PRIDE OF BRUGES

c1997

By Ournewhaven

At one point in the late 1990's, P&O announced that they were going to put this vessel on the route in place of the ex Stena Antrim/Cambria. However, she only made the one trial visit and was 'still needed on other routes', if I remember what they said at the time.
I'm not surprised that she never ran from here, as the Dover based ferries are designed for operating on wide, double deck link span ramps, not our old 1960's design. Perhaps the trial visit revealed incompatibility with the ramp?

I did ask questions at the time but didn't get any answers. Andy Editor

Photo:Pride of Bruges - c1990

Pride of Bruges - c1990

Photo G Bunker - c/o Newhaven Museum (Album 71)

This page was added by Laurie Stonehouse on 15/12/2012.
Comments about this page

Many thanks for posting this interesting photo. I had no idea that this vessel had ever visited Newhaven, so a helpful boost to my knowledge about the port and its ships.

By Derek Longly
On 20/12/2012

The Pride of Bruges didn't have an internal ramp to access the upper vehicle deck. One was ordered and manufactured, but not actually installed at the time. I have a feeling her draft was bigger than the Stena Antrim too, but I don't know if this was a significant issue at Newhaven or not. Given that P&O Stena withdrew from the route in early 1999, I suspect the merged operation had already decided it wasn't worth the investment required to convert the Pride of Bruges' loading arrangements, as their primary focus was always on Dover.

By Andrew
On 19/02/2021

Thanks for that information, Andrew. I suspect that you are correct, P&O had no real interest in Newhaven-Dieppe - it was merely competition to the short sea routes and at one point I believe they simply omitted the route from their advertising. I think they couldn't wait to get out.

By Andy Gilbert
On 20/02/2021
Add a comment about this page

If you're already a registered user of this site, please login using the form on the left-hand side of this page.