

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Pride of Burgundy has no identical sisters because of her conversion to multi-purpose passenger vessel during construction. She shares mechanical, layout and visual features with the other 'European Class' ships in the P&O fleet:-

References

[edit]
  1. ^ Dover Ferry Photos - Pride of Burgundy Archived 28 December 2008 at the Wayback Machine
  2. ^ "Dover To Calais | The Pride Of Burgundy | | P&O Ferries - UK". www.poferries.com. Retrieved 25 September 2016.
  3. ^ "Kent Online - Ferries Collide".[dead link]
  4. ^ "P&O ships head to Poland in £14 million refit deal". 22 January 2017.
  5. ^ "'Favourite' cross-Channel ferry moored on river in Cornwall". BBC News. 8 January 2021. Retrieved 8 January 2021.
  6. ^ Farewell to Dover stalwart Ships Monthly May 2023 page 9
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Media related to Pride of Burgundy (ship, 1993) at Wikimedia Commons