The European Highlander is one of the fastest and most powerful conventional ferries on the Irish Sea, with a speed of 23 knots. It is the second of two vessels built for P&O by Mitsubishi Heavy Industries at their Shimonoeki shipyard, Japan.

The European Highlander was built as a replacement for the Pride of Ailsa and has never served on any other P&O route during her career to date. She is essentially a ro-pax vessel with a small passenger capacity but high freight capacity.