Celebrating Gry Maritha: A lifeline for the Isles of Scilly

This year, we will bid farewell to Gry Maritha as she makes way for our newest freight vessel, Menawethan — marking the end of an era and the beginning of an exciting new chapter for Isles of Scilly Freight and the Steamship Group. Over the coming months, we’ll share stories from crew members, past and present, and celebrate all that Gry Maritha has done for the islands. But before we look ahead, let’s step back to the early 1980s.

It’s 1981 and Raiders of the Lost Ark has hit cinema screens, Bucks Fizz win the Eurovision song contest for the UK, Prince Charles and Lady Diana announce their engagement… and in Norway, a 123ft-long freight vessel is launched — a vessel that would soon become a vital service to the people of the Isles of Scilly for more than 35 years.

From Nordic fjords to the Cornish sea

Built by Moen Slip in the Norwegian town of Kolvereid, Gry Maritha operated from the Port of Namsos in Trøndelag county from 1981 until 1989, until she was acquired by the Isles of Scilly Steamship Group. Gry Maritha’s first captain, Tor Sevaldsen, named her after his young daughter. Pronounced “Gree Mareeta,” the vessel was designed as a mini pallet carrier with her own six-tonne crane — perfect for the varied goods the Isles of Scilly needed.

A workhorse for the Isles

For generations, Gry Maritha has been a lifeline for Scillonians, delivering everything from milk and machinery to building materials and Christmas trees. Through sunshine, rain and even a global pandemic, she has kept the islands connected to the mainland.

Since joining the Isles of Scilly Freight fleet, Gry Maritha has sailed around 400,000 miles, the equivalent of circling the Earth 16 times or traveling to the Moon and back – twice!

She has transported 542,000 tonnes of freight, the same weight as 90,000 London buses or 5,400 blue whales.

What did she carry?

Since her first voyage across the Celtic seas, the range of items transported has always been as varied as the community it served. An early price list offers a glimpse into the variety of goods shipped to the Isles of Scilly during Gry Maritha’s initial years of service, with some items not too dissimilar from what is still transported today.

• Sewing machines
• A box of flowers
• Potato crisps
• Video cassette recorders
• Pool tables
• Prams and pushchairs
• Eggs
• Typewriters
• Radios, stereos, tape recorders
• Gaming machines 
• Fireworks

Daphne Chudleigh, who served as the Steamship Group’s secretary for 35 years, wrote in her book ‘Bridge over Lyonesse’ that Gry Maritha brought “a new commercial edge to the service in the face of rising competition.” Sailing under the British flag, she was one of the few commercial ships added to the British register in 1989, crewed by local men steeped in Cornish seafaring tradition.

Paul Stevens spent more than 185,000 miles on board the Gry Maritha and was Senior Master from 2010 to 2022.

He said: “The Gry, and her crew, are committed to the community on Scilly. It’s a big responsibility and it’s no exaggeration to say she is a lifeline to the islands, especially in the winter.”

“There have been a few memorable, stormy journeys – I remember one eight-hour passage in an easterly gale. The Gry has been through it all. She’s a real workhorse, built for the Norwegian fjords, and has been a reliable and loyal servant to the islands.”

Share your stories of the Gry

Do you have memories of Gry Maritha? Share them with us at islesofscilly-travel.co.uk/share-your-memories. And, as a thank you, you will automatically be entered into our prize draw to win two Scillonian IV day trip tickets.