Endeavour

The German built passenger ferry, Endeavour, whose last reported name is listed as, ‘Trinity’ – (IMO 5264663). She was originally built & launched in 1959 as the ‘Alte Liebe’. However since her launch, she has had several name changes:

• Alte Liebe – 1959 → 1962.
• Orestad – 1962 → 1973.
• Baltica I – 1973 → 1977.
• Habicht 2 – 1977 → 1995.
• Princess Royal – 1995 → 2008.
• Trinity – 2008 → Most recent name.
• Endeavour – Proposed name after completion of restoration.

The ferry was in service until 1994 when she sailed into Liverpool for a planned business venture and renamed Princess Royal. It was when this venture failed that she was moored up and abandoned in Liverpool’s Canada Dock for over 20 years. All those years of neglect led to a deterioration of her condition, which caused her to be known as Liverpool’s ‘ghost ship’.

Endeavour (‘Trinity’ – IMO 5264663)

Thankfully though the vessel was rescued from being scrapped at the last minute by the ‘Endeavour Project’, a team of volunteers who planned to completely restore the ship by spring 2018. Once restored, she was to be renamed, ‘Endeavour’. The newly formed ‘Liverpool & North Wales Steamship Company’ was to use Endeavour on its proposed new ferry service from Liverpool to Llandudno and the Menai Strait, starting in May 2018.

Restoration was well underway to bring the old girl back to life, however, restoration had to be halted after she started taking on large volumes of water. This sadly resulted in her sinking on the 12th May 2019, lying partially submerged at her moorings in Canada Dock. Whilst not confirmed, it was reported that Endeavour’ taking on water and her subsequent sinking was due to a break in, however other reports say she had been taking on water for some time.

Endeavour’s future now looks uncertain to say the least, it is doubtful that Endeavour (Trinity) will ever sail again, given that the operating status of the vessel is listed as – “Decommissioned, Lost and Dead”. I suspect she will already have been scrapped…