After working as Sea Anatolia for Greek operator Sea Lines, the former P&O Ferries freight vessel European Seaway (1991/22,986gt) has changed hands again, this time crossing the Atlantic to join the Blue Wave conglomerate in Honduras to sail as Blue Wave Horizon.
Built in Germany at the Bremerhaven yard of Schichau Seebeckwerft, European Seaway was designed for the Dover-Zeebrugge freight service, but from 2000 ran twice daily between Dover and Calais, with Zeebrugge crossings overnight. In July 2012 she was chartered to support technicians working in the North Sea’s Lynn and Inner Dowsing wind farms.
From August 2014 she was a wind farm support vessel off the North German coast, until she returned to the Dover-Calais route from the summer of 2015.
Sea Lines refitted the vessel in Turkey, including the installation of a larger stern ramp, but plans for a Black Sea service from Costanza in Turkey were thwarted by the start of the war in Ukraine and Sea Anatolia was laid up. The vessel’s original four Sulzer diesel engines have now been in use for more than 30 years and deliver 20,600kW.
The vehicle decks offer 1,925 lane- metres of space and there are cabins for up to 200 drivers.
