The MSC.T.M.A. Vacancier was a car/passenger ferry operated by Coopérative de Transport Maritime et Aérien (CTMA) on their Montreal–Cap-aux-Meules service. She was built in 1973 by the J.J. Sietas Schiffswerft in Hamburg, West Germany as Aurella for SF Line for use on Viking Line traffic. Between 1982 and 1998 she sailed as Saint Patrick II, between 1998 and 2000 as Egnatia II, in 2000 as Ville de Séte and between 2001 and 2002 as City of Cork, before being sold to CTMA. In January 2024 she was renamed Ancier to be prepared for scrapping.[1][4]
History
Aurella was ordered by SF Line, Finland on 27 May 1972, and delivered on 30 June 1973, entering service three days later on Viking Line's Naantali–Mariehamn–Kapellskär route. She was the largest ship in the services across the Sea of Åland at the time,[1]Aurella remained in service with Viking Line until September 1981.
In January 1982, having been laid up Mariehamn through the winter, Aurella was sold to Irish Ferries and renamed Saint Patrick II,[1] to provide extra capacity on the Ireland-France route in the summer months.[citation needed] The lack of traffic during the winter months saw her chartered to other operators:
From 1992 until 1995 Saint Patrick II spent the winters sailing for Tallink. During the Tallink charters the ship was also re-registered to Estonia, but returned to the Irish registry during the summer service with her owners. On 4 March 1994, while under charter to Tallink, Saint Patrick II participated in the evacuation of the sinking cruise shipMS Sally Albatross near Porkkala, Finland. Falling passenger numbers caused Irish Ferries to withdraw Saint Patrick II from service in September 1997.[1]
In May 1998, Saint Patrick II was chartered to Hellenic Mediterranean Lines, renamed Egnatia II and placed on Brindisi–Patras service.[1][4] In May 2000 she was chartered to Balear Express, Spain and renamed Ville de Séte for Sète–Palma service. Balear Express went bankrupt in September 2000, and Ville de Séte was laid up. Between March and December 2001 she was chartered to Swansea Cork Ferries as City of Cork.[1]
In January 2024, she was repainted to remove the logos along the side, renamed Ancier, and sailed to Charlottetown to be prepared for scrapping in India. She was beached at Alang, India, on March 10, 2024.