MS Rahal

MS Rahal was a car-passenger ferry owned by Bayway Shipping Co and sailing on the Red Sea.

She was built in 1972 by Meyer Werft, Papenburg, Germany as Diana for Rederi AB Slite and later she was named Botnia Express, Alandia, Jamaa II and Rahal.

When delivered in December 1972, Diana was initially set on a route connecting Naantali in Finland to Kapellskär in Sweden via Mariehamn in Åland.

On June 20 she began her service With Oy Vaasa-Umeå Ab, serving on routes connecting Vaasa, Finland to Sundsvall, Örnsköldsvik and Umeå in Sweden.

During the difficult winter 1984–1985 Botnia Express was caught in heavy ice twice, first in February when she had to be helped out by the Finnish icebreaker Tarmo and again in March.

In November of the same year she was again chartered, this time to Vaasanlaivat's subsidiary Jakob Lines for traffic between Jakobstad, Finland and Skellefteå, Sweden under the trade name Polar Princess.

Between March and June 1992 Alandia was chartered to Corona Line for Karlskrona (Sweden) – Gdynia (Poland) service.

In September 2006 she finally began scheduled services from Jeddah, Saudi Arabia to various ports along the Red Sea.

Diana on her maiden voyage at Stockholm in 1972