Norstar was a P&O

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 ...

ferry A ferry is a boat or ship that transports passengers, and occasionally vehicles and cargo, across a body of water. A small passenger ferry with multiple stops, like those in Venice, Italy, is sometimes referred to as a water taxi or water bus ...

operating between

Kingston upon Hull Kingston upon Hull, usually shortened to Hull, is a historic maritime city and unitary authorities of England, unitary authority area in the East Riding of Yorkshire, England. It lies upon the River Hull at its confluence with the Humber Est ...

in the

East Riding of Yorkshire The East Riding of Yorkshire, often abbreviated to the East Riding or East Yorkshire, is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the Yorkshire and the Humber region of England. It borders North Yorkshire to the north and west, S ...

England England is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is located on the island of Great Britain, of which it covers about 62%, and List of islands of England, more than 100 smaller adjacent islands. It ...

and

Rotterdam Rotterdam ( , ; ; ) is the second-largest List of cities in the Netherlands by province, city in the Netherlands after the national capital of Amsterdam. It is in the Provinces of the Netherlands, province of South Holland, part of the North S ...

Europoort,

Netherlands , Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...

and later on the Hull-

Zeebrugge Zeebrugge (; from , meaning "Bruges-on-Sea"; , ) is a village on the coast of Belgium and a subdivision of Bruges, for which it is the modern port. Zeebrugge serves as both the international port of Bruges-Zeebrugge and a seafront resort with ...

Belgium Belgium, officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. Situated in a coastal lowland region known as the Low Countries, it is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeas ...

line.

History

The 27,000 gross ton ferry was built in 1974 by

AG Weser Aktien-Gesellschaft "Weser" (abbreviated A.G. "Weser") was one of the major Germany, German shipbuilding companies, located at the Weser River in Bremen. Founded in 1872 it was finally closed in 1983. All together, A.G. „Weser" built about 1,4 ...

Bremerhaven Bremerhaven (; ) is a city on the east bank of the Weser estuary in northern Germany. It forms an exclave of the Bremen (state), city-state of Bremen. The Geeste (river), River Geeste flows through the city before emptying into the Weser. Brem ...

for Dutch North Sea Ferries partners Noordzee Veerdiensten N.V. Sistership Norland sailed under British flag and Norstar under the

Dutch Dutch or Nederlands commonly refers to: * Something of, from, or related to the Netherlands ** Dutch people as an ethnic group () ** Dutch nationality law, history and regulations of Dutch citizenship () ** Dutch language () * In specific terms, i ...

flag with (mainly) Dutch crew. The ship transferred to P&O North Sea Ferries in 1996. On the UK side ferries needed to pass locks to berth in King George Dock, and both ships ''Norstar'' and ''Norland'' were designed as large as possible for the locks in 1974. From launch until 1987 she sailed the Hull-Rotterdam route and from 1987 until 2001 she sailed on the Hull-Zeebrugge route. ''Norstar'' and ''Norland'' were replaced by ''Norsea'' and ''Norsun'' in 1987 on the Rotterdam route. Both ships were stretched and modernized by the original builder before entering service on the Zeebrugge route. The maximum dimensions to pass the locks allowed larger new ships for the Rotterdam route and also permitted the enlarging in 1987. An extra 20.25 metres was added in 1987, resulting in a length of 173.29 meters, 25.2 metres wide and a gross tonnage of 26,916 gross tons. In March 2000 ''Norstar'' suffered a major engine fire '. ''Norstar'' and sister ship ''Norland'' were sold to

SNAV SNAV (Società Navigazione Alta Velocità) is an Italian company that operates ferry services from Italy to Sardinia, Croatia and Sicily. Routes SNAV operates a large network of routes across the Mediterranean and Adriatic. *Naples - Palermo ...

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

and sailing between

Naples Naples ( ; ; ) is the Regions of Italy, regional capital of Campania and the third-largest city of Italy, after Rome and Milan, with a population of 908,082 within the city's administrative limits as of 2025, while its Metropolitan City of N ...

and

Palermo Palermo ( ; ; , locally also or ) is a city in southern Italy, the capital (political), capital of both the autonomous area, autonomous region of Sicily and the Metropolitan City of Palermo, the city's surrounding metropolitan province. The ...

as ''SNAV Campania''.Details fro
HHV Ferry
website, visited 23 August 2008 In 1987, ''Norstar'' was used for filming

The Beiderbecke Tapes ''The Beiderbecke Tapes'' is a two-part British television drama serial written by Alan Plater and broadcast in 1987. It is the second serial in '' The Beiderbecke Trilogy'' and stars James Bolam and Barbara Flynn as schoolteachers Trevor Ch ...

. ''Norstar'' and her sister ship, ''Norland'' were broken up at Alang, India in Summer 2010.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Norstar 1974 ships Ferries of the Netherlands Ships built in Bremen (state) Ships of P&O Ferries