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MV Cuthred

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Former car and passenger ferry

As Mira Praia
History
United Kingdom
NameMV Cuthred
Operator
Route1969-1987 Portsmouth–Fishbourne
BuilderRichards (Shipbuilders) Ltd, Lowestoft
Launched3 June 1969
In service28 June 1969
Out of service2009
IdentificationIMO number: 6920238
FateRemains laid up
General characteristics
Class and typeRoll-on/roll-off Car & Passenger Ferry
Tonnage704 Gross, 357 Net, 155 Deadweight.
Displacement537 light
Length190.0ft
Beam51.6ft
Draught6.50ft

MV Cuthred was an Isle of Wight roll-on/roll-off ferry built in 1969. From 1990 until 2009, she operated as Mira Praia in Portugal.

History

MV Cuthred was built by Richards of Lowestoft for British Rail (later Sealink) at a cost of £275,000 (equivalent to about £5,717,000 in 2023). She is named after Cuthred, king of Wessex (c.740–56). With a gross tonnage of 704, she was the largest Isle of Wight Ferry of the time, capable of carrying 48 cars and 400 passengers.

Layout

Her design was unique, but formed the basis for the three sisters, MV Cenred, Cenwulf and Caedmon, built in 1973.

Propulsion was by means of two Voith Schneider cycloidal propellers mounted on diagonally opposite corners of the hull, each one being driven by a Paxman 8RPHCM turbocharged V8 diesel engine of 378 bhp (282 kW) at 900rpm.

Service

She ran on the route until 1986, when Sealink ownership passed to Sea Containers. She was laid up in 1987 at Lymington for nearly 2 years. During 1989 she was sold to Open Leisure for use on the Tyne.

She remains laid up near Setubal to this day, slowly decaying, just a couple of miles from the route she served for almost 19 years.

Footnotes

  1. "Richards Shipbuilders". Sea Agent. Retrieved 20 May 2010.
  2. "Ship Index: M". World Shipping Register. Retrieved 20 May 2010.
  3. ^ "History". Wightlink. Archived from the original on 22 March 2009. Retrieved 20 May 2010.
  4. Dave Rowland. "MV "Cuthred"". Retrieved 20 May 2010.
  5. "Isle of Wight Services: Car Ferries". Ian Boyle/Simplon Postcards. Retrieved 16 May 2010.
  6. "Caedmon Cenred Cenwulf Cuthred - Remembering the C-Class ferries and their near sister".
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