One of the oldest ferries that ran between the islands of Malta and Gozo was the JYLLAND.
On 15th May 1943 she was completed by Pullman Car Standard Manufacturing Co at Chicago, USA for the US Navy as Submarine Chaser PCE 828 which was launched on 17th November 1942. On 31st July 1943 she was transferred to the Royal Navy as a Patrol Vessel and renamed her HMS KILBRIDE of which she was handed back on 10th December 1946.
During February 1948 she was to a Danish company and converted her to a passenger ferry, renaiming her JYLLAND with 650 passengers and 32 car capacity and ran the crossing between Kristiansand (Norway) and Hirtshals (Denmark).
December 1967 she was sold to E. Zammit & Sons, Malta for £100,000 and on the 19th January 1968 she sailed from Kristiansand, Norway with Maltese, Gozitan and Norwegian crew to Malta of which she stopped at Tyne, UK on 21st January and Plymouth, UK on 24th January. 1st February 1968 she arrived at Grand Harbour, Malta.
On 20th May 1968 she commenced ferry sailings between Mgarr Harbour, Gozo and Marfa with Captain Publius Scicluna. During the summer months of 1973/4 she operated a service between Malta and Syracuse, Sicily. In 1978 she was withdrawn from ferry services.
During the summer of 1979 she started operating island cruises.
In 1984 she was sold to Kibtur, Turkey and renamed her KIBRIS as seen below
Photos by Capt. Lawrence Dalli. Do not use these images without my permission. © All rights reserved. Malta Ship Photos & Action Photos – www.maltashipphotos.com
