Remote St Helena loses maritime access

St Helena Line has announced Thursday that it is to withdraw the passenger- cargo Royal Mail Ship (RMS) ‘St Helena’ from service in February 2018 and has appointed London ship broker CW Kellock & Co Ltd to handle her sale.

Operated by St Helena Line Ltd (SHL) on behalf of the St Helena Government (SHG), the RMS has been part of the island’s history for over quarter of a century and provided the sole regular means of access to the island, a remote UK Overseas Territory located 1200 miles off the West coast of Africa in the South Atlantic.

The ship was built in the UK in 1990 specifically for the St Helena route and is one of only four ships left in the world which has the right to carry the Royal Mail Ship (RMS) prefix.

The RMS currently operates out of Cape Town calling at both St Helena and Ascension Island on a regular schedule.

The RMS St Helena is now embarked on her final programmed voyages and in the coming weeks will make a farewell call to Tristan da Cunha and then a final voyage to both St Helena and Ascension Island. With the start of scheduled passenger flights to St Helena on 14 October 2017, providing the main passenger access to the Island, the RMS St Helena will be withdrawn from service in early next year. She is expected to finish her last voyage in Cape Town on 15 February 2018.

    Commenting on the sale process and her withdrawal from service, SHL’s Chairman, Matt Young, said: “The RMS St Helena has played a vital role in sustaining St Helena’s population and, for the past 27 years has been the sole means of regular access to the Island.”