MV St Catherine

Former Isle of Wight car and passenger ferry

GB Conte departing from Carloforte harbour.

History
Name|

* 1983–2010: St Catherine
* 2010–present: GB Conte

Operator|

* 1983–2010:  Wightlink
* 2010–present  Delcomar

Port of registry|

* 1983–2010: London
* 2010–present: Cagliari[3]

Builder| Robb Caledon Shipbuilders, Leith
Cost| £5 million
Yard number| 534[1]
Launched| 30 March 1983
Completed| 1983
In service| 3 July 1983
Identification|

* IMO number: 8120557[2]
* MMSI Number: 247294300 (was 235031616[2])
* Callsign: ICFZ (was GCZV[2])

Status| In Service
General characteristics
Class & type| Roll-on/roll-off car ferry
Tonnage|

* 2,036 GT;
* 576 DWT[2]

Length| 77.05 m (252.8 ft)
Beam| 17.22 m (56.5 ft)
Draught| 2.48 m
Installed power| 3x 850bhp Harland & Wolff-MAN 6ASL25/30 diesel engines driving Voith Schneider cycloidal propellers
Speed| 12.5 knots (23.2 km/h; 14.4 mph)
Capacity|

* 771 passengers
* 142 cars

MV St Catherine is a Roll-on/roll-off car and passenger ferry. She served the Wightlink crossing from Portsmouth to Fishbourne, Isle of Wight from 1983 to 2009. In 2010, she was sold to Delcomar and renamed GB Conte.

## History

[edit]

St Catherine was built by Robb Caledon Shipbuilders of Leith at a cost of £5 million. When she entered service on 3 July 1983, she was the biggest ferry ever in the Sealink Isle of Wight fleet, and the first able to carry more than 100 cars. Local papers reported that she made the other Isle of Wight ferries looked like toys in comparison.[4] St Catherine remained the largest ship in the fleet only until her sister, St Helen entered service later in 1983.

In 2001 the ferry was used as a location for the Robbie Williams single “Road to Mandalay”. The video was filmed during a night crossing with no other passengers aboard.

St Catherine was present at the International Fleet Review in 2005, representing Wightlink with a number of her sisters. She was later laid up at Hythe in Hampshire.

In 2010 St Catherine was sold to Delcomar and sailed from Hythe to Sardinia as GB Conte on 31 July 2010, with a crew of 11 on board. In March 2015, it was announced that sisters 'St Catherine' and 'St Helen' were being reunited, after spending five years apart, as St Helen had also been sold to Delcomar. She was renamed Anna Mur.

## Layout

[edit]

St Catherine was the first of the Isle of Wight ferries to use a Voith Schneider asymmetric three-propeller layout with a bridge mounted forward. Two decks of passenger accommodation are provided above the car deck, with two bar areas and seating space. One of the fastest car ferries in the company at the time, she allowed Wightlink to provide a 35-minute crossing of the Solent. Two older ferries on the route were withdrawn from service, while another, Caedmon was transferred to join her sisters on the Lymington to Yarmouth route.

## Service

[edit]

St Catherine entered service with Sealink in 1983; the company becoming Wightlink in 1991. She sailed between Portsmouth, on the English mainland and Fishbourne, Isle of Wight until 2009. GB Conte and Anna Mur currently sail between the Isola di San Pietro and Portovesme; an approximately 40-minute service with a frequency of 17 ferries a day in each direction during the summer season.[5]

## References

[edit]

1. ^ "Leith Built Ships". Robbs Built Ships. Retrieved 27 June 2010.
2. ^ a b c d "St Catherine". Marine Traffic. Retrieved 22 July 2010.[permanent dead link]
3. ^ "GB Conte". Ships Nostalgia. Retrieved 24 July 2010.
4. ^ "History". Wightlink. Archived from the original on 22 March 2009. Retrieved 22 July 2010.
5. ^ "Carloforte - Portovesme". Delcomar (in Italian). Retrieved 14 August 2017.

## External links

[edit]

* Media related to IMO 8120557 at Wikimedia Commons
* "St CATHERINE - Yard No 534 - Passenger Vehicle Ferry - Sealink - Built 1983". The Loftsman (Leith Shipyards). Archived from the original on 14 August 2017. Retrieved 14 August 2017.
* "MV St Catherine, Past and Present". Dover Ferry Photos. 26 February 2013. Retrieved 14 August 2017.