MV European Endeavour

The "European Endeavour" is a ferry which will begin operating with P&O Ferries in November 2007. P&O took delivery of the ship in October 2007 from Acciona Trasmediterranea. She is the 28th member of the current P&O fleet and is the second P&O ship to have carried the name European Endeavour, the first is now the Gardenia of Trans Europe Ferries.

History

The ship was built in 2000 for Merchant Ferries as the "Midnight Merchant" for a planned service between Liverpool and Belfast, however the ship was chartered to Norfolkline for their new service between Dover and Dunkirk and remained on that route until July 2006 when she was replaced by one of three new ships for the service.

In August 2006 she was chartered to Acciona Trasmediterranea for service in the Mediterranean Sea and renamed "El Greco" registered under the Spanish flag.

On 26 June 2007 it was announced that P&O Ferries had agreed to purchase the ship in order to meet the growing demand for space from haulage customers throughout its operations. The ship will primarily be used on the Dover-Calais route but also on P&O Ferries Irish Sea and North Sea routes to cover for the refit of other vessels [ [http://www.poferries.com/tourist/content/pages/template/_footer_about_P&O_Ferries_press_releases_PR_-_New_freight_ship.htm P&O Ferries - New freight ship boosts P&O Ferries 26 June 2007] ] . The ship will enter service on the Liverpool-Dublin route on 1 November 2007.

Regular Routes

*"Dover-Dunkirk" October 2000 - July 2006.
*"Barcelona - Palma De Mallorca" August - October 2006.
*"Barcelona/Valencia-Palma De Mallorca/Ibiza/Maó" October 2006 - September 2007.
*Dover-Calais 11 January 2008 - "present".

Though the ship will primarily be used between Dover and Calais it will also cover the refits of other ships on the following routes:-

*Hull-Rotterdam
*Hull-Zeebrugge
*Liverpool-Dublin "from 1 November 2007" [ [http://www.poferries.com/tourist/content/pages/template/_footer_about_P&O_Ferries_press_releases_PR_-_European_Endeavour.htm P&O Ferries - European Endeavour sails in for P&O Ferries 22 October 2007] ]

ister ships

The ship was one of four ordered for Merchant Ferries services on the Irish Sea. Collectively the are known as the Racehorses because of their naming. The other ships were:-

*Dawn Merchant now "Pau Casals" of Balearia. Built 1998 Named after the race horse "Dawn Run".
*Brave Merchant now "Blanca Del Mar" of Iscomar Built 1999Named after the race horse "Dancing Brave".
*Northern Merchant now "Zurbaran" of Acciona Trasmediterranea. Built 2000.

The Murillo of Acciona Trasmediterranea is of a similar design to the "Racehorses" but has an altered lower passenger deck and was completed in 2002.

References

External links

* [http://www.poferries.com P&O Ferries official site]