PRIDE OF HULL

Cherie Blair launches the
world's largest cruiseferry

Prime Minister's wife Cherie Blair officially named P&O North Sea Ferries' new luxury cruiseferry Pride of Hull on November 30, 2001.

The 60,600-ton superferry entered service on the Hull - Rotterdam route on December 2 . Together with her sister ship Pride of Rotterdam, which joined the fleet earlier this year, they became the world's largest cruiseferries.

Pride of Hull is 215 metres long, 31 metres wide and can carry 1,360 passengers. Accommodation and facilities are comparable to those of most modern cruise ships.

It has a dedicated car deck for 250 vehicles; the car deck and the three freight decks have a total capacity of 4.5 running kilometres, larger than on any existing ferry, and it can carry 400 freight units.

The naming of the new £90 million cruiseferry was the first ever to take place inside a ship. The ceremony, attended by 700 guests, was held on one of the immense car decks.

The then P&O chairman Lord Sterling commented: "These two great ships will unquestionably enhance the quality of service for both tourists and freight operators on this route thereby supporting the tourist industry and economy of the North of England and Scotland."

On Pride of Hull passengers have a choice of cabin accommodation all with private facilities and including luxury suites. On board facilities include an a la carte restaurant, a casino, a wine bar, a two-tiered show lounge, a sky lounge with panoramic views and a cyber zone with permanent Internet connection. There is also a fine art collection specially created by British and Dutch artists.

Pride of Hull has a maximum speed of 22 knots, reducing the journey time by 2.5 hours. The vessel will sail daily at 2100 hours.

Pride of Hull replaced the multi-purpose ferry Norsea and freighter Norbay on the Hull Ð Rotterdam route.