Finbo Cargo (Previously P&O Ferries’ European Endeavour) | Eckerö Line

EUROPEAN ENDEAVOUR was a P&O Ferries Ro-Pax ferry which has operated on the Dublin to Liverpool route since May 2011.  Prior to this, she served for the same company on the Dover to Calais route, and for Transmediterránea as EL GRECO.  She was originally delivered to Cenargo subsidiary Merchant Ferries as MIDNIGHT MERCHANT, but was immediately chartered to Norfolk Line for their new Dover to Dunkerque route, making her first revenue earning crossing in October 2000. On Monday 6th of May Eckerö Line confirmed that their parent company had signed a letter of intent to acquire EUROPEAN ENDEAVOUR for a new freight-orientated service between Helsinki and Tallinn to complement their existing service between the two ports using FINLANDIA. She will be renamed FINBO CARGO for this purpose.

In early 2020, FINBO CARGO was sent to Oresund Drydocks facility at Landskrona, Sweden. While there over 450 tons of steel was added to reinforce her hull to Ice Class 1a standards. Some interior refurbishment was also undertaken and lifts added from the vehicle deck to the passenger spaces.

Click here to skip the detailed technical information and go straight to the vessel history page

Technical Information

• The following technical info is for when the vessel was in P&O Ferries service named EUROPEAN ENDEAVOUR, and may have changed during subsequent ownership.

Name (as-built)	EUROPEAN ENDEAVOUR (MIDNIGHT MERCHANT)
IMO Number	9181106
Call Sign	C6ZG5
Classification	Lloyds
Original Naval Architect	–
Original Interior Architect (Outfitter)	Roger Simpson (outfitter unknown)
Constructed by	Astilleros Espanoles, Sevilla, Spain
Yard Number	290
Contract Price	USD 65m
Keel Laid	30 September 1998
Launched
Delivered	September 2000
Originally in Service	October 5th 2000 (Dover – Dunkerque)
Dimensions
Length Overall (between perpendiculars)	179.95m (168.7)
Beam	25m (24.3 moulded)
Draught	6.5
Total Number of Decks	10
Tonnage
Gross Tonnage	22,152
Net Tonnage	6,645
Deadweight	7,477
Capacities
Passengers	250 (max)
Crew	47
Vehicles	Up to 146* x 13m trailers * this figure was the subject of a legal dispute between owners Cenargo and the shipyard with Cenargo claiming this figure was not achievable in practice.
Lane Metres	·      2000
Vehicle Decks (Free Height)	·      Upper Deck – 1,100lm (5.2m) ·      Main Deck – 900lm (5.2m)
Current Passenger Facilities
Number of Passenger Decks	2 (Deck 7/8)
Number of Passenger Cabin Decks	1 (Deck 8)
Number of Cabin Berths (number of cabins)	114 (57)
Passenger Facilities	Deck 7
	Restaurant Lounge Bar Shop/Bureau de Change/Reception
	Deck 8
	Reclining Seat Lounge Video Lounge
Equipment and Machinery
Main Propulsion Package	·       4 x Wartsila-NSD 9L38 Marine Diesel engines producing 5,940kW each at 600 rpm, coupled via Schelde gearboxes to ·       2 x 4.85m diameter Wartsila Wichman propellers turning at 138rpm
Total Max Main Engine Power	23,760kW
Aux Engines	2 x Wartsila 6L20 Marine Diesel engines producing 930kW each at 900 rpm
Thrusters	2 x Brunvoll 1,300kW bow thrusters
Rudders	2 x Becker high lift rudders
Stabilisers	Three passive flume tanks located beneath the main deck
Access Equipment	MacGregor
Vehicle Access	·      Twin level bow and stern loading (N.B. the bow doors on the main deck were welded shut in 2014) ·      2 x hoistable 55 x 3.2m tilting ramps between the upper deck and main deck ·      13m (+2m flaps) x 17m Stern ramp ·       15m (+2m flaps) x 4.5m Bow Ramp (as built – no longer used)
Speed and Consumption
Trial Speed	24kts
Service Speed (design/usual)	22.5kts/-
Fuel Consumption at Design Speed (if known)	96t/24h
Current Status
Current Registered Owner
Current Operator	Eckero Line
Current Route	Helsinki – Tallinn
Current Flag (Port)	Finland
Other Info
Navigation and Communications system provided by Sperry ·      Since joining P&O’s Liverpool to Dublin route EUROPEAN ENDEAVOUR has been used almost exclusively as a stern loading vessel
As-built Sister Ships (current operator)	KAIRAHI (Interislander) AQUARIUS BRAZIL (Equinox Offshore) CIUDAD DE MAHON (Transmediterránea)
References and further reading	Designs 98, Shippax Lloyds Register of Shipping Class Direct

