The MS Pride of Dover is a retired cross-channel ferry

Ferry

A ferry is a form of transportation, usually a boat, but sometimes a ship, used to carry primarily passengers, and sometimes vehicles and cargo as well, across a body of water. Most ferries operate on regular, frequent, return services...

 built in 1987 for Townsend Thoresen

European Ferries

European Ferries Group Plc was a company that operated in passenger and freight ferries, harbour operation and property management in the United Kingdom and the United States...

.

History

Pride of Dover was the last new ship to appear in service with the famous Townsend Thoresen orange hull, although she was delivered with the P&O

Peninsular and Oriental Steam Navigation Company

The Peninsular and Oriental Steam Navigation Company, which is usually known as P&O, is a British shipping and logistics company which dated from the early 19th century. Following its sale in March 2006 to Dubai Ports World for £3.9 billion, it became a subsidiary of DP World; however, the P&O...

 house flag painted on her funnel in place of the traditional 'TT' insignia. Townsend Thoresen was renamed P&O European Ferries late in 1987, following the disaster, and Pride of Dover was swiftly repainted in the new company colours.

The industry generally regarded Pride Of Dover and her sister as the most successful ferries ever built for English Channel

English Channel

The English Channel , often referred to simply as the Channel, is an arm of the Atlantic Ocean that separates southern England from northern France, and joins the North Sea to the Atlantic. It is about long and varies in width from at its widest to in the Strait of Dover...

 service. The ships boasted superb handling characteristics and excellent sea-keeping abilities. Between 1998 and 2002 she was under the control of P&O Stena Line

P&O Stena Line

P&O Stena Line was formed in 1998 after the merger of P&O European Ferries Ltd and the Dover and Newhaven operations of Stena Line.-History:...

 and carried the name MS P&OSL Dover from 1999 until 2002. Once returned to P&O control she was renamed MS PO Dover before she was repainted into new P&O Ferries

P&O Ferries

P&O Ferries is the current name for the amalgamation of a range of ferry services that operated from the United Kingdom to Ireland and Continental Europe...

 livery when her name returned to MS Pride of Dover.

Pride of Dover primarily operated the Dover

Dover

Dover is a town and major ferry port in the home county of Kent, in South East England. It faces France across the narrowest part of the English Channel, and lies south-east of Canterbury; east of Kent's administrative capital Maidstone; and north-east along the coastline from Dungeness and Hastings...

–Calais

Calais

Calais is a town in Northern France in the department of Pas-de-Calais, of which it is a sub-prefecture. Although Calais is by far the largest city in Pas-de-Calais, the department's capital is its third-largest city of Arras....

 route, but on a number of occasions she made crossings between Dover

Dover

Dover is a town and major ferry port in the home county of Kent, in South East England. It faces France across the narrowest part of the English Channel, and lies south-east of Canterbury; east of Kent's administrative capital Maidstone; and north-east along the coastline from Dungeness and Hastings...

 and Zeebrugge

Zeebrugge

Zeebrugge is a village on the coast of Belgium and a subdivision of Bruges, for which it is the modern port. Zeebrugge serves as both the international port of Bruges-Zeebrugge and a seafront resort with hotels, cafés, a marina and a beach.-Location:...

 as a result of industrial action in France

France

The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...

.

The vessel ended her P&O service on 15 December 2010 with her last crossing leaving Dover at 2345 local time. She has been replaced by the new superferry, with a bigger capacity and almost double the amount of tonnage, at 49,000 tonnes, this is the largest ferry to ever cross the channel.

Onboard

As with most P&O Ferries, the Pride of Dover had the following onboard services:

• The Food Court - self service restaurant (formerly International Food Court)
• Langan's Brasserie - Restaurant
• Offshore Shopping
• The Bar (formerly Silverstones Sports Bar)
• Harbour Coffee Company - Coffee Shop
• Several lounges
  • Club lounge
  • Quiet lounge
  • Truckers lounge
  • Horizon lounge
• Amusement arcade

Deck layout

• A deck was crew space
• B deck was passenger and crew space
• C deck was passenger space
• D deck was a mezzanine car deck
• E deck was the top main car deck
• F deck was the lower mezzanine deck
• G Deck was the lower main car deck
• H Deck was the location of the engine control room and storage.

New rules in the late 1990s meant that deck letters were replaced with numbering, where Deck 1 was the lowest part of the vessel, and, in the case of the Pride of Dover, Deck 10 was the topmost deck - previously referred to as the "monkey island deck" or M Deck.

• Deck 1 - Lower Engine Room (Previously Tank Top)
• Deck 2 - Upper Engine Room & Stores (Previously H Deck)
• Deck 3 - LVD (Lower Vehicle Deck)
• Deck 4 - Lower Mezz Decks
• Deck 5 - UVD (Upper Vehicle Deck)
• Deck 6 - Upper Mezz Decks
• Deck 7 - Passenger Spaces (Previously C Deck)
• Deck 8 - Passenger and Crew Areas (Previously B Deck)
• Deck 9 - Crew Areas (Previously A Deck)
• Deck 10 - Monkey Island (Previously M Deck)