Built in 1967 by the English shipyard Cammell Laird of Birkenhead as Koningin Juliana for ferry operator Stoomvaart Maatschappij Zeeland of the Netherlands, it was used on the Harwich to Hook of Holland route until 1984.
She entered service the same year sailing between Hoek van Holland and Harwich for SMZ.
The Vronskiy was built in 1978 as the Prinses Beatrix by Verolme Shipyard, in Heusden, The Netherlands and worked for Stoomvaart Maatschappij Zeeland on their joint Sealink route between Hoek van Holland and Harwich, Parkeston Quay.
Services to France, Belgium and the Netherlands were also run by Sealink UK as part of the Sealink consortium which also used ferries owned by French national railways, the SNCF, the Belgian Maritime Transport Authority, Regie voor Maritiem Transport / Regie des transports maritimes (RMT/RTM) and the Dutch Stoomvaart Maatschappij Zeeland (Zeeland Steamship Company).
Apart from during the two world wars there has been a continuous service operating between these two countries, initially by the railway companies serving the east coast of England together with Stoomvaart Maatschappij Zeeland a Dutch ferry company.
Zeeland | Stoomvaart Maatschappij Zeeland | Rotterdamsche Droogdok Maatschappij | Party for Zeeland | Nieuwland, Zeeland | Maatschappij tot Nut van 't Algemeen | Maatschappij der Nederlandse Letterkunde | Hollandsche IJzeren Spoorweg-Maatschappij | Admiralty of Zeeland |