 

A Brief History Of European Endeavour

Early Years – English Channel Service

EUROPEAN ENDEAVOUR was originally built as MIDNIGHT MERCHANT for Cenargo subsidiary Merchant Ferries to start a new service for the company between Belfast and Liverpool in direct competition with Norse Irish Ferries.  She was one of four sister-ships built in Spain for the same owner and commonly referred to as the “Racehorse class”. Earlier sisters BRAVE MERCHANT and DAWN MERCHANT were built for service between Dublin and Liverpool. All four ships received names inspired by the names of racehorses at the time, with MIDNIGHT MERCHANT named after Midnight Flyer.  

Merchant Ferries parent company Cenargo had gone on a bit of an acquisition spree at the end of the 1990s and having already acquired Belfast Freight Ferries through the takeover of Scruttons PLC, they purchased Norse Irish Ferries in October 1999 during the construction of the third and fourth Racehorse ships.  As a result, plans were shelved for the new Belfast service which would only have been competing with their new acquisition and merged Norse Irish Ferries and Merchant Ferries (which had already absorbed Belfast Freight Ferries) together to form Norse Merchant Ferries.   With the two new ships under construction no longer required by Cenargo’s own operations, MIDNIGHT MERCHANT and her sister NORTHERN MERCHANT (which had also been earmarked for the Belfast service) were chartered to freight operator Norfolk Line to open a new service between Dover and Dunkerque in France which would carry freight and a limited number of passengers with vehicles.  Upon delivery, MIDNIGHT MERCHANT went to Falmouth for completion of her fit-out and replacement of her Merchant Ferries funnel colours with the Maltese cross of Norfolk Line. The Merchant Ferries sisters (later joined by a third sister DAWN MERCHANT which had been displaced from the Dublin to Liverpool route and was the lead vessel of the quartet) would prove to be very successful on the Dunkerque route, leading Norfolk Line to order three new bespoke Ro-Pax ferries from Korea to replace them.  

Spain and a new name

With the arrival of all three new ferries from Samsung’s Goeje shipyard in Korea, MIDNIGHT MERCHANT and NORTHERN MERCHANT were chartered to Spanish operator Trasmediterránea in 2006, becoming EL GRECO and ZURBARAN respectively.  EL GRECO‘s time with Trasmediterránea would be short-lived, however, with P&O Ferries announcing on the 26th of June 2007 that they had purchased EL GRECO and would take delivery of her that September.  ZURBURAN remains with Trasmediterránea to this day and was recently renamed CIUDAD DE MAHON.

P&O Ferries and a Return to The Channel

Following drydocking in Barcelona, the newly renamed EUROPEAN ENDEAVOUR made a delayed debut crossing as a P&O Ferries vessel on November 6th between Liverpool and Dublin as cover for NORBANK.  Following NORBANK‘s return, EUROPEAN ENDEAVOUR went to Falmouth for conversion for use on the Dover to Calais service – the route P&O had purchased her for.  This included the addition of a steel structure forward of the bow doors called a ‘cow catcher’, used to support the shore to ship ramp used in Calais.  She made her debut on the cross-channel route on January 11, 2008, sailing from Calais following delays in drydock amid rumours of problems with the fit of her cow catcher.  During 2009 EUROPEAN ENDEAVOUR covered on the Liverpool to Dublin service again as well as the Tilbury to Zeebrugge freight service in addition to operating her normal Dover to Calais route.  It was announced during March 2010 that she would reopen the Dover to Zeebrugge service on April 7, but she reverted to the Dover to Calais route after a single trip with the Zeebrugge service shelved.

