MS Herald of Free Enterprise
Ro-ro ship · built 1980
In short
MS Herald of Free Enterprise (Ro-ro ship) has no AIS position on record with Voydar. It can carry up to 1,300 passengers (source: Wikidata).
- Vessel type
- Ro-ro ship
- Flag
- —
- Year built
- 1980
- Gross tonnage
- —
- Size (length × beam)
- 132 m × 23 m
- Registered owner
- —
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Last reported position
No AIS position on record for this vessel. Identity and particulars are below.
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Try the live demo, no sign-upIdentity & particulars
- Name
- MS Herald of Free Enterprise
- IMO numberWhat is an IMO number?
- 7820485
- MMSIWhat is an MMSI?
- —
- Call signWhat is a call sign?
- —
- Flag
- —
- Vessel type
- Ro-ro ship
- Gross tonnageGross tonnage vs deadweight
- —
- Length overall
- 131.9 m
- Beam
- 23.2 m
- Year built
- 1980
- Passengers (maximum)
- Source: Wikidata, record Q1607814. Added to Voydar on September 23, 2026. Licence: CC0 1.0.1,300
A tag next to a value names the register that supplied it (hover or tap it for the record and date). Values without a tag come from the ship's own AIS broadcasts or from Wikidata. Position and identity are derived live from AIS.
Ownership & management
Each line shows where the fact comes from. Links backed by an identifier point to the company page.
- Operator
- Source: Wikidata · reported · confidence 0.8 · retrieved Sep 22, 2026
- Builder
- Source: Wikidata · reported · confidence 0.8 · retrieved Sep 22, 2026
About MS Herald of Free Enterprise
MS Herald of Free Enterprise was a roll-on/roll-off (RORO) ferry which capsized moments after leaving the Belgian port of Zeebrugge on the night of 6 March 1987, killing 193 passengers and crew. The eight-deck car and passenger ferry was owned by Townsend Thoresen, designed for rapid loading and unloading on the competitive cross-channel route between Dover and Calais. As is common with RORO ferries, it was built with watertight compartments terminating below the vehicle deck, with the doors at the end of the vehicle deck becoming vital to avoiding uncontrolled flooding. The ship left harbour with her bow door open, and the sea immediately flooded the vehicle deck; within minutes, she was lying on her side in shallow water.
Summary from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA.
Frequently asked questions
- Where is MS Herald of Free Enterprise now?
- Voydar has no displayable AIS position for MS Herald of Free Enterprise in this profile. A coverage gap does not establish whether the ship is transmitting or where it is now.
- What kind of ship is MS Herald of Free Enterprise?
- MS Herald of Free Enterprise is a ro-ro ship, built in 1980 by Schichau Seebeckwerft. The vessel is 131.9 m long with a beam of 23.2 m.
- What sanctions and inspection records does Voydar hold for MS Herald of Free Enterprise?
- Voydar has no matched sanctions record displayed for MS Herald of Free Enterprise from the OFAC SDN list, the UK Sanctions List, the Canadian autonomous sanctions list, the EU list of designated vessels, the New Zealand Russia Sanctions Register and the French national asset-freeze register. Coverage may be incomplete; this is not sanctions clearance. No matched inspection records are displayed for MS Herald of Free Enterprise. Missing records do not establish whether the ship has been detained.
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