Ferry Time blog

Source: Lloyds List

LD Lines new high-speed ferry Norman Arrow left Hobart over the weekend to travel the 11,726 miles to Dover, where it is due to arrive on May 23, writes Sandra Speares.

The 11,000 gt vessel will become the largest ever fast ferry to operate on the cross-Channel route between Dover and Boulogne and the first freight carrying high-speed vessel across the Dover Straits.

LD Lines will begin its service on May 29.

Norman Arrow is also the world’s largest diesel-powered catamaran and the first Incat-built 112 m craft to operate in Europe.

When the ferry enters service, LD Lines will move from two return sailings daily by conventional ferry Cote d’Albatre to six. The fast ferry will make the crossing in one hour and will carry all types of traffic including vehicles, coaches and foot passengers, as well as freight.

The ferry will have a service speed of 40 knots and capacity of 1,200 passengers and 417 cars.

The first voyage of the new ferry service linking Scotland to mainland Europe has just been completed.

The Scottish Viking, which will sail between Rosyth in Fife and Zeebrugge in Belgium three times a week, finished its maiden voyage and passengers were welcomed off the ship by Scottish First Minister Alex Salmond as it arrived into the Scottish port.

He said: “I’m delighted to welcome the Scottish Viking and its first homecoming passengers to Scotland… Maintaining connections with major European markets is vital for Scotland at a time of global economic challenges.

“But not only will the Scottish Viking allow access to important commercial contacts, it will be a boost for the local economy in Fife, and an environmentally friendly route home for Scotland’s friends, family and visitors.”

The ferry, run by Norfolkline, took over the route after it was discontinued by Superfast Ferries in September last year. Its departure from Zeebrugge however was delayed by several hours on Monday when the captain suffered a non-fatal heart attack and a replacement had to be found.

The Scottish Viking was built in an Italian shipyard and registered in Italy, and is therefore required to have an Italian captain on board. However, the ferry service will receive €2 million (£1.8 million) from the Scottish Government through a Waterborne Freight Grant.

As part of his welcome, the First Minister gave each passenger on the Scottish Viking’s maiden journey a special ticket offer for The Gathering, an international clan gathering due to take place in Edinburgh in July.

The Gathering is part of Scotland’s Homecoming Year celebrations, a series of events and festivities taking place throughout 2009 that are designed to put people from across the world back in touch with their Scottish roots.

LD Lines has announced the launch of the largest ever fast ferry to operate on the cross channel routes between England and France, with the introduction of a brand new, high speed Incat 112 metre Wave-Piercing Catamaran to its Dover – Boulogne service from 29 May 2009.

The fast ferry will be the first-ever freight carrying high speed vessel to operate across the Dover Straits and LD Lines becomes the first-ever French ferry company to operate high speed ferries on the short sea routes from Dover. The vessel is also the world’s largest diesel-powered catamaran and it will be the first Incat 112 metre to operate in Europe.

At nearly 11,000 gross tonnes, the new craft is one of the largest vessels yet built by Incat, providing significantly greater seakeeping qualities and passenger comfort than earlier generation fast ferries familiar to Dover Strait, cross channel passengers.

LD Lines new Dover-Boulogne service will be greatly enhanced as the new fast ferry will increase frequency from the current two to six return sailings daily. All types of tourist traffic will be carried including cars, caravans, motorhomes, motorcycles, coaches and foot passengers, in addition to freight.

The fast ferry will operate up to four return sailings daily between Dover (Eastern Docks) and Boulogne with a crossing time of 1 hour ; from Dover at 0415 ; 0745 ; 1230 and 1900 and from Boulogne at 0700 ; 1045 ; 1700 and 2230.

Two return sailings daily to Boulogne and one to Dieppe (Monday – Friday) will continue to be operated by the conventional ferry, which introduced the earlier than planned start of the new Dover – Boulogne service in February 2009. Crossing time by conventional ferry is 1 hour 45 minutes.

Both vessels will initially operate into the Port of Boulogne’s existing ferry berths, but following completion of Boulogne’s new Hub Port Ro Ro Terminal from 1 July 2009, both will then transfer to inaugurate and operate into the first linkspan of the new Hub Port Terminal.

The introduction of LD Lines’ first-ever fast ferry is a major development for the company, further emphasising the strategy to firmly establish its business on the cross channel routes from Dover, as Managing Director, Christophe Santoni explains.

