Image Not Available

ST. OLA

Shipbuildervessel built by Alexander HALL & Co. (Footdee, Aberdeen)

OwnerOwned by North of Scotland & Orkney & Shetland Steam Navigation Company

Date1951

Object NamePASSENGER VESSEL

MediumSTEEL

ClassificationsShip

Dimensionslength 178 7/12' x breadth 33 1/12' x depth 12 3/6'
Gross Tonnage: 350 ton
Registered Tonnage: 750ton

Object numberABDSHIP001619

Keywords

About MeYard: Alexander Hall & Co.
Yard Number: 733
Official Number: 183843
Subsequent Names: ST OLA II (1974); AQUA STAR (1975)

Fate: unknown

Propulsion: Motor
Description: Passenger ferry

Owners:
1951: North of Scotland, Orkney & Shetland Shipping Co.
1975: Aqua Tronics International Ltd., Bermuda, managed by J. Marr & Sons Ltd.

Refitted as a cattle and cargo carrying vessel, Alexander Hall's yard number 745, in 1955.

'Operated mainly on the Pentland Firth ferry service between Scrabster and Stromness from 1951-1975 as well as occasional excursion cruises. In 1974 she was renamed ST OLA II to make way for a new ro-ro. Her last sailing on the Scrabster route was 28th January 1975. She was sold to Bermusian interests and renamed AQUA STAR but by 1988 there was no mention of her in Lloyd's Register'.
J. P. Roche, London, Ships Monthly, p.62, May 2006

A motorship built 1951 for the Stromness-Scrabster route to Orkney. Donaldson wrote that ‘while the air service was replacing some traffic […] the development of road travel in private cars gave the route a new lease of life and made it busier than ever in the tourist season. However, she used the old system of hoisting on and off. To increase capacity a Sunday service was introduced in 1959 and it became common in the tourist season for St. OLA to make a double crossing to keep up with the flow of cars. From 1965 she was supplemented by St. CLEMENT in the peak period’.
At her launch on 21/2/1951 it was reported that she ‘would be the last word in comfort for her 360 passengers’. She would have 6 2-berth staterooms on the main deck, a dining room and a lounge complete with buffet. Two large holds were arranged for the carriage of motor cars or general cargo and she was also equipped to carry horses, cattle and sheep. Ramps were fitted to permit fast loading and unloading of livestock. Speed would be 13 knots.
The report of her trials on 21/5/1951 commented that the builders, A. Hall and Co., had won a race against difficulties to get the ship ready, she being due to enter service on 31 May. They had experienced problems in obtaining all types of supplies.
St. OLA’s standard schedule was 9.15am from Stromness and 1.30pm from Scrabster until 1972, when the departure from Stromness was altered to 8.30am to connect with the first train of the day South from Thurso. Her annual overhaul in Aberdeen was generally in late Autumn.
Sources:- Gordon Donaldson (1978), "Northwards by Sea" (Paul Harris Publishing, Edinburgh), p.133; Aberdeen Evening Express, 23/02 and 21/05/1951; Press and Journal, 22/11/1962, 14/07/1970, 07/12/1972. Newspaper refs from BNA, downloaded 24/06/22.

After her sale to Aqua Tronics International Ltd., she was refitted for North Sea oil operations as a survey ship under the name AQUA STAR.

Note: Diesel engines by British Polar, 2 SA 7 cylinder 340 x 570 mm