October 8th 1991: Launched. December 29th 1991: Delivered to P&O European Ferries, Dover, England. December 30th 1991: Arrived at Dover from builders. January 4th 1992: Commenced service between Dover - Zeebrügge.
  Nigel Thornton Collection (left) and © Andreas Wörteler (right)
March 3rd 1998: P&O European Ferries and Stena Line merge there operations on the short sea. The new company was called P&O Stena Line. Registered as a British private sector company, 60% owned by the Peninsular and Oriental Steam Navigation Company (P&O) and 40% owned by Stena Line AB of Sweden. The new company took over the Dover and Newhaven services of P&O European Ferries and Stena Line.
© Andreas Wörteler
March 10th 1998: Commenced service for P&O Stena Line Ltd, Dover between Dover - Zeebrügge. November 25th 1998: Had a gearbox removed. It was required by PRIDE OF BURGUNDY, removed in Dunkerque. December 1998: Laid up at Zeebrügge waiting for a new gearbox. April 22nd 1999: Final voyage from Dover - Zeebrügge. April 2002: P&O announced its intention to buy out the 40% stake in P&O Stena Line owned by Stena. August 2002: P&O Stena alliance ended with P&O purchasing Stena's 40% share in the business. The Dover-Calais fleet adopted the appropriate P&O “Pride of ….” names, losing there P&OSL prefixes. All vessels had their Stena house flag removed from their funnels, along with the deletion of the name Stena from their hulls. In future the company would trade as P&O Ferries.
Project Darwin With the ending of the P&O Stena Line agreement it was announced by the newly formed P&O Ferries that the ex Zeebrügge freight vessels European Highway and European Pathway would be rebuilt at the German Shipyard of Lloyd Werft. Upon completion of there rebuilds they would be placed on the premier Dover-Calais service replacing the PO Kent (ex Sprit of Free Enterprise, Pride of Kent, POSL Kent) and PO Canterbury (ex Fantasia). This move became widely known by it's P&O inhouse code name, Project Darwin. It was anticipated that EUROPEAN PATHWAY would leave for Bremerhaven on December 1st 2002, followed later in the month by EUROPEAN HIGHWAY Key features of the converted ships will include: Passenger capacity up from 200 to 2,000 More than 5,000 square metres of passenger accommodation Fifty extra crew cabins Better manoeuvrability
The conversion would take place at the Bremerhaven yard of Lloyd Werft. The rebuilt ferries were to enter service on the Dover-Calais route in April and May of 2003 respectively. EUROPEAN PATHWAY would re-delivered as PRIDE OF CANTERBURY at the end of April to replace the 1980-built ship of the same name while the EUROPEAN HIGHWAY was being fitted with exhaust scrubbers to reduce sulphur dioxide emissions and, after evaluation, there was scope for retro installation in PRIDE OF CANTERBURY.
  
© Andreas Wörteler (left) and Christian Eckardt (middle and right)
May 5th 2003: Arrived back in Dover at 08.30. Berthed at no. 7 Eastern Docks and was greeted by siren salutes and water jets from the twin Dover Harbour Board tugs…..
   
Maiden arrival © Ray Goodfellow
May 12th 2003: Maiden voyage to Calais was at 07.45.
  © Ray Goodfellow
June 28th 2003: Both PRIDE OF KENT and PRIDE OF CANTERBURY were officially named. The ceremony was at the new cruise terminal on Dover’s Admiralty Pier extension.
 
Dover Ferry Photos Archive
January 31st 2005: Marine Ark (MES) deployment in the Western Docks prior to leaving Dover for refit. February 1st 2005: To Southampton for refit. February 20th 2005: Returned to Dover after refit.
© Nigel Thornton
March 2nd 2006: Marine Ark (MES) deployment in the Western Docks.
© Nigel Thornton
March 2nd 2006: Scheduled to arrive in Dry Dock no#2 in Falmouth at 0600 hrs tomorrow. Anticipated that she would remain in dry-dock until around March 17th. March 18th 2006: Returned to Dover after refit and resumed service.
 
© Ray Goodfellow (left) and Nigel Thornton (right)
December 27th 2006: Marine Ark (MES) deployment in the Western Docks.
 
© Ray Goodfellow (left) and Nigel Thornton (right)
December 28th 2006: Due to arrive 09.30hrs at Falmouth, dry-dock No.2, for refit. 15th January 2007: Re-entered service following refit on the 23:59 ex Dover. 31st January 2008: Whilst hove to in strong South Westerly winds off Deal, Kent the Pride of Canterbury made heavy contact with a submerged object resulting in the loss of her port propeller and damage to her port propeller shaft. 2nd February 2008: Pride of Canterbury arrives at A&P Falmouth for her refit. Propeller repairs are not completed which result in the vessel being used in a freight capacity only upon on her return to Dover. It is believed permanent repairs will be completed in the Autumn of 2008. 14th June 2008: Owing to the technical problems caused by the loss of her propeller and the associated damage the Pride of Canterbury is laid up in Dunkerque until the necessary repairs can be made.
Dunkerque Summer 2008 © Michel Elias (www.shipsinthespotlight.eu)
October 2008: Enters dry dock at ARNO, Dunkerque for full repairs and a complete overhaul. Due to the amount of time the vessel has remained laid up she will not have an overhaul in 2009.
Dunkerque August 2008 © Robert Fournier
January 2009: Further technical problems are discovered following her dry docking in Dunkerque. It is believed the port gearbox was also damaged during her contact with the submerged object in January 2008 and a replacement is to be fitted as soon as possible. At present it is anticipated that she return to service in March 2009. 14th January 2009: The Marine Accident Investigation Branch (MAIB) publish there report into the grounding incident on January 31st 2008. A copy of the report can be downloaded from the MAIB here (Adobe Acrobat Reader required)
Dunkerque February 2009 © Jean-Guy Hagelstein
March 10th 2009: Finally departed ARNO and conducted sea trials.
 
© The Ferryman
March 11th 2009 (05.42 hrs): Returned to Dover and , after storing, resumed service (11.20hrs Dover - Calais) February 6th 2010: To ARNO, Dunkerque for refit. February 11th 2010: Arrived in Dover and resumed service.
Arriving at the Port of Calais ©
Ray Goodfellow
January 21st 2011: Off service carrying
out Marin Arc drills in Calais before proceeding to dry dock at ARNO
Dunkerque.
January 24th 2011: Briefly returned to
service to cover for the Spirit of Britain which required some remedial
`port fit' work in Dunkerque.
Calais 21/1/11 © Ray Goodfellow
January 27th 2011: Proceeded to ARNO
Dunkerque for refit.
February 9th 2011: Returned to Dover
post refit minus the website address on her sides bringing her in line with
the Spirit of Britain.
February 10th 2011: Returned to service.
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