MS ''Finbo Cargo'' is a

roll-on/roll-off Roll-on/roll-off (RORO or ro-ro) ships are cargo ships designed to carry wheeled cargo, such as cars, motorcycles, trucks, semi-trailer trucks, buses, Trailer (vehicle), trailers, and railroad cars, that are driven on and off the ship on their ...

passenger ferry that was previously called ''European Endeavour'' which was owned and operated by

P&O Ferries P&O Ferries is a British shipping company that operates ferry, ferries from Scotland to Northern Ireland, and from England to Continental Europe (France, Belgium and the Netherlands). The company was created in 2002 through mergers and acquisi ...

until May 2019.

Eckerö Line Eckerö Line is a Finland, Finnish shipping companies, shipping company owned by the Åland-based Rederiaktiebolaget Eckerö. Eckerö Line operates two ferries between Helsinki (Finland) and Tallinn (Estonia). Eckerö Line should not be confuse ...

purchased the ship from P&O in 2019 and is expected to take delivery in June 2019 and renamed her ''Finbo Cargo''. P&O took delivery of the ship in October 2007 from Acciona Trasmediterránea. She was the second P&O ship to have carried the name ''European Endeavour''.

History

The ship was built in 2000 for Merchant Ferries as ''Midnight Merchant'' for a planned service between

Liverpool Liverpool is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and metropolitan borough in Merseyside, England. It is situated on the eastern side of the River Mersey, Mersey Estuary, near the Irish Sea, north-west of London. With a population ...

and

Belfast Belfast (, , , ; from ) is the capital city and principal port of Northern Ireland, standing on the banks of the River Lagan and connected to the open sea through Belfast Lough and the North Channel (Great Britain and Ireland), North Channel ...

, however, the ship was chartered to

Norfolkline Norfolkline was a European ferry operator and logistics company owned by Maersk. It provided freight ferry services on the English Channel, Irish Sea, and the North Sea; and passenger ferry services on the English Channel and Irish Sea; and ...

for their new service between

Dover Dover ( ) is a town and major ferry port in Kent, southeast England. It faces France across the Strait of Dover, the narrowest part of the English Channel at from Cap Gris Nez in France. It lies southeast of Canterbury and east of Maidstone. ...

and

Dunkirk Dunkirk ( ; ; ; Picard language, Picard: ''Dunkèke''; ; or ) is a major port city in the Departments of France, department of Nord (French department), Nord in northern France. It lies from the Belgium, Belgian border. It has the third-larg ...

and remained on that route until July 2006 when she was replaced by '' Maersk Dover'', a newbuild. In August 2006, she was chartered to Acciona Trasmediterránea for service in the Mediterranean and renamed ''El Greco'' registered under the Spanish flag. On 26 June 2007, it was announced that

had agreed to purchase the ship in order to meet the growing demand for space from haulage customers throughout its operations. The ship will primarily be used on the

–

Calais Calais ( , , traditionally , ) is a French port city in the Pas-de-Calais department, of which it is a subprefecture. Calais is the largest city in Pas-de-Calais. The population of the city proper is 67,544; that of the urban area is 144,6 ...

route but also on P&O Ferries

Irish Sea The Irish Sea is a body of water that separates the islands of Ireland and Great Britain. It is linked to the Celtic Sea in the south by St George's Channel and to the Inner Seas off the West Coast of Scotland in the north by the North Ch ...

and

North Sea The North Sea lies between Great Britain, Denmark, Norway, Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium, and France. A sea on the European continental shelf, it connects to the Atlantic Ocean through the English Channel in the south and the Norwegian Se ...

routes to cover for the refit of other vessels. The ship entered service with P&O on their Liverpool-Dublin route on 6 November 2007. The ship has been involved in two incidents. On 22 March 2008, the ships mooring ropes parted resulting is her drifting across the eastern entrance of Dover Harbour. The ship was assisted back to her berth by a Dover Harbour tug. On 29 August 2008, the ship suffered a partial loss of electrical power, which resulted in a collision with Linkspan 7 in Calais. ''European Endeavour''s 'cow catcher', a metal structure welded to the bow to support the bow ramp when deployed, was demolished and significant damage was caused to the

linkspan A linkspan or link-span is a type of drawbridge used mainly in the operation of moving vehicles on and off a roll-on/roll-off (RO-RO) vessel or ferry, particularly to allow for tidal changes in water level. Linkspans are usually found at ferry t ...

