Original Strangford ferry leaves area after 48 years in service

Original Strangford ferry leaves area after 48 years in service

21 February 2018

AFTER almost half a century of service, the original Strangford ferry has slipped out of port for the last time.

The MV Strangford left Strangford recently to start a new life as a ferry in the north west of Ireland.

Freshly painted in a new red livery, the old ferry sailed out of Strangford Lough in the early hours of Thursday, February 7. After a period in Bangor harbour, she arrived in her new home earlier this week.

Built at a cost of £110,000 by the Verolme Shipyard in Cork, the MV Strangford was launched in September 1969 and went into service just two months later after undergoing extensive sea trials.

With a gross tonnage of 186 tons, the new ferry could carry 260 passengers and 20 cars. It meant that for the first time vehicles were able to make the crossing from Strangford to Portaferry.

At the official opening ceremony in November 1969, the then Stormont Development Minister, Mr Brian Faulkner, later to become Northern Ireland’s last Prime Minister, predicted that the new service would be used to the full.

He said the new car ferry added a new dimension to transport communication in Co Down and would be a great convenience for residents in the surrounding areas on both sides of the lough.

“No longer will that tantalisingly narrow strip of water force a detour of anything up to 40 miles when a family on either side wants to drive to Newtownards or Downpatrick, Newcastle or Donaghadee,” he said.

“The ferry is thus a link between two flourishing areas, but it also part of the overall improvement in transport connections in Northern Ireland.”

The new service was operated by the old Down County Council and later by the Department of the Environment. Such was its success, that a second ferry, the MV Portaferry, was introduced in 1975.

Even so, the MV Strangford was the main ferry on the service until the arrival of the MV Portaferry II in 2001 and as the reserve vessel until its replacement, the £6.2m MV Strangford II, went into service last year.

A spokesman for the Department for Infrastructure said: “For almost 50 years the MV Strangford provided an excellent service to visitors and residents of the Strangford and Portaferry area before being replaced by the new, larger MV Strangford II.

“It is hoped that the new ferry, together with the MV Portaferry II, will ensure the continuation of a reliable ferry service between Strangford and Portaferry for many years to come.”