The MS Winston Churchill was built in 1967 by Cantieri Navali del Torrino e Riuniti S.P.A. Riva Trigoso, Genoa, Italy. The M/S Winston Churchill was built as a car ferry for the Scandinavian Seaways DFDS service from Esbjerg to Harwich, and proved a very successful vessel on the route. As demand for vehicle-carrying services grew, larger vessels were required for the route and the Winston Churchill was transferred to the River Tyne in 1978, for the twice-weekly service to Gothenburg, following the arrival of the new DFDS vessel Dana Anglia on the Harwich route. She was eventually replaced on the Esbjerg route out of the Tyne by a new vessel, the King of Scandinavia in 1995, and moved to a new route, also from the Tyne, to Ijmuiden, Netherlands, which she maintained until the following year. She was badly damaged by a fire in her alternator room during a refit at Esbjerg in April 1996, and she was subsequently repaired and sold to Empress Cruise Lines, becoming the Mayan Empress. She was eventually sold for scrap in India in 2004.
Specifications
- Dimensions. 140,65 x 20,53 x 5,59 m.
- Grt/ Nrt/ Dwt. 8,657/ 4,778/ 2,235.
- Engine. 2x 2D 2SA B&W 1050-VT2BF-110 diesel.
- Effect 14,000 hk.
- Speed 21,0 knots
- Passengers 750 (only app. 100 when sailing as luxary liner)
- Cars 180
