MS ''Al Andalus Express'' (formerly ''Nord Pas-de-Calais'') is a freight ferry owned by Eurotunnel and operated by

Naviera Armas Naviera Armas is a Spanish company, founded in the 1940s, which operates a number of ferry services in Spain. The company mainly operates in the Canary Islands, with additional routes connecting the Canary Islands and the north African coast to ...

. She was built in 1987 by Chantiers du Nord et de la Mediterranee, Dunkirk (Yard No 325) for ''Societe Nationale des Chemin de Fer Francais'' (

SNCF The Société nationale des chemins de fer français (, , SNCF ) is France's national State-owned enterprise, state-owned railway company. Founded in 1938, it operates the Rail transport in France, country's national rail traffic along with th ...

) as a multi-purpose passenger and roll-on roll-off ferry for lorries and railway vehicles. After the introduction of Eurotunnel there was no need for a

train ferry A train ferry is a ship (ferry) designed to carry Railroad car, railway vehicles, as well as their cargoes and passengers. Typically, one level of the ship is fitted with Track (rail transport), railway tracks, and the vessel has a door at the f ...

, so

was losing money running her. She was acquired by SNAT and Stena Sealink in 1989, which operated the ''Nord Pas-de-Calais'' until 31 December 1995. From 1 January 1996 SNAT operated as SeaFrance. The vessel was renamed ''SeaFrance Nord Pas-de-Calais''. SeaFrance operated until November 2011, and was liquidated on 9 January 2012. Eurotunnel won the bid for the three of the former SeaFrance vessels the original name of the vessel was restored, dropping the ''SeaFrance'' prefix. MyFerryLink started running on 20 August 2012, although ''Nord Pas-de-Calais'' joined in November 2012 following a refit. Following MyFerryLink's cessation of operations, mostly cited due to financial issues, the ferry was used directly by Eurotunnel to carry hazmat cargoes that are not allowed on regular train services.

Service history

''Nord Pas-de-Calais'' was built in 1987 by Chantiers du Nord et de la Mediterranee, Dunkerque for

as a

. She operated on the Dover (Western Docks) to Dunkerque route; in addition, she also worked as a freight vehicle ferry between Dover and Calais. ''Nord Pas-de-Calais'' had limited accommodation for 80 passengers. She stopped running as a train ferry because of low traffic due to the opening of the

Channel Tunnel The Channel Tunnel (), sometimes referred to by the Portmanteau, portmanteau Chunnel, is a undersea railway tunnel, opened in 1994, that connects Folkestone (Kent, England) with Coquelles (Pas-de-Calais, France) beneath the English Channel at ...

which offered a much quicker option for trains to cross the border. The last sailing was from Dover on 22 December 1995. The ''Nord Pas-de-Calais'' ran in a joint operation with SNAT and Stena Sealink. She was given

TOPS Total Operations Processing System (TOPS) is a computer system for managing railway locomotives and rolling stock, known for many years of use in the United Kingdom. TOPS was originally developed between the Southern Pacific Railroad (SP), ...

number 99001, previously used by MV ''Suffolk Ferry''.

SNAT

In 1989, ownership was changed to ' (SNAT). On 12 July 1995 it was announced that the agreement between Stena Sealink Line and French partners SNAT would terminate on 31 December 1995. From that time onwards SNAT would trade as SeaFrance.

SeaFrance

In 1996, ''Nord Pas-de-Calais'' was renamed ''SeaFrance Nord Pas-de-Calais'', operating for SeaFrance as a vehicle ferry between Dover and Calais. On 3 July 1996, she was laid up at Dunkerque and remained there until 29 November when she was introduced as an ordinary freight vessel between Calais and Dover. In November 2011, she was laid up in

Dunkerque 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 ...

port, due to the commercial court ordering that SeaFrance be liquidated.

Eurotunnel/MyFerryLink

On 20 August 2012 after Seafrance was liquidated MyFerryLink began commercial service. The ''SeaFance Nord Pas-de-Calais'' was renamed ''Nord Pas-de-Calais''. She started service with MyFerryLink under the ownership of Eurotunnel in November 2012, after a full refit.

FRS Iberia

Renamed ''Al Andalus Express'' and registered under the Cypriot flag,she was chartered from Eurotunnel by FRS Iberia, and entered dry dock in Campamento, near Algeciras for refit. She currently operates between Spain and Morocco.

Seaborne Freight

In October 2017 the ship was said by ''Ferry Shipping News'' to be lined up for use by Seaborne Freight for a freight service from

Ramsgate Ramsgate is a seaside resort, seaside town and civil parish in the district of Thanet District, Thanet in eastern Kent, England. It was one of the great English seaside towns of the 19th century. In 2021 it had a population of 42,027. Ramsgate' ...

Ostend Ostend ( ; ; ; ) is a coastal city and municipality in the province of West Flanders in the Flemish Region of Belgium. It comprises the boroughs of Mariakerke, Raversijde, Stene and Zandvoorde, and the city of Ostend proper – the la ...

from "March" but it was not specified in which year and was not confirmed by Seaborne. Seaborne had been contracted by the British government to provide additional ferry capacity in the event of disruption caused by a

no-deal Brexit A no-deal Brexit (also called a clean-break Brexit) was the potential Brexit, withdrawal of the United Kingdom (UK) from the European Union (EU) without a withdrawal agreement. Under Withdrawal from the European Union, Article 50 o ...

and the ship is one of the few small enough to fit Ramsgate's restricted docks. However, at the beginning of February the British government announced that it was cancelling the contract as Seaborne's backers, the Irish company Arklow Shipping, had withdrawn from the agreement.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Al Andalus Express, MS Ferries of the United Kingdom Ferries of France Ships built in France 1987 ships Train ferries