Landlocked York is to have another sea-going ship named after the city.

P&O Ferries are to rename one of their newly-refurbished Hull-Zeebrugge ferries as Pride of York in a ceremony later this month.

The city already has a Royal Navy destroyer, HMS York, named after it and the closest either ship can get to York is Hull.

The Lord Mayor and Lady Mayoress of York, along with the Sheriff and Sheriff's Lady, will be invited aboard for the ceremony in Hull on January 29.

The ferry being renamed is the 30-year-old Norsea, a 31,000-tonner which can carry 1,250 passengers.

P&O are honouring York in recognition of the thousands of European passengers who use the ferries to visit the tourist city every year.

"We have a million passengers a year using our ferries, and for the short-break trippers, York is the major destination," said a spokesman.

On the other side of the North Sea, P&O has already renamed the Norsea's sister ferry, Norsun, as Pride of Bruges, the tourist city close to the Zeebrugge terminal.

Updated: 10:56 Wednesday, January 22, 2003