 M/S Isle of Inisheer, operated by Irish Ferries, arriving at Dover, UK. | |
| History | |
|---|---|
| Name |
|
| Operator |
|
| Port of registry |
|
| Route | |
| Builder | Astilleros Españoles S.A. (AESA) Seville, Spain. |
| Cost | $65 million USD |
| Yard number | 289 |
| Laid down | 30 September 1998 |
| Launched | 15 May 1999 |
| Completed | 26 February 2000 |
| Acquired | 26 February 2000 |
| Maiden voyage | 20 March 2000 - (Dover-Dunkerque) |
| In service | 20 March 2000 |
| Identification |
|
| Status | In service |
| General characteristics | |
| Tonnage | 22,152 GT |
| Length | 179.95 m (590 ft 5 in) |
| Beam | 25.24 m (82 ft 10 in) |
| Draught | 6.5 m (21 ft 4 in) |
| Installed power | |
| Propulsion |
|
| Speed | 22.5 knots (41.7 km/h; 25.9 mph) |
| Capacity |
|
| Crew | 47 |
MVIsle of Inisheer is a RoPax ferry owned byIrish Continental Group and operated byIrish Ferries.
TheInisheer was built in 2000 as theNorthern Merchant byAstilleros Españoles S.A. in Seville, Spain for Merchant Ferries and was supposed originally to operate in theIrish Sea, likely betweenLiverpool andDublin. However, the merger of Merchant Ferries withNorse Irish Ferries formingNorse Merchant Ferries caused the newly formed company to have excess capacity.[citation needed]
As a result, theNorthern Merchant instead was chartered toNorfolkline for theirDover-Dunkerque service. Through her time with Norfolkline, she gradually gained several modifications, most notably a cow-catcher and sliding bows instead of the typical ramps, and twin-level loading.
She was replaced on the Dover-Dunkerque service in March 2006 after the newbuildMaersk Delft entered service. Following her phase-out, she was dry-docked, repainted and modified back to vanilla configuration, removing the cow-catchers, sliding doors and twin-level loading, and returning the ramps on both the bow and stern.
Afterwards, she entered service withAcciona Trasmediterránea in May. She was temporarily renamedMurillo Dos, and shortly afterwards renamed theZurbaran. The name lasted until 2019, when she was renamedCiudad de Mahón, alongside obtaining a new paint job.
In November 2021, it was announced that theCiudad de Mahón was acquired byIrish Continental Group, and was due to return to Dover on the Dover-Calais sailing in Q1 2022.[3] She sailed her last sailing for Trasmediterránea on January 31, 2022. The next day, ownership was transferred and she was renamedIsle of Inisheer, afterInisheer, the smallest of theAran Islands. A week later, she departed Barcelona for theFayard A/S shipyard next toMunkebo, nearOdense in Denmark for re-installation of cow-catchers, sliding doors and other necessary modifications for operation into and out of Dover.
