MS Isle of Innisfree (2021)

Passenger and car ferry ship

MS Isle of Innisfree is a passenger and car ferry to be operated by Irish Ferries between Dover and Calais. Originally built at Boelwerf as the Prins Filip originally sailing between Dover and Ostend, later between Ostend and Ramsgate, she has since 1997 (the year RMT shut down) operated for a wide variety of companies.

The Isle of Innisfree is the only one of her class. She was ordered by the Belgian state owned Regie voor Maritiem Transport in response to the anticipated opening of the Channel Tunnel. She was launched as the Prins Filip in 1991 for the company's Ostend Dover operations. The ship is long by wide with a draught, and has some 1745 lane metres of cargo space for cars, lorries and other vehicles, with three decks accessible to passengers. Uniquely, the ship had a bow door on the starboard (right) for the upper vehicle deck for side loading and unloading in Ostend. Dunkirk West also had this port facility. However, after 1997 the door was sealed shut.

The Prins Filip was built for Belgian operator Regie voor Maritiem Transport (RMT) in 1991, entering service in 1992 on its route between Ostend and Dover. In 1994 the RMT entered into a partnership with Sally Line and traded as Oostende Lines. Its UK port was switched to Ramsgate until RMT's operations ceased in 1997. On 14 September 1994, an accident resulted in 6 deaths when a linkspan collapsed. Foot passengers were boarding the Prins Filip at Ramsgate. All publicity at the time was focused on Sally Line and Thanet District Council, the port owners, and not RMT or the Prins Filip.

Following a lay up in Dunkirk, she was acquired by Stena Line in 1998, renamed Stena Royal and initially used on freight services between Dover and Zeebrugge on charter to P&O Stena Line. In 1999, P&O Stena Line decided to extend the charter and transferred the ship to its Dover Calais route. Stena Royal was extensively refurbished to include the P&O Stena 'Brand World' concept and entered service on the Calais route as the POSL Aquitaine, following the naming pattern for P&O Stena Line vessels. In 2000, the POSL Aquitaine failed to stop whilst berthing at Calais due to a propeller fault. The crash caused many injuries and extensive damage to both the ship and berth. On 9 October 2002, a crew member died in a chute during a routine raft evacuation trial. P&O Stena Line was a short lived venture, ending in 2002 when P&O acquired Stena Line's share in the operation. However, the POSL Aquitaine remained in service, initially under the name PO Aquitaine, then as the Pride of Aquitaine from early 2003 until May 2005 when she was withdrawn following the introduction of two new P&O ferries.

In October 2005, she began sailing on the route between Portsmouth and Le Havre as Norman Spirit. LD Lines, a French owned company with existing ferry operations on the Mediterranean Sea, began this service following P&O's withdrawal from it the previous month. In June 2006, Norman Spirit was re flagged to the British registry from the Italian second registry. She was now registered in Southampton rather than Genoa, although when she entered service with LD Lines she was registered in Dover. In September 2009, LD Lines announced that from November 2009 the vessel would be used on its service between Boulogne sur Mer and Dover.

In March 2010 the Norman Spirit was chartered by TransEuropa Ferries. In a joint service between TransEuropa Ferries and LD Lines, the ship was renamed Ostende Spirit and began sailing between Ostend and Ramsgate.

After changing the vessel name back to Norman Spirit, it was announced on 28 November 2011 that DFDS Seaways would charter the vessel from LD Lines to operate on its Dover Dunkerque service. This was to help alleviate unexpected traffic pressure on the route caused by the announcement that SeaFrance was going into administration. At 13:00 on 17 February 2012, the Norman Spirit was 'relaunched' by model and actress Kelly Brook to start a new service for DFDS Seaways and LD Lines, with up to five return crossings per day on the Dover Calais route. Following the merger between the two companies in February 2013, and a technical stop for fifteen days in shipyard Gdańsk, Poland, to redevelop the passenger reception, the Norman Spirit made her return to the port of Calais on 17 March 2013, sporting a new name Calais Seaways, and a new colour. In 2018, DFDS announced an order for an E Flexer class ferry from Stena RoRo in order to replace Calais Seaways. The new vessel is named Côte D’Opale, or in English, Opal Coast. The vessel was delivered in May 2021, entering service on 4 August 2021 after sea trials in April, and a lengthy delivery voyage from Weihai, China, where she was built. On the same day as the Côte d'Opale was phased into service, the Calais Seaways was retired from DFDS service. Shortly afterwards she sailed to Dunkerque East, where she was laid up.