One
full year before the steam turbine stern loading car ferry Holyhead Ferry I was built
for the Irish Sea the modern Thoresen car ferries Viking I and Viking II, diesel powered with bridge control
and boasting bow and stern through loading, entered service at Southampton on
routes abandoned by British Railways one year earlier. The
contrast was stark and the comparison highlighted that
British Rail occasionally built ships which really were outdated from the start.
British
Rail finally caught up with the Antrim Princess in 1967 and in December
1976 the Viking II, then twelve years old, was bought by British Rail to
modernise their services between Portsmouth and the Channel Islands. For some
thirteen months the vessel lay at Holyhead undergoing conversion and also what
amounted to a complete mechanical rebuild before making her English Channel
debut as the Earl William in January 1978.
While the Earl William began her Sealink
career at Holyhead it was not until 19 April 1988 that she sailed in service to
Dun Laoghaire, carrying freight following a fire on board the relief ferry St
David. Six days later she inaugurated Sealink British Ferries' Liverpool to
Dun Laoghaire service. The route was a short-lived affair and on 9 January 1990
she left Dun Laoghaire for Liverpool for the last time and after destoring then
proceeded to lay-up at Milford Haven.
The ship made a surprise return to service three
weeks later when she went on charter to Belfast Ferries for relief service
between Liverpool and Belfast but a greater surprise came on 4 February 1991
when the ship, now owned by Sealink Stena Line, was pressed into service in lieu
of the Stena Cambria. The old girl was in a sorry state, her rust
streaked hull devoid of any company markings and handling affected due to a
faulty bow thrust unit.
When the Stena Cambria returned to service
three weeks later the Earl William returned to her hibernation, however
she was reactivated again a few months later for the height of Holyhead's summer
season when the Stena Cambria was delayed from relief duties at Dover.
The ship was given a much needed face lift prior to taking up service between
Holyhead and Dun Laoghaire on 29 June 1991. On 8 July the Stena Cambria
finally arrived at her new home port releasing the Earl William for
lay-up pending sale. Nine months later she was sold for further trade but has
since then declined with long periods laid up in a variety of ports.
After several years in lay-up in Trinidad &
Tobago as the Windward II the former began a new lease of life in September 2007
when she was opened as the Caribbean's first 'Floatel'. At her permanent
Pier 2 berth at Chaguaramas the ship, now named Ocean Pearl, offers a
state-of-the-art conference room, a seafood and steakhouse restaurant that seats
120 guests and 64 rooms ranging from single to quadruple occupancy. The
vessel also includes a VIP lounge, private dining in a lifeboat and other
facilities that are available for rentals for weddings and other private
functions. The ship's web site is at:
http://www.oceanpearltt.com/
Alongside at Pier 2 at Chaguaram, the Ocean
Pearl
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