TS Leda was a passenger and cargo vessel operating between 1953 and 1974 as a twice weekly North Sea ferry between Bergen, Stavanger and Newcastle upon Tyne.

Built by Swan Hunter for Det Bergenske Dampskibsselskab (Bergen Line), she was launched in 1952 by Princess Astrid of Norway accompanied by her father, Crown Prince Olav.

[2] Leda replaced the Vega which had been sunk in the war and was important for the Bergen Line in operating the ferry service (the "Norwegian Royal Mail Route") that had started in 1890.

The first Norwegian vessel to be built with stabilisers,[5] Leda's powerful steam turbines made her quiet and good at sea.

[2] On 21 December 1957 when about 120 miles southwest of Stavanger Leda received a message from Stonehaven Radio Station saying that the Scottish freighter SS Narva was in distress.

In winds gusting to severe gale Leda turned and went three miles to reach Narva which was rapidly sinking and which reported it had no lifeboats to launch.

[2][11][12] Once more she was laid up at Venice until being brought into operation for Mediterranean Cruises in 1998, with disastrous results stemming from her poor mechanical condition.

[1] Shortly afterwards in 2002, and while she was being scrapped, the Greenpeace vessel Rainbow Warrior arrived as part of a campaign against toxic waste and poor working conditions in the shipbreaking industry.