Originally built as
European Highway in 1991 and was a sister ship to , and . Originally servicing
Zeebrugge, like
Pride of Canterbury, she was converted in 2003 before re-entering service on the
Dover to
Calais route as
Pride of Kent.
Project Darwin With the ending of the
P&O Stena Line agreement, newly formed
P&O Ferries announced that the ex Zeebrügge freight vessels
European Highway and
European Pathway would be rebuilt at the German Shipyard of
Lloyd Werft. On completion of their rebuilds, they would be placed on the premier Dover-Calais service, replacing
PO Kent (ex-
Spirit of Free Enterprise,
Pride of Kent, then
POSL Kent) and
PO Canterbury (ex-). This move became widely known by its P&O in-house code name, Project Darwin. Key features of the converted ships were: • Passenger capacity up from 200 to 2,000 • More than of passenger accommodation • Fifty extra crew cabins • Better manoeuvrability
European Pathway was to leave for
Bremerhaven on 1 December 2002, followed later in the month by
European Highway. The rebuilt ferries were to enter service in April and May 2003 respectively.
Return to service On 10 December 2017, the ferry ran aground in the Port of Calais during routine departure manoeuvres in high winds. The vessel was later refloated at high tide with assistance from
harbour tugs commandeered from the Port of
Dunkirk. On 12 December 2017, the vessel made her way to Dunkirk for an emergency
dry docking for repairs for a damaged shaft seal and
gearbox. In early 2019, the
Pride of Kent, like all P&O vessels on the Dover-to-Calais route, had been flagged out to Cyprus, a measure explained by the company as motivated by tax advantages in view of
Brexit. She was registered in
Limassol until being scrapped in 2023. On 21 March 2022 Transport Secretary
Grant Shapps announced that he would require P&O Ferries to rename
Pride of Kent and other ships on P&O the fleet which carry British names if the company was found to have breached employment regulations following the summary dismissal without notice via
Zoom of 800 British seafarers which were to be replaced with cheaper overseas agency workers. On 24 March 2022, P&O Ferries CEO Peter Hebblethwaite confirmed that the management of the company illegally fired 800 British seafarers so it was expected that this ship would have its name changed as Shapps announced three days previously.
Seizure by MCA On the evening of 28 March 2022, the
Maritime & Coastguard Agency announced that
Pride of Kent had been detained at the Port of Dover following an inspection. The ship was declared "unfit to sail" following an inspection that P&O had hoped would allow the ship to sail without passengers or cargo. This followed P&O's
sacking of 800 seafarers earlier in the month and replacing the crew with agency staff. On 4 June she completed her final crossing from Calais to Dover before being taken out of service to allow its crew to be trained on the ship's replacement,
P&O Pioneer.
Pride of Kent was moored at
Tilbury from 14 July 2023 before being sold for recycling in
Aliaga, Turkey departing on 9 October 2023 and arriving on 23 October 2023. ==Layout==