MS Pride of Canterbury

Pride of Canterbury was the second of four 'European-class' freight ferries ordered for P&O European Ferries' Dover-Zeebrugge route. Between 1992 and 2002 she sailed between Dover and Zeebrugge for P&O European Ferries and later P&O Stena Line. She was converted in late 2002/early 2003 and re-entered service as Pride of Canterbury (replacing the ageing P&OSL Canterbury). She currently sails from Dover to Calais.[1]

On 31 January 2008 she struck the wreck of SS Mahratta[2] while manoeuvring into The Downs off the Kent coast during heavy weather. The collision caused the loss of one of her propellers and damaged the prop shaft and gearbox.[3] Although she was able to sail to Dover unaided, the ferry required assistance berthing.[2] Following emergency repairs in Falmouth she returned to service operating with only one propeller. As a result, she was unable to operate in rough weather and was frequently laid up in Dover or sheltering off the Kent coast waiting for the wind to drop. The ferry was due to be drydocked at a European repair yard in November 2008 to be fitted with a new propeller with a view to being back in service for the Christmas 2008 period. The vessel is now back in service again on the Dover to Calais route.[4]

On 29 September 2014 a fire broke out in the engine room at around 8am as it arrived into Calais. The fire was quickly extinguished by the ship's fire protection system. Nobody was injured and the ship disembarked all the passengers safely. The stricken ferry was taken to Arno Shipyard in Dunkerque for repairs; to make up for the missing ship, Pride of Burgundy's services were increased from three to five.[5]

In early 2019, Pride of Canterbury, like all P&O vessels on the Dover-to-Calais route, was flagged out to Cyprus, a measure explained by the company as motivated by tax advantages in view of Brexit. She is now registered in Limassol.

On 21 March 2022 United Kingdom Transport Secretary Grant Shapps announced that he would require P&O Ferries to rename Pride of Canterbury and other ships on the fleet which carry British names if the company was found to have breached employment regulations following the summary dismissal without notice via Zoom of 800 British seafarers who were to be replaced with cheaper overseas agency workers.[6] On 24 March 2022, P&O Ferries CEO Peter Hebblethwaite confirmed that the management of the company illegally fired 800 British seafarers so it was expected that the ship would have to have its name changed as Shapps announced three days previously.[7]

As built, European Pathway was identical to European Seaway and European Highway. The fourth 'European Class' freight ferry was converted to a multi-purpose vessel for the Dover-Calais route and named MS Pride of Burgundy though she still retained a number of similarities. Following conversion to multi-purpose ship, Pride of Canterbury is nearly identical to Pride of Kent.

• MS European Seaway
• MS Pride of Burgundy
• MS Pride of Kent (formerly European Highway)

Pride of Canterbury and Pride of Kent are commonly known as the 'Darwin Twins' or 'Darwins' after the project name given by P&O to the conversion of the ships.[8]