“This is a very exciting, innovative step forward for LD Lines and with the introduction of this new high speed ferry, we will be dramatically revolutionising ferry transport across the channel, with a style of service never experienced before on the Dover Straits.

We will be offering a unique, combined high speed and conventional ferry sailing frequency via the Boulogne service, providing great appeal and choice, to meet the demands of tourist and freight customers and create new markets.”

Commenting on the expansion of the Dover – Boulogne service with a brand new fast ferry, Francis Leroy, President of the Chamber of Commerce of Boulogne-sur-Mer Cote d’Opale, said, ” By creating the new Hub Port Terminal, the commercial port of Boulogne is positioning itself strongly within the ferry transport market. For the port of Boulogne this new service is a new step in the development of rapid links.”

The introduction of the new high speed ferry to operate with the conventional ferry on the Dover – Boulogne service, will now mean that the ship “Norman Spirit” will remain on LD Lines’ Portsmouth – Le Havre route. This ship had previously been expected to operate the service to Boulogne’s new Ro Ro terminal from 1 July 2009.

LD Lines’ ferry route network comprises Portsmouth – Le Havre ; Rosslare (Southern Ireland) – Le Havre ; Newhaven – Dieppe ; Dover – Boulogne and Dover – Dieppe.

Source: BBC News

Cross-Channel ferry operator SeaFrance could be taken over by Brittany Ferries through a new holding company after negotiations with LD Lines broke down.

If successful, it would acquire four or five of SeaFrance’s vessels, which would continue in service sailing to Calais from the Kent port of Dover.

SeaFrance recently announced it could be axing up to 650 French jobs.

Brittany Ferries already operates five routes to France from Portsmouth, Poole and Plymouth and two to Spain.

It employs 2,500 staff, including 320 UK-based employees.

Union opposition

David Longden, managing director, said: “After 37 years of experience on the longer routes to France and Spain, this is an exciting opportunity to introduce Brittany Ferries’ award-winning standards on Dover-Calais crossings, and to provide an even greater choice for our passengers and freight customers.”

LD Lines, the newest ferry company operating between Dover and Boulogne and Dieppe, had been planning to make a formal bid for SeaFrance.

However, it revealed it had withdrawn its acquisition offer of a majority stake in SeaFrance, amid apparent union opposition.

SeaFrance’s parent company SNCF declined to comment on Wednesday.

Source: Portsmouth.co.uk

The biggest passenger ship in the English Channel is set to begin a regular service from Portsmouth.
From Tuesday the Pont-Aven, Brittany Ferries’ vast 2,400-passenger ship, will begin operating a weekly crossing from Portsmouth to Santander, north Spain, taking 24 hours to travel the 550-mile journey.

Managing director David Longden said: ‘Portsmouth is easily accessible via an excellent road network for a huge number of people.

‘The appeals of Spain are becoming more appreciated and, by providing a faster crossing, we believe we can grow the market.’

The speed of the nine-deck, 185m supership will make it the quickest sea crossing to Spain on the market, eight hours faster than its competitor services.

Previously, two sailings a week went from Plymouth, but the company has decided to move one to Portsmouth.

Source: BBC News | Wales

Backers aiming to refloat the Swansea to Cork ferry are in ongoing talks with the owner of a replacement boat.

During the last month they say over £2.5m in private money has been pledged towards the business venture.

A consortium has identified a 340-cabin ferry that could carry 1,400 passengers that would cost them around £9m.

Backers failed with a bid for the boat on Thursday but said negotiations were continuing and they were still hopeful of success.

The rest of the funds would come from bank loans, industry sources and grants.

The service which ceased in 2006 is estimated to be worth £70m to the combined economies of southern Wales and Ireland.

Investors on both sides of the Irish Sea have pledged funds.

The consortium said it was now vital people who pledged money should submit their cheques and cash.

Source: Travel Mole

DFDS Seaways has put a giant six-metre diameter red nose on the bow of one of its cruise ferries to launch its Comic Relief fund raising campaign.

Believed to be the biggest red nose – ever – it was created to launch the cruise line’s quest to raise money for Comic Relief’s Red Nose Day.

