MS Isle of Inishmore (1996)

For other ships with the same name, see MS Isle of Inishmore.

'Isle of Inishmore' at Rosslare.
MS Isle of Inishmore heading towards Rosslare.
History
NameIsle of Inishmore
OperatorIrish Ferries
Port of registry
Route
BuilderVan der Giessen de Noord
CostIR£60 million
Yard number968
Laid downDecember 1995
Launched4 October 1996
CompletedFebruary 1997
In serviceMarch 1997
IdentificationIMO number: 9142605
StatusIn service
General characteristics
Tonnage34,031 GT 5,860 DWT
Length182.5 m (598 ft 9 in)
Beam27.8 m (91 ft 2 in)
Draught5.8 m (19 ft 0 in)
Decks11
Deck clearance
  • 4.9 m (16 ft 1 in) (decks 3 and 5 w/o mezzanine deck)
  • 2.1 m (6 ft 11 in) (mezzanine deck 6 and deck 5 when in use)
RampsInternal 3.23 m (10 ft 7 in) wide ramp for single-level loading
Ice class1A
Installed power4x Sulzer 8ZA40S diesel engines, 6,000 kW each (total 24,000kW) + 2 LIPS 2,400kW bow thrusters
Propulsion2x LIPS 4.8m four-blade variable pitch propellers
Speed21.5 knots
Capacity
  • 2,200 passengers
  • 186 berths
  • 856 cars
  • 122 16.2 metre units/lorries
  • 2,890 lane metres (2,060 main + 830 mezzanine)
Crewup to 140
NotesShares hull form with Stena Jutlandica

MS Isle of Inishmore is a ro-ro ferry owned by Irish Ferries and operated on their Dover-Calais service. At the time of her introduction, she was the largest car ferry operating in Northern Europe.[1] She is named after Inishmore, the largest of the Aran Islands. The name of the ferry is tautologous, since "Inishmore" derives from the Irish for "big island". Despite not being sister ships, the ship's design is copied from the Stena Line vessel Stena Jutlandica up until the superstructure.

  1. ^ "New superferry for ICG". The Irish Times. Ireland. 27 September 1995. p. 15. Irish Continental is gearing up for a major assault on the cross channel ferry market, with the decision to build a new state of the art superferry which will be introduced on the Dublin Holyhead route in 1997. ICG announced yesterday that it has placed a Pounds 60 million order with the Dutch shipyard Van Der Giessen for a 33,000 ton superferry which will be able to carry 2,200 passengers, 855 cars and 122 freight units. When the new ferry comes on stream in 1997, it will be the biggest operating in north west Europe.