GNV Antares
Pride of Bruges in the Port of Zeebrugge | |
| History | |
|---|---|
| Name |
|
| Owner |
|
| Operator |
|
| Port of registry | |
| Route | |
| Builder | NKK, Japan |
| Yard number | 1033 |
| Launched | August 1986 |
| Maiden voyage | May 1987 |
| Out of service | 2025 |
| Identification | |
| Fate | Scrapped at Aliaga, 2025 |
| General characteristics [1] | |
| Tonnage | 31,598 GT |
| Length | 179.35 m (588 ft 5 in) |
| Beam | 25.09 m (82 ft 4 in) |
| Draught | 6.10 m (20 ft 0 in) |
| Installed power |
|
| Propulsion |
|
| Speed | 19 kn (35 km/h) |
| Capacity |
|
GNV Antares was a ropax ferry operated by Grandi Navi Veloci between Naples and Palermo, Italy. It entered service in 1987 as Norsun with North Sea Ferries and was later P&O Ferries' Pride of Bruges. It was scrapped in 2025.
History
The ship was built by Nippon Kokan K.K. Tsurumi Yard in Yokohama, Japan. The keel was laid in 1985 and was launched in 1986. Upon completion, the ship entered service in 1987 for North Sea Ferries, then a joint-venture between Dutch Nedlloyd and British P&O. The first years it sailed on the Rotterdam-Hull route with sister ship Norsea, replacing Norstar and Norland. Norsun sailed under the Dutch flag and was owned by the Dutch half of the joint-venture, while Norsea was British.
In 1996 ownership transferred to P&O Ferries when Nedlloyd sold its 50% stake to P&O. The ships sailed the Rotterdam route until 2001 when they were replaced by Pride of Rotterdam and Pride of Hull.
In 2002 the ships were transferred to the Zeebrugge-Hull route,[2] again replacing Norstar and Norland. Norstar and Norsun were internally modernised before entering service on this new route as Pride of York and Pride of Bruges respectively.
In October 2016 it was announced that the two ships would be refitted.[3]
In October 2020, P&O announced that Pride of Bruges and Pride of York were to be taken out of service due to the decline in traffic caused by the COVID-19 pandemic. On 15 December 2020, P&O announced on Twitter that the service would be stopped from 1 January 2021.[4] Both Pride of Bruges and sister ship Pride of York were sold to Grandi Navi Veloci.[5] In December 2025 it arrived at Aliaga to be scrapped.[6]
Docking
Hull
Pride of Bruges docked at terminal 2, King George Dock, Hull. Just a few hundred yards away is the terminal for the Hull-Rotterdam ferries. To leave Hull the ship had to squeeze through the lock bow first which only has a few centimetres of clearance on each side. To come back to dock in Hull, it passed through the lock bow first before turning clockwise and reversing into the berth.
Zeebrugge
Zeebrugge was much easier to dock at compared to Hull. The ship simply sailed into Zeebrugge harbour, turned to starboard into a docking area just south of Albert-II Dok and backed into the berth, opening the stern door on the linkspan. [7]
In the media
Pride of Bruges featured in Episode Three of the BBC Documentary Engineering Giants: Ferry Strip-Down, first broadcast on BBC Two on 29 July 2012. The sister ship, Pride of York, was also shown.[8]
References
- ^ "Faktaomfartyg.se – Pride of Bruges (1987)". Faktaomfartyg. Retrieved 18 February 2011.
- ^ "Ferries Hull To Bruges". 29 May 2019. Retrieved 30 May 2019.
- ^ "MS Pride of York relaunched after refurbishment at Remontowa SA". 29 March 2017. Retrieved 30 May 2019.
- ^ Riley, Anna (15 December 2020). "P&O Ferries Hull to Zeebrugge route axed due to Covid impact". HullLive. Retrieved 29 December 2020.
- ^ Former North Sea pair sold to Italy Ships Monthly June 2021 page 10
- ^ Farewell to the old Pride of Burgess Ships Monthly February 2026 page 7
- ^ "Cheap Ferries to France, Ireland & Europe". P&O Ferries. Retrieved 19 September 2016.
- ^ "Engineering Giants: Ferry Strip Down". You Tube. Retrieved 8 October 2023.
External links
Media related to IMO 8503797 at Wikimedia Commons
- Norsun record on The Ferry Site
- Norsun details on Belgium ferry site