. Due to a downturn in freight traffic P&O Ferries laid up the ship in

Tilbury Tilbury is a port town in the borough of Thurrock, Essex, England. The present town was established as separate settlement in the late 19th century, on land that was mainly part of Chadwell St Mary. It contains a Tilbury Fort, 16th century fort ...

in May 2010. She was chartered to

DFDS Seaways DFDS Seaways is a Danish shipping company that operates passenger and freight services across northern Europe. Following the acquisition of Norfolkline in 2010, DFDS restructured its other shipping divisions (DFDS Tor Line and DFDS Lisco) in ...

in August 2010 and early September 2010 to provide refit cover on the

Birkenhead Birkenhead () is a town in the Metropolitan Borough of Wirral, Merseyside, England. The town is on the Wirral Peninsula, along the west bank of the River Mersey, opposite Liverpool. It lies within the Historic counties of England, historic co ...

–

Dublin Dublin is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. Situated on Dublin Bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, and is bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, pa ...

and

routes. On completion of this charter the ship was sent for its annual overhaul and then proceeded to

for layup. She remained in Dunkirk until early February 2011, when she sailed for

in preparation for returning to service on the Liverpool-Dublin service replacing the M/V Norcape. In May 2019, P&O sold ''European Endeavour'' to

. She was to act as a complement to Eckerö's ''Finlandia'' on the

Helsinki Helsinki () is the Capital city, capital and most populous List of cities and towns in Finland, city in Finland. It is on the shore of the Gulf of Finland and is the seat of southern Finland's Uusimaa region. About people live in the municipali ...

Tallinn Tallinn is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Estonia, most populous city of Estonia. Situated on a Tallinn Bay, bay in north Estonia, on the shore of the Gulf of Finland of the Baltic Sea, it has a population of (as of 2025) and ...

route commencing in June berthing at Vuosaari Harbour on the outskirts of Helsinki. She joined the service following another dry docking with an increased capacity of 366 passengers. She only left the dry dock at

Cammell Laird Cammell Laird is a British shipbuilding company. It was formed from the merger of Laird Brothers of Birkenhead and Johnson Cammell & Co of Sheffield at the turn of the twentieth century. The company also built railway rolling stock until 1929, ...

on 2 May 2019.

Regular routes

*''

–

'' October 2000 - July 2006. *''

Barcelona Barcelona ( ; ; ) is a city on the northeastern coast of Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second-most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within c ...

Palma de Mallorca Palma (, ; ), also known as Palma de Mallorca (officially between 1983 and 1988, 2006–2008, and 2012–2016), is the capital and largest city of the Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of the Balearic Islands in Spain. It is ...

'' August - October 2006. *''

Valencia Valencia ( , ), formally València (), is the capital of the Province of Valencia, province and Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Valencian Community, the same name in Spain. It is located on the banks of the Turia (r ...

-Palma de Mallorca/

Ibiza Ibiza (; ; ; #Names and pronunciation, see below) or Iviza is a Spanish island in the Mediterranean Sea off the eastern coast of the Iberian Peninsula. It is 150 kilometres (93 miles) from the city of Valencia. It is the third largest of th ...

/ Maó'' October 2006 - September 2007. *''Dover-

'' 11 January 2008 - May 2010. *

From February 2011 to May 2019. *

from June 2019 It was P&O's intention that the ship would primarily be used between Dover and Calais but would also cover the refits of other ships on the following routes:- *Hull-Rotterdam *Hull-Zeebrugge *Liverpool-Dublin 6 November 2007 – 16 December 2007 *Tilbury - Zeebrugge January 2009. It was discovered that the ship was too wide to fit through the lock at Hull so she did not serve the routes from that port as intended. She was briefly used on a re-established Dover-Zeebrugge route but the service only lasted for one day due to lack of freight.

Sister ships

* * MV Cracovia - heavily modified sister ship * * AQUARIUS BRASIL (ex NORMAN BRIDGE / AVE LIEPAJA / BRAVE MERCHANT) imo: 9147306 (now accommodation vessel)

References

External links

P&O Ferries official site
{{DEFAULTSORT:Finbo Cargo Ferries of the United Kingdom Ferries of France 1999 ships Ships of P&O Ferries Ferries of Finland