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Moby Orli
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Moby Orli
Moby Orli is a cruiseferry owned by Moby SPA. Until September 2010, she was known as Pride of Bilbao, operated by P&O Ferries on their Portsmouth–Bilbao route. The vessel was built in 1986 as Olympia at the Wärtsilä Perno Shipyard in Turku, Finland for Rederi AB Slite, Sweden for use in Viking Line traffic. She was sold by Irish Continental Group to St. Peter Line in December 2010 and renamed Princess Anastasia and operated on the Saint Petersburg – Helsinki – Stockholm – Tallinn route. In 2022 she was withdrawn because of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, transferred to Moby Lines and sailed to Messina for refurbishment. She was set to return to service in the Mediterranean.
Olympia was built at the Wärtsilä Perno Shipyard in Turku, Finland, for Rederi AB Slite. The ship was launched on 26 April 1986, and operated between Stockholm and Helsinki for Viking Line. Olympia was built as a sister ship to MS Mariella.
In 1993 Rederi AB Slite suffered financial problems and was forced to declare bankruptcy. Olympia was sold to Irish Continental Group and chartered to P&O European Ferries who renamed her the Pride of Bilbao.
Pride of Bilbao operated between Portsmouth and Bilbao between 1993 and 2010, completing one return sailing every three days before this route was closed in September 2010. She had been previously used to provide a weekly service between Portsmouth and Cherbourg.
In 2002 she received a major refurbishment, during which the vast majority of public spaces were updated and brought in line with P&O Ferries' new corporate branding of onboard facilities, as well as updating her livery.
From 2006 Pride of Bilbao was the only P&O Ferries ship to operate from Portsmouth, completing one return sailing every three days. The company, in an attempt to encourage more passengers, marketed Mini Cruises with passengers walking on to the ship without a car. When the ship arrived at Bilbao, mini cruise passengers would briefly depart the ship while the ship was prepared for its return trip back to Portsmouth. However, all attempts to make the route profitable for the company were unsuccessful. Mainly because P&O Ferries competitor, Brittany Ferries operated ferries to the nearby port of Santander in 24 hours whereas Pride of Bilbao took 36 hours to reach Bilbao.
On 15 January 2010, P&O ferries announced that the Portsmouth–Bilbao route would be closing, with the last crossing from Bilbao on 27 September 2010, when the lease for MS Pride of Bilbao expired. P&O announced that the route was loss-making and they could not fund a new-build replacement for the vessel. Equally, no other existing ships were available for purchase or charter. Pride of Bilbao completed her last sailing on 28 September 2010.
Detectives and officers from the Marine Accident Investigation Branch (MAIB) and Hampshire Constabulary investigating the deaths of three yachtsmen examined Pride of Bilbao when it arrived in Portsmouth on 29 August 2006. The ship was one of at least five that the MAIB inspected as part of their investigation. It is thought the ferry either collided with, or had a near-miss, with the 25-foot (8 m) yacht Ouzo off the Isle of Wight on 20 August, leading to the deaths from drowning of all on board. The MAIB and Police inspected the hull for damage and studied paperwork. P&O Ferries had previously handed over information from the ferry's data recorder, which led to the follow-up inspection of the ship. The ship was inspected again on arrival in Portsmouth on 7 September 2006. After offloading passengers and vehicles from Pride of Bilbao, she was turned to allow the MAIB to inspect the port side and stern.
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Moby Orli
Moby Orli is a cruiseferry owned by Moby SPA. Until September 2010, she was known as Pride of Bilbao, operated by P&O Ferries on their Portsmouth–Bilbao route. The vessel was built in 1986 as Olympia at the Wärtsilä Perno Shipyard in Turku, Finland for Rederi AB Slite, Sweden for use in Viking Line traffic. She was sold by Irish Continental Group to St. Peter Line in December 2010 and renamed Princess Anastasia and operated on the Saint Petersburg – Helsinki – Stockholm – Tallinn route. In 2022 she was withdrawn because of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, transferred to Moby Lines and sailed to Messina for refurbishment. She was set to return to service in the Mediterranean.
Olympia was built at the Wärtsilä Perno Shipyard in Turku, Finland, for Rederi AB Slite. The ship was launched on 26 April 1986, and operated between Stockholm and Helsinki for Viking Line. Olympia was built as a sister ship to MS Mariella.
In 1993 Rederi AB Slite suffered financial problems and was forced to declare bankruptcy. Olympia was sold to Irish Continental Group and chartered to P&O European Ferries who renamed her the Pride of Bilbao.
Pride of Bilbao operated between Portsmouth and Bilbao between 1993 and 2010, completing one return sailing every three days before this route was closed in September 2010. She had been previously used to provide a weekly service between Portsmouth and Cherbourg.
In 2002 she received a major refurbishment, during which the vast majority of public spaces were updated and brought in line with P&O Ferries' new corporate branding of onboard facilities, as well as updating her livery.
From 2006 Pride of Bilbao was the only P&O Ferries ship to operate from Portsmouth, completing one return sailing every three days. The company, in an attempt to encourage more passengers, marketed Mini Cruises with passengers walking on to the ship without a car. When the ship arrived at Bilbao, mini cruise passengers would briefly depart the ship while the ship was prepared for its return trip back to Portsmouth. However, all attempts to make the route profitable for the company were unsuccessful. Mainly because P&O Ferries competitor, Brittany Ferries operated ferries to the nearby port of Santander in 24 hours whereas Pride of Bilbao took 36 hours to reach Bilbao.
On 15 January 2010, P&O ferries announced that the Portsmouth–Bilbao route would be closing, with the last crossing from Bilbao on 27 September 2010, when the lease for MS Pride of Bilbao expired. P&O announced that the route was loss-making and they could not fund a new-build replacement for the vessel. Equally, no other existing ships were available for purchase or charter. Pride of Bilbao completed her last sailing on 28 September 2010.
Detectives and officers from the Marine Accident Investigation Branch (MAIB) and Hampshire Constabulary investigating the deaths of three yachtsmen examined Pride of Bilbao when it arrived in Portsmouth on 29 August 2006. The ship was one of at least five that the MAIB inspected as part of their investigation. It is thought the ferry either collided with, or had a near-miss, with the 25-foot (8 m) yacht Ouzo off the Isle of Wight on 20 August, leading to the deaths from drowning of all on board. The MAIB and Police inspected the hull for damage and studied paperwork. P&O Ferries had previously handed over information from the ferry's data recorder, which led to the follow-up inspection of the ship. The ship was inspected again on arrival in Portsmouth on 7 September 2006. After offloading passengers and vehicles from Pride of Bilbao, she was turned to allow the MAIB to inspect the port side and stern.
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