MV ''Fundy Rose'' is a

RORO 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, trailers, and railroad cars, that are driven on and off the ship on their own wheels or usi ...

passenger ship owned by the Government of Canada, which entered service with

Bay Ferries Bay Ferries Limited, or simply, Bay Ferries, is a ferry company operating in eastern Canada and is headquartered in Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island, Canada. It is a subsidiary of Northumberland Ferries Limited and a sister company to the def ...

in 2015 between Saint John, New Brunswick, and

Digby Digby may refer to: Places Australia * Digby, Victoria, a town Canada * Digby (electoral district), a former federal electoral district in Nova Scotia (1867–1914) * Digby (provincial electoral district), a provincial electoral district ...

, Nova Scotia, replacing the MV ''Princess of Acadia''. The vessel was formerly owned by

Attica Group Attica Holdings S.A. is an operator of international ferry services in Europe. Attica Group's operations include its subsidiaries Superfast Ferries, which began in 1995 with the launch of its first ships, Superfast I & Superfast II, and Blu ...

based in

Athens Athens ( ) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Greece, largest city of Greece. A significant coastal urban area in the Mediterranean, Athens is also the capital of the Attica (region), Attica region and is the southe ...

Greece Greece, officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. Located on the southern tip of the Balkan peninsula, it shares land borders with Albania to the northwest, North Macedonia and Bulgaria to the north, and Turkey to th ...

, and was operated under the name ''

Blue Star Blue star or bluestar may refer to: * O-type star (a.k.a. blue star), a stellar classification Animals * ''Linckia laevigata'', a sea star from the Indian and West Pacific Oceans * ''Phataria unifascialis'', a sea star from the East Pacific Busi ...

Ithaki'' by their subsidiary company

Blue Star Ferries Blue Star Maritime S.A., operating under the brand name Blue Star Ferries, is a Greece-based company founded in 1993 which provides ferry services between the Greek mainland and the Aegean Islands. Blue Star Ferries is the biggest ferry company ...

under the Greek flag.

History

Greek service

''Blue Star Ithaki'' was ordered by Greek shipowner

Strintzis Lines Blue Star Maritime S.A., operating under the brand name Blue Star Ferries, is a Greece-based company founded in 1993 which provides ferry services between the Greek mainland and the Aegean Islands. Blue Star Ferries is the biggest ferry company ...

from

Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering Hanwha Ocean Co., Ltd. (), formerly known as Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering (DSME; ), is one of the "Big Three" shipbuilders of South Korea, along with Hyundai and Samsung. History On 21 February 2011, the A. P. Moller-Maersk ...

. Her keel was laid on 15 July 1999 at Daewoo's Okpo shipyard, she was launched on 24 November, and was handed over to her owners on 31 March 2000, though construction work continued until May. While she was under construction,

acquired Strintzis Lines and launched the Blue Star Ferries brand, under which name ''Blue Star Ithaki'' entered service. She was homeported in

Piraeus Piraeus ( ; ; , Ancient: , Katharevousa: ) is a port city within the Athens urban area ("Greater Athens"), in the Attica region of Greece. It is located southwest of Athens city centre along the east coast of the Saronic Gulf in the Ath ...

, Greece, and operated on routes from

to the islands of

Syros Syros ( ), also known as Siros or Syra, is a Greece, Greek island in the Cyclades, in the Aegean Sea. It is south-east of Athens. The area of the island is and at the 2021 census it had 21,124 inhabitants. The largest towns are Ermoupoli, Ano S ...

Tinos Tinos ( ) is a Greek island situated in the Aegean Sea. It forms part of the Cyclades archipelago. The closest islands are Andros, Delos, and Mykonos. It has a land area of and a 2021 census population of 8,934 inhabitants. Tinos is famous amo ...

and

Mykonos Mykonos (, ; ) is a Greek island, part of the Cyclades, lying between Tinos, Syros, Paros and Naxos. The island has an area of and rises to an elevation of at its highest point. At the 2021 census, there were 10,704 inhabitants, most of ...

Canadian service

In October 2014, ''Blue Star Ithaki'' was sold to the Canadian government. The ship has replaced

' former ferry, the former

Canadian Pacific The Canadian Pacific Railway () , also known simply as CPR or Canadian Pacific and formerly as CP Rail (1968–1996), is a Canadian Class I railway incorporated in 1881. The railway is owned by Canadian Pacific Kansas City, Canadian Pacific Ka ...

ship ''Princess of Acadia''. ''Blue Star Ithaki'' began her last journey on the Piraeus-Syros-Tinos-Mykonos route on 25 October 2014. The vessel's new name ''Fundy Rose'' was announced in May 2015. ''Fundy Rose'' was unveiled to the public in both Saint John and Digby in mid-July 2015, and entered service by the end of the month. The new name was taken from The Bay of Fundy, where she operates, and from

Rose Fortune Rose Fortune (March 13, 1774 – February 20, 1864) was a child born in or around Philadelphia of runaway slaves. Her parents became Black Loyalists during the American Revolutionary War when they pledged to be loyal to the British Army in exc ...

, a woman born into slavery in the U.S. She escaped with her family arriving in

Annapolis Royal Annapolis Royal is a town in and the county seat of Annapolis County, Nova Scotia, Canada. The community, known as Port Royal before 1710, is recognised as having one of the longest histories in North America, preceding the settlements at Plym ...

(an historic village close to Digby) in the 1780s as a ten-year-old girl.

Design

''Fundy Rose'' measures 10,193 GT and has been configured during her career to have a

deadweight tonnage Deadweight tonnage (also known as deadweight; abbreviated to DWT, D.W.T., d.w.t., or dwt) or tons deadweight (DWT) is a measure of how much weight a ship can carry. It is the sum of the weights of cargo, fuel, fresh water Fresh water or ...

of between 1,410 and 1,857 DWT. She is long, with a beam of and a draft of . Her main propulsion power comes from four

Wärtsilä Wärtsilä Oyj Abp (), trading internationally as Wärtsilä Corporation, is a Finnish corporation, Finnish company which manufactures and services power sources and other equipment in the Marine propulsion, marine and energy markets. The core ...

NSD 9L32 engines, which generate apiece and drive two propeller that giver her a service speed of and a maximum speed of . In Greek service she had a passenger capacity of about 1,500; as configured for Canadian service she can carry 1,317 passengers.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Fundy Rose Merchant ships of Canada Daewoo Ferries of Nova Scotia Ferries of New Brunswick 1999 ships Ships built by Daewoo Shipbuilding & Marine Engineering Transport in Digby County, Nova Scotia Transport in Saint John, New Brunswick Ships of Blue Star Ferries