MV Wickersham

Wickersham at the Prince Rupert terminal in 1970
History
Name: Stena Britannica[1]
Owner: Stena Line[1]
Route: Kiel-Gothenburg[1]
Builder: A/S Langesunds Mek[1]
Launched: 1967[1]
Fate: Sold to Alaska Marine Highway
Name: Wickersham
Namesake: James Wickersham
Owner: Alaska Marine Highway System
Port of registry:  United States
Route: Seattle (WA), Prince Rupert (BC), Haines, Juneau, Ketchikan, Sitka
Acquired: by purchase, April 1968
Commissioned: 1968
Decommissioned: 1974
Identification: IMO number: 6717148
Fate: Sold to Sally Line
Name: Viking 6 [2]
Owner: Sally Line[1]
Operator: Viking Line[2]
Route: Stockholm-Helsinki[2]
In service: 1974[2]
Out of service: 1980[2]
Name: Goelo
Owner: Sally Line[2]
Operator: Brittany Ferries[2]
Route: Portsmouth-St Malo[2]
Commissioned: 1980[2]
Decommissioned: 1982[2]
Fate: Sold to Sol Lines
Name: Sol Olympia
Owner: Sol Lines[2]
Operator: Sol Lines[2]
Route: Venice-Haifa[2]
Commissioned: 1982[2]
Decommissioned: 1985[2]
Fate: Reverted to AB Sally after Sol Lines bankruptcy
Name: Sun Express
Owner: Sally Line[1]
Operator: Viking Line[2]
In service: 1985[2]
Out of service: 1986[2]
Renamed: Viking 6
Name: Moby Dream
Owner: Moby Lines[1]
In service: 1986[2]
Out of service: 1994[2]
Name: Sardegna Bella
Owner: Moby Lines[1]
Operator: Sardegna Lines
In service: 194[2]
Fate: Scrapped in 2001[2]
General characteristics
Length: 363 ft (111 m)
Decks: One vehicle deck
Ramps: Bow
Capacity: 1,300 passengers

MV Wickersham was a mainline ferry vessel for the Alaska Marine Highway.

Wickersham was the second vessel, after the MV Chilkat, in the Alaska Marine Highway fleet to not have been constructed specifically for AMHS, but was rather acquired for from the Stena Line, where it was known as the Stena Britannica and served the Kiel, Germany–Gothenburg, Sweden route. Constructed just one year prior to its purchase by AMHS in April 1968, her arrival and status as an "oceangoing" vessel allowed AMHS to expand the southern terminus of its route system south to Washington and the Port of Seattle.

Due to the Passenger Services Act and laws of cabotage, however, the Wickersham could only undergo its Washington-Alaska voyages with an intermediate stop in Prince Rupert, British Columbia. Further complicating her service was her complicated bow unloading system which was only compatible with AMHS ports in Haines, Juneau, Ketchikan, and Sitka, in addition to the ports of Seattle and Prince Rupert. Her large size and draft which served her well in the turbulent waters of Dixon Entrance and other exposed portions of the Alaska-Washington voyage, were too great to slip through passages of water such as Peril Strait en route to Sitka, which forced her to approach Sitka from the outer coast of Baranof Island and through the Pacific Ocean.

With the debut of the Columbia, the marine highway's new flagship vessel, in 1974, the Wickersham was sold to the Finland-based Rederi Ab Sally as the Viking 6, where she sailed from Stockholm to Helsinki under the Viking Line brand.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Kiffer, Dave (October 11, 2006). "The Wickersham sailed on after leaving Alaska". Sit News. Retrieved June 25, 2013.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 "Stena Britannica". Simplon Postcards; The Passenger Ship Website. Retrieved June 25, 2013.
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