RMS ''St Helena'' was a passenger-cargo liner, built in 1963 as ''Northland Prince'', operated by the St. Helena Shipping Company that operated between Britain and South Africa via the British colony of

Saint Helena Saint Helena () is a British overseas territory located in the South Atlantic Ocean. It is a remote volcanic tropical island west of the coast of south-western Africa, and east of Rio de Janeiro in South America. It is one of three constitu ...

between 1978 and 1990.

History

''St Helena'' was constructed in 1963 by Burrard Dry Dock in

North Vancouver North Vancouver may refer to: *North Vancouver (city), a city in British Columbia, Canada * North Vancouver (district municipality), a district municipality in British Columbia, Canada * North Vancouver (electoral district), a federal electoral di ...

, Canada as the ''Northland Prince'', and operated under that name between Vancouver and Alaska. The ship was purchased by the St. Helena Shipping Company, which had been formed as a joint venture between the

Saint Helena Government Politics of Saint Helena takes place in a framework of limited self-government as a dependent territory of the United Kingdom, whereby the Governor is the head of government. Saint Helena, an island in the southern Atlantic Ocean, is a part o ...

and Falmouth-based shipping firm Curnow Shipping to operate an ocean mail service to the island after the Union-Castle Line ceased operations in 1977. She underwent a refit, was renamed ''St Helena'', and entered service in September 1978 on a route from Avonmouth, England to Cape Town, South Africa, calling en route at Las Palmas, Canary Islands, and Jamestown, Saint Helena. She continued on this route, interrupted by British government service during the

Falklands War The Falklands War ( es, link=no, Guerra de las Malvinas) was a ten-week undeclared war between Argentina and the United Kingdom in 1982 over two British dependent territories in the South Atlantic: the Falkland Islands and its territorial de ...

, until 1990 when she was replaced by a new ship, also named ''St Helena''. ''St Helena'' was sold and subsequently renamed ''St Helena Island'', ''Avalon'' and ''Indoceanique''. She was laid up for several years, as a planned service in the Indian Ocean never materialized, before being scrapped in 1996. ''St Helena'' measured 3,150 gross register tons, and was long, with a beam of . She was propelled by a single diesel engine and propeller, which gave her a service speed of . She had a passenger capacity of 88 in a single class configuration.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:St Helena (1963) Transport in Saint Helena Passenger ships of Canada Merchant ships of Canada Passenger ships of the United Kingdom Merchant ships of the United Kingdom Cargo liners Ships built in British Columbia 1963 ships Falklands War