The Norbank was designed and built for North Sea Ferries in 1994 along with her sister the Norbay. The two freighters were designed to provide an increased amount of freight capacity on the Hull to Rotterdam service. Their design was such that they were unable to pass through the lock at Hull. Because of this a new berth was constructed just outside the lock in the River Humber. The Norbank and her sister implemented a new later departure time from Hull and Rotterdam respectively due to their higher service speed.

In 2003 the Norbank along with her sister were transferred to the Liverpool to Dublin route, following being incorporated into the P&O fleet and livery the previous year. The reason they were transferred was down to the introduction of the Pride of Hull and Pride of Rotterdam replacing not only them but also the 16 year old Norsea and Norsun on the Hull to Rotterdam service. The new Prides were likewise too large to use the old traditional berths and therefore continued to use the river berth. Likewise the new timetable on the route was to become that of the later departure from both ports introduced by the two freighters.

One point to note is that the North Sea Ferries naming convention has been retained rather than the standard P&O naming convention of European xxxx for freighters.

The Norbank is pictured below during her career on the Irish Sea.