MV Norstar

Norstar was a P&O roll-on/roll-off ferry operating between Kingston upon Hull in Yorkshire, England and Rotterdam Europoort, Netherlands and later on the Hull- Zeebrugge, Belgium line. The 27,000 tonne ferry was built in 1974 by AG Weser, Bremerhaven for Dutch North Sea Ferries partners Noordzee Veerdiensten N.V. Sistership Norland sailed under British flag and Norstar under the Dutch flag with (mainly) Dutch crew. The ship transferred to P&O North Sea Ferries in 1996.

On the UK side ferries needed to pass locks to berth in King George Dock, and both ships Norstar and Norland were designed as large as possible for the locks in 1974. From launch till 1987 it sailed the Hull-Rotterdam route and from 1987 until 2001 it sailed on the Hull-Zeebrugge route.

Norstar and Norland were replaced by Norsea and Norsun in 1987 on the Rotterdam route. Both ships were stretched and modernized by the original builder before entering service on the Zeebrugge route. The maximum dimensions to pass the locks allowed larger new ships for the Rotterdam route and also permitted the enlarging in 1987. An extra 20.25 meter was added in 1987, resulting in a length of 173,29 meter, 25,2 meter wide and a gross tonnage of 26.290 tonnes.

The Norstar and sistership Norland were sold to SNAV in Italy and sailing between Naples and Palermo as SNAF Campina. [Shipdetails from: [http://www.ferry-site.dk/ferry.php?id=7360710&lang=en The Ferry Site] database on 23 August, 2008] [Details from [http://www.hhvferry.com/norstar.html HHV Ferry] website, visited 23 August, 2008]

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