MV Manx Viking

History
Name:	1974–1976: Monte Cruceta 1976–1978: Monte Castillo 1978–1987: Manx Viking 1987: Manx 1987–1989: Skudenes 1989: Ontario No.1 1989–present: Nindawayma
Operator:	1974–1978: Aznar Line 1978–1979: Manx Line 1979–1986: Sealink Manx Line 1986–1987: IOMSPCo. 1987–1989: DSD 1989–1992: Owen Transport Company 1992–2007: Laid up
Port of registry:	1974–1978: Bilbao  Spain 1978–1987: Douglas  Isle of Man 1987–1989: Stavanger  Norway 1989–present: Owen Sound  Canada
Builder:	S.A. Juliana Gijonesa
In service:	1974
Out of service:	1992
Identification:	IMO number: 7387251
Fate:	Scrapped 2007–2012
General characteristics
Tonnage:	3,594 GRT
Length:	101.66 m (333 ft 6 in)
Beam:	17.10 m (56 ft 1 in)
Draught:	4.80 m (15 ft 9 in)
Installed power:	2 x Pielstick diesel engines
Propulsion:	2 × controllable pitch propellors bow thrusters
Speed:	17 knots
Capacity:	800 passengers

The MV Manx Viking / Nindawayma was a passenger, truck and car ferry, whose last active service was on Lake Huron, operated by the Owen Sound Transportation Company Limited; under contract to the Ontario Ministry of Transportation. In Canadian service she served the Highway 6 route between Tobermory and South Baymouth, Manitoulin Island from 1989 to 1992 alongside the MS Chi-Cheemaun.

One of three sister ships, she was launched on 19 August 1974 as the Monte Cruceta at the "S. A. Juliana Gijonesa" shipyard in Gijón, Spain, for the Spanish shipping line Naviera Aznar. The vessels were built as long-distance multi-purpose roll-on/roll-off (RORO) ferries, handling both cargo and passengers, with fully refrigerated vehicle decks. Outfitting delays postponed her maiden voyage until 1976, by which time she had been renamed as Monte Castillo. The ships ran a summer service in the Mediterranean, and in the winter carried fruit and vegetables across the Bay of Biscay to Liverpool and Newhaven from Spain and the Balearic Islands

By 1977, the service across the Bay of Biscay for which they were built had ceased, the ships were sold: Monte Castillo was sold to Manx Line (later Sealink-Manx Line) and renamed Manx Viking for service between Heysham, England and Douglas, Isle of Man. Following a controversial reverse takeover in 1986 by the Isle of Man Steam Packet company, she worked a season painted in Steam Packet livery, initially alongside the Mona's Isle (ex-Free Enterprise III) followed by Antrim Princess (subsequently renamed Tynwald) before Manx Vikings lease was terminated and she was returned to her owners (the parent Sealink company, by now part of Sea Containers Ltd, who had actually funded the takeover). In 1987, she was briefly renamed Manx for the delivery voyage to new Norwegian owners Det Stavangerske Dampskibsselskap, for whom she sailed in service under the name Skudenes. The ship was sold again in 1989, into service with the Government of Ontario. She was renamed Ontario No.1 for the Atlantic crossing before her final renaming as MS Nindawayma.

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