MV Al Arabia

The MV Al Arabia was a roro-ferry which has seen service on several routes. The ship was built for the Belgium state-owner operator Regie voor Maritiem Transport België as the Prinses Maria Esmeralda. She sailed on the Ostend-Dover route.

History
Name	MV Al Arabia
Port of registry	Moroni, Comoros
Builder	Belliard Hoboken
Launched	28 January 1975
Christened	1975: Prinses Maria Esmeralda, 1995 + 1998 Wisteria, 1997+2000 Beni Ansar, 2007 Aquaba Express, 2007 Al Arabia
In service	1975
Out of service	2007
Identification	IMO number: 7357555
Fate	Scrapped in India
General characteristics
Tonnage	12,046 gross register tons (GRT)
Length	118.42 m (388.5 ft) Before enlarging:118.42 m (388.5 ft)
Beam	23.32 m (76.5 ft) Before enlarging:19.9 m (65.3 ft)
Depth	5.05 m (16.6 ft) Before enlarging:4.52 m (14.8 ft)
Installed power	18.200
Propulsion	2 * Pielstick 18PC2V400
Speed	21 kn (38.9 km/h)
Capacity	1475/1250 passengers

Under the name Wisteria she also sailed on the route Ostend-Ramsgate and on the Almeria to Nador line. This 1975 built ship is a sistership of the MV Eurovoyager and MV Larkspur.

History

In 1975 the Belliard Shipyard built the ship under dock-number 877. The ship was ordered by the state-owned operator Regie voor Maritiem Transport België. She was christened Prinses Maria Esmeralda. She sailed on the Dover-Ostend route.

In 1995 the ship was sold to Transeuropa Ferries and renamed MV Wisteria to sail on the Ostend-Ramsgate route.

During some summers the ship was chartered to ferry-operators between Spain and Morocco and Tunisia. Since 2000 she moved permanently to run on the Almeria to Nador route until she was sold for scrapping in 2007 to India

Sisterships

The Prinses Maria Esmeralda was one of three sisterships ordered by RMT. The Prins Albert and the Princesse Marie Christine.