WIGHTLINK will bid farewell to its oldest ferry St Cecilia on Friday, January 25.

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.

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

It is estimated she has crossed the Solent 200,000 times since then — that is around a million miles.

St Cecilia’s final departure this spring follows Wightlink’s £45 million 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,” Wightlink chief executive Keith Greenfield said.

“We are delighted she will now be sailing in Mediterranean waters.”

Although space is limited, some non-landing foot passenger tickets are available for St Cecilia’s final crossings. They will be the 10.30am sailing from Portsmouth and 11.30am from Fishbourne.

Contact Wightlink's Karen Woods at karenwoods@wightlink.co.uk for further details.

Fascinating facts about Wightlink’s retiring car ferry, St Cecilia:

  • When St Cecilia was launched, a special inaugural cruise took place on March 23, 1987, with 300 invited guests, then she entered service at 6am four days later in atrocious weather conditions.
  • St Cecilia was built to carry 142 cars on every sailing. However, as cars have got longer and wider over the years, the current maximum capacity is 95.
  • She can carry more than 700 customers on every sailing, compared to over 1,000 on Wightlink’s current flagship Victoria of Wight.
  • St Cecilia weighs in at 953.2 tonnes, compared with Victoria of Wight that tips the scales at 2,564.8 tonnes.
  • The ship featured in a 1989 episode of BBC1 children’s series Grange Hill. Several scenes were filmed on board and at Wightlink’s Portsmouth car ferry terminal.
  • St Cecilia also featured in the 2002 French movie A Loving Father starring Gérard Depardieu. As part of her role, she was painted in the livery of the fictitious Swedish ferry company Norselink.