WINSTON CHURCHILL (1967a, DFDS Seaways)

photograph by PortHoleProductions, 

6" x 4", 150mm x 100mm (approx)

our ref: SRM033

WINSTON CHURCHILL (DFDS Seaways)

Passenger and car ferry built at Genoa that entered service in June 1967 as Winston Churchill, chiefly operating on the Harwich to Esbjerg service. In 1978 she switched her UK port to Newcastle, also operating to Gothenburg in the summer months. On 26/8/1979 she ran aground off Gothenburg and was out of service for 7 months. From 1981 the Gothenburg service was replaced with a route to Torshavn in the Faroe Islands. Sold in December 1985 to Mols Linien but was sold back to DFDS 8 months later and then used as a refugee centre in Copenhagen. From 1987 to 1991 she spent the summer months cruising in the Baltic and around Scandinavia, but did spend the winter of 1989/90 chartered to the Swedish Government as a refugee centre at Malmo. She returned to the Newcastle-Esbjerg route in 1993 and in 1995 operated Newcastle to Amsterdam. Damaged by fire in April 1995 and a decision was taken to sell the ship rather than repair her. Sold to Empress Holdings and renamed Mayan Empress and towed to Norway for repairs which bankrupted the company. Eventually sold for breaking up at Alang, India, she arrived there in January 2004.