MS Pride of Winchester

The MS Pride of Winchester, was a UK Ro-Ro/Passenger ferry, which was part of P&O European Ferries' fleet. She was built in 1975 by Aalborg as the Viking Viscount for Townsend Thoresen and was put into service by P&O European Ferries in 1989, when European Ferries Group was purchased by P&O. She was named after Winchester, a city in Hampshire, England.

History
Name	Viking Viscount (1975-1989) Pride of Winchester (1989-1994) Vitsentzos Kornaros (1994-2020)
Owner	European Ferries (1975 - 1987) P&O Ferries (1987 - 1994) Lasithiotiki (1994 - 2017)
Operator	Lane Sea Lines (1994 - 2017)
Port of registry	UK (1976 - 1994) Greece (1994 - 2020)
Builder	Aalborg Værft AS
Yard number	206
Launched	7 November 1975
Completed	1976
Maiden voyage	1976
In service	1976
Out of service	2017
Identification	IMO number: 7358327
Fate	Scrapped in Aliaga, Turkey in 2020
General characteristics
Tonnage	6,386
Length	128.71 m
Beam	19.81 m
Draught	4.53 m
Speed	21 knots
Capacity	1,100 passengers 260 cars

The ship was used Originally deployed on the Felixstowe to Zeebrugge route she was later transferred to the Portsmouth to Cherbourg route until 1994 when she was replaced by a bigger ship, the original Pride of Le Havre. She also operated on the Calais-Dover line. In 1995 was sold from a Greek company Lane Sea Lines for the Piraeus, Milos, Agios Nikolaos, Sitia. Then the ship did the Piraeus, Kithira, Antikythera, Githio, Kalamata, Kisamos. During the Summer of 2017 Vitsentzos Kornaros had a problem with her engines and then was laid-up in Kinosoura, Greece. In April 2020 Vitsentzos Kornaros sold for scrap in Aliaga, Turkey.

Characteristics

Vitsentzos Kornaros could hold up to 1200 passengers and 275 private cars. and was powered by three main engines (2 Werkspoor 8TM410 and 1 Werkspoor 9TM410 diesel). with a combined power of 10,655 KW and reached speeds of up to 18 knots. She had stabilizers for sailing in wild sea and -after coming to Greece- cabins for night routes. Her capacity was 6,387 gt.

History

The ship was built in 1976 in Denmark as the Viking Viscount for Townsend Thoresen. In 1989, with the creation of P&O European Ferries (which succeeded Townsend Thoresen) she received the name Pride of Winchester. In 1994, she came to Greece, bought by LANE Sea Lines and underwent a small-scale reconstruction to which cabins were added. Her first route was Piraeus - Milos - Agios Nikolaos - Sitia, but along the way she was launched on other lines such as the line Piraeus-Milos-Santorini-Anafi-Crete-Kaso-Karpathos-Halki-Rhodes and Piraeus-Gythio-Kythira-Antikythira-Kissamos, sometimes approaching Kalamata. The ship also operated at the Rhodes-Alexandroupolis link.

The end

On June 16, 2017, after 41 years of uninterrupted operation, the ship was stranded in Piraeus due to a mechanical breakdown. The company hoped she would be repaired by June 30, but the damage was large and the company could not allocate money to repair her, while in case of final withdrawal would have to pay a clause of 480,000 euros. On July 17, it was declared abandoned by the line of Kythera and a tender was announced for the launch of a new ship. In September 2017, she was transferred to Kinosura, Salamina, and at the end of February 2019, a tender was announced for her removal, which was fruitless, while others followed. Finally, in 2020, she was sold to Turkish shipbreakers and was towed to the Aliaga scrap yard for dismantling.

Unsolved death

A 22-year-old man, Kevin Dundon, from Essex, went missing while working aboard the vessel as it was returning to Felixstowe from Zeebrugge in Belgium, on 21 September 1980. His body was not found and his brothers believe his death may have been suspicious.

Further reading

• Cowsill, Miles; Hendy, John (2007). Remembering the Thoresen Vikings: Townsend Thoresen trend setters. Ramsey, Isle of Man: Ferry Publications. ISBN 978-1871947731.