MS GNV Cristal

Olau Line had been owned by the Germany-based TT-Line since 1979. Under TT-Line ownership, Olau Line had acquired two purpose-built ferries from Weser Seebeckwerft, Olau Hollandia and Olau Britannia for their Sheerness—Vlissingen service. During the mid-80s TT-Line acquired MS Peter Pan and MS Nils Holgersson, enlarged versions of Olau Hollandia and Olau Britannia design also from Weser Seebeckwerft, for their Trelleborg—Travemünde service. During the latter half of the decade, TT-line decided to order two more ships of the Peter Pan-type, again from Weser Seebeckwerft in Bremerhaven, West Germany as replacements for the two Olau ships. During the build the shipyard merged with Schichau Unterweser to become Schichau Seebeckwerft. The first of these ships was delivered in 1989 as the second Olau Hollandia, replacing her older namesake. ==Service history==

1989–1994: Olau Hollandia The second Olau Hollandia was delivered to TT-Line on 29 September 1989, and five days later she entered service on Olau Line's service between Sheerness and Vlissingen. The Olau Hollandias sister, , followed a year later. In practice the new Olau Hollandia and Olau Britannia proved to be too extravagant for the service, and TT-Line was forced to look into cost-cutting measures to keep the ships running. On 6 January 1993 the Olau Hollandia was re-registered to Luxembourg, but after a series of strikes and other protests in part of the German seamen's trade union, TT-Line were forced to return the ship into German registry on 3 February 1993. Subsequently, TT-Line drew up plans for swapping the Olau ships with the ships in Trelleborg—Travemünde service, and moving the resulting new Olau ships into Bahamian registry. Another strike on board the Olau ships followed, and in May 1994 TT-Line decided to close down the Olau Line brand entirely, with the Olau Hollandia and Britannia chartered to P&O Ferries. The Olau Hollandia made her last sailing for Olau Line on 15 May 1994. Although planned for the Portsmouth—Le Havre route, she entered service on the Portsmouth—Cherbourg route They remained in P&O Ferries service until 30 September 2005, when they were withdrawn from service and subsequently laid up on the River Fal. ==Sister ships==

The Olau Britannia was the third of four sisters in the Peter Pan class, the others being: MS Peter Pan (1986) was the first of the sisters built by Weser Seebeckwerft, Bremerhaven, Germany for TT-Line. She was sold in 1990 to Spirit of Tasmania and in 1993 renamed as the first Spirit of Tasmania. She was sold in 2002 to Nordsjøferger and chartered in 2003 to Fjord Line as MS Fjord Norway. In 2006 she was sold to DFDS Seaways to serve the IJmuiden, The Netherlands–Newcastle, England route as MS Princess of Norway. In 2011 she was renamed MS Princess Seaways. was the second of the sisters built by AG Weser Seebeckwerft, Bremerhaven, Germany for TT-Line. She was sold to Brittany Ferries in 1993 and renamed MS Val de Loire. In late 2005 she was sold to DFDS Seaways to serve the IJmuiden, The Netherlands–Newcastle, England route as MS King of Scandinavia, subsequently renamed in 2011 as MS King Seaways. MS Olau Britannia (1990) was the fourth of the vessels and built by Schichau Unterweser, Bremerhaven, Germany for TT-Line's sister company Olau Line to a slightly modified design. With her Olau sister the she was chartered in 1994 to P&O Ferries and renamed MS Pride of Portsmouth. In 2005 she stopped operating for P&O and was subsequently sold to SNAV in Italy and renamed MS SNAV Lazio. The former MS Koningin Beatrix (1986), sold in 1989 to Stena Line and renamed in 2002 as , and now SNAV Adriatico, was built by the Dutch shipyard Van der Giessen de Noord for SMZ to a similar design, supplied by A.G. Weser. ==References==