It was 1965, it was a different world.  Growing car ownership saw the government introduce the 70 miles per hour speed limit on motorways.  Overseas travel and trade was booming, and a new company was finalising plans to transform ferry links between the UK and Holland.

It was on 17 December 1965 that North Sea Ferries started what would become nothing short of a revolution, when the Norwave made her inaugural sailing from Hull to Rotterdam’s Europoort.  With sister ship Norwind a schedule was established that has been maintained ever since. P&O’s interest was through its subsidiary General Steam Navigation Company, which had a 35 per cent stake in North Sea Ferries.  With ships of 4,306 tons and a mighty 360 feet in length, it wasn’t so much the space for 249 passengers that was unusual, as the ships’ capacity for trucks, trailers, coaches and cars.

The new service was not without its teething troubles though.  Press reports of the time tell how journalists sampled the crossing in a howling gale that had trailers bouncing around the vehicle deck, until they were firmly lashed down.    Sceptics were sure the new ships were too ambitious, bringing too much capacity that couldn’t possibly be required.  In the first year 54,000 passengers were carried. These days it’s more like a million.

As the service went from strength to strength, in less than a decade demand so outstripped supply that in 1974 the vastly bigger Norland and Norstar were introduced. These weighed in at 12,988 tons making them the largest ferries the world had ever seen – a benchmark that was to be set at Hull again in years to come.

Ferries of this unprecedented scale transformed the comfort of passengers during the crossing.  Indeed, the true ocean-going capability of such ships was underlined when the Ministry of Defence chartered the Norland for service in the South Atlantic as part of the British Task Force sent to the Falklands in 1982.

The Norland and Norstar were impressive in their day, but their replacements in 1987 represented another giant leap in scale and the range of on board facilities. Enter the Norsun and Norsea.  At 31,785 tonnes and 179 metres long, they were built to the very limit of what can pass through the lock gates into the King George Dock at Hull.  The ships are 25.35 metres wide and the gates just 25.9 metres.

These ships are still big even by today’s standards and with constant updating and refurbishment remain in service sailing to Zeebrugge as the Pride of Bruges and Pride of York.  Passing through the lock gates may be a routine manoeuvre for the ferry captains but the inch-perfect accuracy of positioning never ceases to amaze passengers as they realise just how little spare room there is to play with.

Success continued to breed success. Dedicated freight ferries became part of the fleet, sailing from Teesport as well as Hull.  North Sea Ferries became wholly owned by P&O in 1996 and growing confidence saw history made again with an order for the two largest cruise ferries ever built, in the shape of the Pride of Hull and Pride of Rotterdam in 2001.  And at 60,000 tonnes they required new purpose-built facilities at Hull to accommodate them, which led to development of the River Terminal.

The effort to refine services is constant and as the 40th anniversary date approached P&O Ferries introduced the acclaimed Langan’s Brasserie to its North Sea ships. These authentic versions of the famous Langan’s in London’s West End have already proved a huge hit on other services operated by P&O Ferries.