MV Connemara
![]() Connemara in February 2023
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History | |
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Name |
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Namesake | Connemara |
Owner |
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Operator |
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Port of registry | |
Builder | Cantiere Navale Visentini |
Yard number | 216 |
Launched | 18 December 2006 |
Maiden voyage | 20 May 2007 |
Identification | IMO number: 9349760 |
Status | in service |
MV Connemara is a
Connemara is named after a region in the province of Connacht in western Ireland, facing the Atlantic Ocean.
History
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/0/08/Balearia.com_-_Borja.jpg/220px-Balearia.com_-_Borja.jpg)
Connemara was launched on 18 December 2006 as Borja and was completed on 11 May 2007.
In 2010 she ended her charter to Balearia and was sent to
In 2011 she was chartered to LD Lines for service between
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/54/RoRo_passenger_ship_Norman_Asturias_enters_Poole_Harbour_-_Passing_Brownsea_Island_-_30_Nov._2013.jpg/220px-RoRo_passenger_ship_Norman_Asturias_enters_Poole_Harbour_-_Passing_Brownsea_Island_-_30_Nov._2013.jpg)
When LD Lines carried out a business review in late August 2014 which included the closure of their two Spanish routes from Poole, Norman Asturias finished her final sailing in early September and was then laid up of Saint Nazaire. Stena RoRo then chartered her to Inter Shipping who run services between Tangier Med, Morocco and Algeciras, Spain where she then replaced the MS Stena Feronia which was on charter to Inter at the same time, Stena Feronia then later left for anchoring off Gibraltar and she was then place on the Birkenhead-Belfast route to cover the Stena Lagan refit. She left France at the same time as the MS Norman Atlantic which was then chartered to Caronte and Tourist, later Anek-Superfast. Norman Asturias started service between Spain and Morocco for Inter in October 2014 after her LD Lines livery was removed and she was then later transferred from the Italian to the Danish Flag in December 2014.
On 16 January 2018, Brittany Ferries announced it would charter Norman Asturias for a new twice-weekly route starting on 6 May 2018 between Cork, Ireland and Santander, along with an additional route between Cork and Roscoff, France with the name Connemara. The line described the ship as "no-frills" with basic onboard service.
Connemara was sold to StraitNZ in December 2022 to replace the ageing Straitsman.[4] On 29 January 2023 Connemara arrived in Wellington, New Zealand to begin her "Bluebridge" inter-island service across the Cook Strait to Picton for StraitNZ. She will replace Strait Feronia, which will shift to Straitsman's schedule. Her pet-friendly cabins are a first for StraitNZ.
References
- ^ Ministry of Ecology, Sustainable Development and Energy. Retrieved 16 February 2023.
- ^ "Borja (9349760)". Miramar Ship Index. Retrieved 17 November 2018.
- ^ "Timetables". Suresnes, France: LD Lines. Archived from the original on 9 February 2014. Retrieved 18 March 2022.
- ^ "Stena RoRo's CONNEMARA reportedly off to a new life with New Zealand's StraitNZ's Bluebridge Cook Strait Ferries". Shippax. Halmstad. 11 November 2022. Archived from the original on 1 December 2022. Retrieved 1 December 2022.
External links
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/4/4a/Commons-logo.svg/30px-Commons-logo.svg.png)