MS Riverdance
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| History | |
|---|---|
 Bahamas
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| Name: | Riverdance |
| Owner: |
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| Operator: | Crescent Marine Services Ltd |
| Builder: | Rickmers Reederei G.m.b.H, Bremerhaven, Germany. |
| Yard number: | 389 |
| Launched: | 15 April 1977 |
| Christened: | Mashala |
| Completed: | 30 June 1977 |
| Out of service: | 31 January 2008 |
| Renamed: |
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| Homeport: | Nassau, Bahamas |
| Identification: | IMO number: 7635361, Callsign C6CG3 |
| Fate: | Beached at Blackpool, Lancashire on 31 January 2008. Scrapped in situ May – October 2008. |
| General characteristics | |
| Tonnage: | 6041 GRT |
| Length: | 116.31 m (381 ft 7 in) |
| Beam: | 18.22 m (59 ft 9 in) |
| Draught: | 5.38 m (17 ft 8 in) |
| Installed power: | 4,410 kilowatts (5,910 hp) |
| Propulsion: | 2 x MaK 8M453AK Diesel engines |
| Speed: | 15 knots (28 km/h) |
| Capacity: | 12 passengers, 65 trailers |
| Crew: | 19 |
Riverdance was a RORO ferry in service with Seatruck Ferries on the Irish Sea. On 31 January 2008 she was hit by a wave that caused her cargo to shift and she beached at Blackpool, very close to the boundary with Cleveleys. Attempts to refloat her failed, and she was scrapped on site during 2008.
Her normal route was Heysham – Warrenpoint. Her sister ship, Moondance, is in service with Seatruck. A cargo vessel, she was permitted under UK maritime law to carry up to 12 passengers.
Built as Mashala in 1977, renamed Halla in 1987, Tikal in 1988 and Schiaffino in 1989, she operated at first in the Mediterranean and then the Caribbean. In 1993 she was operating in the Irish Sea, renamed Sally Eurobridge. In 1994 she was operating in the North Sea under the name Eurobridge, returning to Sally Eurobridge when the charter ended. In 1995–96 she was on charter to Norfolk Line under the name Eurobridge again, then chartered to Seatruck and renamed Riverdance, being bought outright in 1997.
On 31 January 2008 at 19:30 she was "broadsided" by a wave, causing the cargo to shift. At 19:45 the captain sent a Mayday call. The ship was listing at 60 degrees. At 20:00 the rescue crew at RAF Valley on Anglesey was put on standby, being scrambled at 20:20.Liverpool Coastguard co-ordinated assistance. Helicopters from the Irish Coast Guard, Royal Navy and Royal Air Force attended, along with lifeboats from Lytham and Fleetwood. The Steersman assisted with communications and the support vessels Clwyd Supporter and Highland Sprite were reported to be on their way to assist. Before he was rescued, one of the passengers made an emotional, and what he thought at the time final, mobile phone call home to his wife. Starting at 21:00, eight people were airlifted from the ship, which lost one engine and drifted aground on Cleveleys's North Beach opposite Anchorsholme Lane at around 22:50 (grid ref SD 309,424 53°52′23″N 3°03′09″W / 53.873182°N 3.052444°W), very close to the remains of the Abana. The passengers and crew lifted off the ship arrived at Blackpool airport at 22:00, and two of them were taken to hospital suffering from mild hypothermia, but were not admitted. The passenger who had called his wife was able to call her at 22:30 to say that he was safe. Six crew members were taken off the vessel after it had run aground.
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Wikipedia