St Helena Line is to withdraw the passenger/cargo Royal Mail Ship ‘St Helena’ from service in February 2018.
The vessel has been put up for sale, which is being handled by London shipbroker CW Kellock.
Operated by St Helena Line Ltd (SHL) on behalf of the St Helena Government (SHG), the ship has been part of the Island’s history for over quarter of a century and provided the only regular means of access to the Island, located 1,200 miles off the West coast of Africa in the South Atlantic.
She was built in the UK in 1990 specifically to serve the island. At 6,767gt, she can accommodate 156 pax in 56 cabins, together with a cargo capacity of 3,750 cu m (bale) and 92 teu (of which 17 can be reefers). She is operated by 56 officers and crew.
‘St Helena’ currently operates out of Cape Town calling at both St Helena and Ascension Island on a regular schedule.
She will be withdrawn from service, due to the start of scheduled passenger flights to St Helena on 14th October, 2017, which will provide the main passenger access to the Island.
The RMS ‘St Helena’ has recently embarked on her final programmed voyages and in the coming weeks will make a farewell call at Tristan da Cunha and then a last voyage to both St Helena and Ascension Island. She is expected to end her last voyage in Cape Town on 15th February, 2018.
Commenting on the sale process and her withdrawal from service, SHL’s chairman, Matt Young, said: “The RMS St Helena has played a vital role in sustaining St Helena’s population and, for the past 27 years has been the sole means of regular access to the Island.
“Her combined passenger accommodation and cargo design makes her well suited to a number of different trading options and we are confident that she can continue to play an important role elsewhere in the world,” he said.
