Wightlink Says Goodbye to its Oldest Ferry, St Cecilia

The ferry company operating routes between Hampshire and the Isle of Wight in southern England Wightlink will bid farewell to its oldest ferry St Cecilia on Friday 25 January 2019.

"She will be retiring to the Mediterranean, joining her sisters St Helen and St Catherine at the Italian ferry company Delcomar which operates services between Sardinia and its offshore islands," said a press note from the ferry company.

St Cecilia was launched at Cochrane Shipbuilders in Selby, East Yorkshire in 1987.

It’s estimated she has crossed the Solent 200,000 times since then – that’s around a million miles.

St Cecilia’s final departure this spring follows Wightlink’s GBP45million investment in a new hybrid energy flagship – Victoria of Wight – and port improvements at both Portsmouth and Fishbourne.

“Millions of Islanders and visitors have travelled to and from the Isle of Wight over the years on St Cecilia and she has been a reliable and efficient part of our fleet,” says Wightlink Chief Executive Keith Greenfield. “We are delighted she will now be sailing in Mediterranean waters.”

During her time in the Solent, St Cecilia was used as a filming location for the BBC TV children’s programme Grange Hill and the French movie A Loving Father starring Gérard Depardieu.

St Helen has been renamed Anna Mur and St Catherine is now known as GB Conte.