Irish Sea service

Following a layup at Tilbury from early May, EUROPEAN ENDEAVOUR left the Thames port for Birkenhead on charter to DFDS for their Liverpool to Dublin route.  DFDS had taken over Norfolk Line who had previously purchased the Norse Merchant Ferries operation.  

After a refit at Cammell Laird Birkenhead in September, she was laid up at Dunkerque until required as refit cover on P&O’s own Dublin to Liverpool operation in February 2011.  Once her relief duties were over, she made her way to Cammell Laird again, arriving on April 21 and leaving six days later for Harland & Wolff in Belfast.  Following arrival at Harland and Wolff on April 28th her ‘cow catcher’ was removed.  This allowed her to berth bow first at Dublin on May 4th with Dublin to Liverpool now her permanent route, though as a stern-only loading vessel.  

Following a refit at Falmouth during April 2012, EUROPEAN ENDEAVOUR accepted tourist passengers on her Irish Sea sailings for the first time.  At the time of writing, she has remained on the Dublin to Liverpool route ever since, only straying for drydocking as required.  During her 2014 dry docking, EUROPEAN ENDEAVOUR had her bow doors welded, despite having been built as a “drive-through” rather than a stern only vessel.  

This means that although theoretically she can still load and discharge vehicles from the upper deck at her bow, she can no longer do so via her main deck.  She currently operates up to a single round-trip on the Dublin to Liverpool service each day as a stern loading vessel, like running mates NORBAYand NORBANK.

The Future

During Spring 2019 there was speculation that EUROPEAN ENDEAVOUR may not return to the Dublin to Liverpool route, with P&O no longer taking tourist passenger bookings for her services and stating on their website that tourist passengers will no longer be carried on the 15:00 and 03:00 services (which were normally operated by EUROPEAN ENDEAVOUR).  Since February 20th her sailings had been covered by the Ro-Ro freighter MISTRAL, allowing EUROPEAN ENDEAVOUR to cover the drydocking periods of operating partners NORBAY and NORBANK.  On April 23rd EUROPEAN ENDEAVOUR went for drydocking at Cammell Laird in Birkenhead following the return of NORBAY and NORBANK.

On May 2nd P&O Ferries Freight told Freightlink in a statement that EUROPEAN ENDEAVOUR had been sold to Eckero Line. Three days later Eckerö Line confirmed that their parent company had signed a letter of intent to acquire the vessel for a new freight-orientated service between Helsinki and Tallinn to complement their existing service between the two ports using FINLANDIA. The new service will commence in June with EUROPEAN ENDEAVOUR sailing under the Finnish flag. No new name has yet been announced for the vessel which will operate with an increased passenger capacity of 366.

Although EUROPEAN ENDEAVOUR is not an ice-classed vessel, Eckerö said they intended to upgrade her to match the requirements at a later date. Unlike Eckerö Line’s other current vessel FINLANDIA, she berths at Vuosaari on the outskirts of Helsinki.   Vuosaari is better connected to the national road network than Jätkäsaari which is currently used by Eckerö Line and direct competitor Tallink. On the 15th of May ownership of EUROPEAN ENDEAVOUR transferred to Eckerö and it was announced that she would be renamed FINBO CARGO. The following day Eckerö Line posted to Facebook that the vessel would leave Liverpool on May 20 with a destination of Turku where she would be docked.

Having settled in to her new service, FINBO CARGO was sent to Oresund Drydocks facility at Landskrona, Sweden in March 2020. While there over 450 tons of steel was added to reinforce her hull to Ice Class 1a standards. Some interior refurbishment was also undertaken and lifts added from the vehicle deck to the passenger spaces.

European Endeavour Gallery