MS GNV Antares

For other ships with the same name, see Pride of Bruges.

History
Name	Norsun (1987-2003) Pride of Bruges (2003 – present)
Operator	North Sea Ferries (1987-1997) P&O North Sea Ferries (1997-2002) P&O Ferries (2002 – present)
Port of registry	Rotterdam, Netherlands
Route	Hull-Zeebrugge
Builder	NKK, Japan
Yard number	1033
Launched	August 1986
Maiden voyage	May 1987
Identification	IMO number: 8503797
Status	In service
General characteristics
Tonnage	31,598 GT
Length	179.35 m (588 ft 5 in)
Beam	25.09 m (82 ft 4 in)
Draught	6.10 m (20 ft 0 in)
Installed power	2x Wärtsilä-Sulzer 9ZAL40 2x Wärtsilä-Sulzer 6ZAL40
Propulsion	2 x controllable pitch propellors 2 x bow thrusters
Speed	19 kn (35 km/h; 22 mph)
Capacity	930 passengers 850 cars

MS Pride of Bruges, originally in service as Norsun, is a P&O Ferries ship crossing the North Sea between Zeebrugge and Hull.

History

The ship was built by Nippon Kokan K.K. Tsurumi Yard in Yokohama, Japan. The keel was laid in 1985 and was launched in 1986. Upon completion, the ship entered service in 1987 for Noordzee Veerdiensten or North Sea Ferries, then a joint-venture between Dutch Nedlloyd and British P&O. The first years it sailed on the Rotterdam-Hull route with sister ship Norsea, replacing Norstar and Norland. The Norsun sailed under the Dutch flag and was owned by the Dutch half of the joint-venture, while the Norsea was British.

In 1996 ownership transferred to P&O Ferries as Nedlloyd sold its 50% stake to P&O. The ships sailed the Rotterdam route until 2001 when they were replaced by the Pride of Rotterdam and the Pride of Hull.

In 2002 the ships were transferred to the Zeebrugge-Hull route, again replacing Norstar and Norland. Both ships were internally modernized before entering service on this new route.

Sister Ships

The Pride of Bruges has one sister ship:

• Norsea

In The Media

The 'MS Pride of Bruges' featured in Episode Three of the BBC Documentary 'Engineering Giants': Ferry Strip-Down, first Broadcast on BBC Two on Sunday 29 July 2012. Its Sister ship, The Pride of York, was also shown.

Sources

All details obtained from:

• Norsun record on The Ferry Site
• Norsun details on Belgium ferry site