The nose was positioned on the bow of DFDS Seaways’ 162-metre-long m.s. KING OF SCANDINAVIA cruise ferry at the International Ferry Terminal just outside Newcastle.

UK managing director John Crummie said: “Comic Relief is an incredibly worthwhile charity, and their work in the UK and Africa is inspirational.

“In this current economic climate, it is more important than ever to remember that there are those less fortunate than ourselves.

“Our donations are being collected not only this week but across the year, as we will donate money for every booking we have on our Comedy mini cruises to Amsterdam.”

Five pounds from every one of DFDS Seaways’ comedy cruise bookings throughout the year will go towards Comic Relief.

In addition, on March 12 and 13 there will be a collection of money from customers within the terminal and on board the two DFDS Seaways’ cruise ferries sailing between Newcastle and Amsterdam, including in the main foyers and bars.

Source: thisishampshire.net

Wightlink has been forced to axe some sailings on the Lymington to Yarmouth route as crews struggle to get to grips with the new ferries.

Problems associated with the controversial W-class vessels have caused several delays since the multi-million-pound craft were introduced two weeks ago today.

Now Wightlink has revised its timetable, cutting the number of sailings from 24 a day to 21.

The company hopes the reduction will ensure that the new ferries run according to the advertised times.

A Wightlink spokesman said: “We are still in a learning period with the new ferries. Masters are becoming more familiar with the vessels but we were not able to meet the turnaround time.”

The new timetable will remain in force until May 24, the day the previous schedule was due to be revised.

Some of the worst delays occurred at the start of the week when the new craft were withdrawn from service because they are currently barred from operating in the Lymington River if wind speeds exceed 30 knots.

As reported in the Daily Echo, Wightlink were able to use Cenred – the only C-class vessel still moored in Lymington.

However, the vessel’s safety certificate expires tomorrow, leaving Wightlink with no back-up ferry if the W-class boats are prevented from sailing.

The company says it hopes a new report due to be published this week will allow the new craft to operate in stronger winds.

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Source: Maison de la France

Cross channel ferry links and rail services make France a good option for British people looking for an affordable break, according to an industry spokesman.

Jean-Pierre Courteau, director of government tourist office Maison de la France, said that the country is a “very inexpensive place to get to” for British travellers.

While he admitted that it will be difficult for the tourism industry to be profitable during the economic downturn, Mr Courteau said that the proximity of France makes it one of the most viable options for Brits travelling on a budget.

“You don’t have to fly there, you can take the ferry or the train. France gives a good opportunity to travel on a budget,” he said.

“I don’t say that we are going to profit from the crunch and the financial situation but people who are aware of not flying and travelling on a budget will come to France this year.”

Mr Courteau pointed out that, with about 11 million visitors every year, Britain is the most important source market for the French tourism industry.

Source: newswales.co.uk

Campaigners trying to raise nearly £3 million to resume a Swansea to Cork ferry service say they have been been overwhelmed by an ‘amazing response.’

And they have been given a new deadline of March 10 to come up with the shortfall of cash needed to re-launch the service.

A Finnish bank ready to bankroll most of the money to purchase a new boat says it will give the fundraising effort extra time.

But more pledges from South Wales, Cork, and Kerry are still needed to meet the target within the new deadline.

The consortium urgently needs investors to pledge £9,000 each to get the ferry up and sailing.

They say a £9,000 investment will be secured against the purchase of the vessel and with the service anticipated to make a profit by year two it should offer a good direct return for investors.

The proposed ferry would carry 1,800 passengers and 500 cars. The new boat is expected to cost approaching £10 million, of which the co-operative will be expected to provide nearly £3 million.

A similar service was a profitable business from 1987 to 2006. Its sudden closure meant a loss of Irish visitors who brought £65 million to Swansea and West Wales hotels, pubs, restaurants and B&Bs.

Campaigners say the return of the service would translate into hundreds of jobs in Swansea Bay and the surrounding area, as well as in and around Cork.

Potential investors can now pledge online using the following bank details:

1. Account name: McGuire Desmond, Solicitors, 5 Lapps Quay, Cork

2. Account No.: 5753 0213

3. Sort Code: 90-27-68

4. IBAN: IE96BOFI90276857530213

5. Swift Code: BOFIIE2D

6. Reference: South West Tourism – CD/MH/2204.1

7. Bank of Ireland, 32 South Mall, Cork