MV ''Cenred'' was one of

Wightlink Wightlink is a ferry company operating routes across The Solent between Hampshire and the Isle of Wight in the south of England. It operates Roll-on/roll-off, car ferries between Lymington and Yarmouth, Isle of Wight, Yarmouth, and Portsmouth a ...

's 'C' class vehicle and passenger ferries on their route from

Lymington Lymington is a port town on the west bank of the Lymington River on the Solent, in the New Forest (district), New Forest district of Hampshire, England. The town faces Yarmouth, Isle of Wight, to which there is a Roll-on/roll-off, car ferry s ...

to Yarmouth on the

Isle of Wight The Isle of Wight (Help:IPA/English, /waɪt/ Help:Pronunciation respelling key, ''WYTE'') is an island off the south coast of England which, together with its surrounding uninhabited islets and Skerry, skerries, is also a ceremonial county. T ...

History

''Cenred'' was built in 1973 for

Sealink Sealink was a ferry company based in Great Britain from 1970 to 1984, operating services to France, Belgium, the Netherlands, the Isle of Man, the Channel Islands, the Isle of Wight and Ireland. Ports served by the company included: Dover, F ...

's Lymington to Yarmouth route by Robb Caledon Shipbuilders Ltd in

Dundee Dundee (; ; or , ) is the List of towns and cities in Scotland by population, fourth-largest city in Scotland. The mid-year population estimate for the locality was . It lies within the eastern central Lowlands on the north bank of the Firt ...

Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...

. The ship was named after

Cenred of Wessex Cenred of Wessex was a member of the House of Wessex and a member of the direct male line from Cynric to Egbert. It is possible that Cenred ruled alongside his son Ine for a period. There is weak evidence for joint kingships, and stronger evidenc ...

. She cost a total of £1.8 million to build and was one of three sister ships, the others being and . They all passed to

after the privatisation of Sealink in 1984. ''Cenred'' remained on the route for her whole life. Laid up at

Marchwood Marchwood is a village and civil parish located in Hampshire, England. It lies between Totton and Hythe on the western shore of Southampton Water and directly east of the New Forest. The population of the village in the 2011 census was 6, ...

in 200

''Cenred'' was sold for scrapping and moved to Harlingen, Netherlands, Harlingen, Netherlands in March 2010, en route to

Esbjerg Esbjerg (, ) is a seaport city and seat of Esbjerg Municipality on the west coast of the Jutland peninsula in southwest Denmark. By road, it is west of Kolding and southwest of Aarhus. With an urban area, urban population of 71,554 (1 January ...

in Denmark, in the hope of finding a new owner. Along with her sister ships, ''Cenred'' was broken up at Esbjerg in May 201

Layout

The car deck had ramps fore and aft, allowing full

ro-ro 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 ...

operation. Passenger accommodation was above the car deck, with the bridge above that.

Service

''Cenred'' operated the Lymington to Yarmouth ferry service from 1973 to 2008. Along with the two other 'C' class ships owned by Wightlink she was withdrawn from service on introduction of the three new Wight-class ferries. ''Cenred'' was brought back from retirement on 12 March 2009 when required repairs to her hydraulic ramp.

Footnotes

External links

Wightlink Website
- Wightlink.co.uk {{DEFAULTSORT:Cenred Ferries of England Ferry transport on the Isle of Wight 1973 ships Ships built in Dundee