Scillonian (also referred to as Scillonian II or TSMV Scillonian) was a passenger ferry built for the Isles of Scilly Steamship Company in 1955 by John I. Thornycroft & Company of Woolston, Southampton. She was designed to carry 500 passengers and cargo, with a crew of 14, between Penzance and the Isles of Scilly.
Serving the Isles of Scilly
The ship was ordered on 18 March 1954 at a contract price of £250,000 (equivalent to £11,480,000 as of 2021), planned as a replacement for the first Scillonian which had been in continuous service since 1926. The new ship was laid down on 25 March 1955, completed on 15 November 1955 and christened by the Duchess of Gloucester. The second Scillonian was powered by two 6-cylinder four-stroke diesel engines (manufactured by Ruston & Hornsby) which propelled two three-blade screws, giving the ship a maximum speed of 15.5 knots.
The new passenger ferry made her first trip to the Isles of Scilly on 23 March 1956, sailing from Southampton to St Mary's. On her arrival, critics found the second Scillonian "too big, they will never hold her, not suitable or not as good a sea boat as the old boat" (the same had happened when the first Scillonian went into service in 1926 and would happen again with Scillonian III in 1977). Like her predecessor, the second Scillonian operated mainly between the Isles of Scilly and Penzance, although she sometimes diverted to Falmouth or St Ives in bad weather. A frequent traveller aboard the ship was Harold Wilson who had a holiday home in the Isles of Scilly. Between 1964 and 1966 she was joined on her route by the Queen of the Isles. Scillonian was eventually replaced by Scillonian III in May 1977, and was sold to P & A Campbell.
Later Service
Scillonian II was replaced by Scillonian III in 1977, and was sold to P & A Campbell as the Devonia joining the Balmoral. In her first season, Devonia deputised for Balmoral on the Bristol Channel, and ran on the Thames, still with her white hull. Campbells hoped to use her freight capacity to serve Lundy in the Bristol Channel, work eventually taken over by the Oldenburg, but this did not transpire. Over the winter of 1977/1978, Devonia was chartered for oil rig ferry work at Loch Kishorn, before returning to the Bristol Channel in April, by then in full Campbell colours. She was laid up in Bristol late 1978. P & A Campbell ceased operations in 1980.
Devonia was acquired by Torbay Seaways and renamed Devoniun in 1982. She operated trips to the Channel Isles, plus local excursions from Torquay. Torbay Seaways planned to replace her with the Caledonian Macbrayne ferry Clansman, but were refused permission to have a ramp at Torquay. They then bought the side-loading Hebrides in her place. Torbay Seaways were bought by the Huelin Renouf Group.
In 1984, Devoniun was sold to Norse Atlantic Ferries, and renamed Syllingar after arriving in Kirkwall in November 1984. Norse Atlantic Ferries were connected with the company which ran the Golden Mariana in Orkney, and the joint "fleet" was marketed as Viking Island Ferries. The Highlands & Islands Development Board put up the majority of the capital to purchase Syllingar, with both the Orkney and Shetland Island Councils also taking a minority interest. The timetable showed up to two returns each week between Kirkwall (Orkney), Westray and Scalloway (Shetland), plus additional cruises to Foula and Fair Isle etc. The journey took 9.5 hours. Financial problems, some caused by mechanical troubles, forced the service to cease in August 1985. Syllingar had demonstrated the need for a link between Orkney and Shetland, and the Orcadia continued the service the following year. P&O then introduced a regular service using the St Sunniva.
Following her period as Syllingar she was respectively the Remvi (1986-1989), running across the Adriatic for Hellenic Cruising Holidays, and then the Africa Queen (1989-1997), owned by J.A.R. Atlantic Ocean Ltd, Belize and operating off West Africa. The latter company renamed her the Princess Eliana (1997-1998) before her final sale as the Olga J. The owner of the Olga J was a Cypriot Greek ship-owner, John Christodoulo, director of Asterias Maritime, a company registered in Belize. The ship and her crew were abandoned by her owner in Bourgos, Bulgaria, and she later sank there.
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