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Latest Ferry News

DFDS SEAWAYS

16 December 2011

The Norman Spirit was transferred to the Dover-Dunkirk service in November to boost the Danish company’s operations between Dover and Dunkirk following the withdrawal of SeaFrance’s operations on the Dover Strait. The Norman Spirit was replaced by the Norman Voyager on the Portsmouth-Le Havre route and the Norman Asturias was brought back from lay-up into service on the St. Nazaire-Gijon service.

STEAM PACKET

16 December 2011

During the last three weeks the Steam Packet Company have been forced to cancel a series of crossings with their Ben my Chree due to problems with the vessel's bow thruster, and also due to the severe high winds which the North West of England have experienced. The Ben my Chree went to Cammell Laird on 16th December for repairs to her bow thruster, which has caused problems with her berthing at both Heysham and Douglas. Freight sailings were cancelled during her absence and the Manannan was brought into service to continue passenger and car ferry operations. The Ben my Chree is due to return to service on the 08.45 sailing from Douglas on Tuesday, 20th December.

SEAFRANCE

15 December 2011

A French court had set 12th December for the submission of bids that might have saved the company. Now it seems inevitable that it will be wound up by the end of January with the loss of 700 jobs in France and more than 100 in Dover. Its ships have not sailed for weeks. French business consultant Thaddee Segard said last night: "The final liquidation of SeaFrance is no longer in doubt. DFDS/LD Lines announced late yesterday that it would not be submitting a new bid after its earlier one was rejected by a French court as too low. The consortium had hoped to file a revised offer and held extensive talks with the parties involved. But it ran up against union opposition to its plans to slash jobs. "Unfortunately it has not been possible to establish a dialogue with the union representing the majority of SeaFrance's employees," it said. It regretted the decision because there was "underlying industrial logic" to the proposal. "Furthermore, we believe that the joint venture is in a unique position to create a sustainable, attractive and profitable workplace for a majority of the present employees, including the deployment of French flagged ships." It is understood that a union plan fell well short of the 50 million euro target despite an offer of 10 million euro from Nord Pas de Calais regional council

HOVERTRAVEL

23 November 2011

Hovertravel services between Ryde and Southsea were suspended on 18th November following an incident on 30th October involving the propeller on the largest hovercraft in the company's fleet. Following a thorough inspection of the entire fleet of hovercraft, and full certification of the vessels' safety and compliance with the Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MCA) regulations a single vessel service was restored on Monday afternoon 21st November. 


P&O FERRIES

18 November 2011

P&O Ferries has introduced more capacity to its Dover – Calais service in light of the disruption to SeaFrance services on the route. The European Seaway has joined the company’s Dover fleet to boost freight capacity. The ship is a dedicated freight ferry that can carry 120 heavy goods vehicles. P&O Ferries now has six ferries sailing between Dover and Calais which between them can make up to 30 return crossings a day. The company says that it has ample capacity to repatriate freight and tourist traffic displaced by the suspension of SeaFrance services.

CONDOR FERRIES

17 November 2011

MAIB Accident Investigation Report and Safety Flyer
Commodore Clipper Fire
Incident: June 2010
Published 16 November 2011

Key issues:
  • Fire on the vehicle deck caused by overheating in a plug connection that was providing electrical power from the ship to a refrigerated road trailer.
  • Fire was extremely difficult to put out because the trailers were packed so closely together.
  • Investigation identifies useful lessons for ferry and port operators in preventing and dealing with vehicle deck fires
    Identifies the need to consider further fire protection measures on existing ferries.
     
The summary Safety Flyer can be read on:
 
The full 184 page report is available at:
 
There is some criticism that passengers were not evacuated from the ship for 20 hours.

SEAFRANCE

17 November 2011

SEAFRANCE STATEMENT (3)

Paris 16th november 2011.

The management of the company has today been placed under the control of the administrators.They have decided that commercial activities of the company will resume as soon as all the issues concerning safety and security are resolved.

We are conscious of the inconvenience this situation is causing and we apologise for this. We will keep you informed of any changes in the present situation.

Should you need any further information, Please contact us on +44 (0) 845 458 0666 to speak to a member of staff.

SEAFRANCE STATEMENT (2)

The Tribunal has decided today [16 November] that the company will be put into full administration but with the continuation of the business. This decision has set a new deadline of 12th December for the receipt of new offers.

Later today we will confirm the date and time of resumption of schedule services on the Dover Calais route.

SEAFRANCE STATEMENT (1)

We are approaching November 16th, the date when the decision of the Court of commerce will dictate the future of the Company, the Board of SeaFrance has decided, in liaison with the French National Authorities, to suspend the ship operations on the 15th of November at 04 00 hours. The suspension of service will last for 48 hours pending the decision of the court.

We have taken this decision, with full knowledge of the consequences, to safeguard the security of the passengers, crews, vehicles and ships. We are conscious of the inconvenience this situation is causing and we apologise for this. We will keep you informed of any changes in the present situation.

Should you need any further information, Please contact us on +44 (0) 845 458 0666 to speak to a member of staff.


When John Hendy took this photo of the SeaFrance Moliere leaving Dover on 24th October it might have been her final departure for the company but, following news that the EU have blocked any re-capitalisation by SNCF, the expected court ruling on the future of the operation has yet again been postponed. It appears that the bids from the Unions or the joint bid from DFDS and LDA are not regarded as adequate. Watch this space!

STENA LINE

13 November 2011

The Stena Navigator and  the Stena Caledonia laid at up at Belfast's Alfred Quay following the closure of the Stranraer service and the introduction of the "Stena Superfasts" on the new route to Cairnryan on 21st November.  The HSS Stena Voyager is laid up at VT4 Belfast.  All three ships will be looked after in lay-up by Northern Marine Management (NMM) - the Stena-owned ship management company until their fates are determined.


EneRmaR

8 November 2011

The Sardinian company operate a 4 ship fleet on the 15 minute crossing from La Maddelena to Palau. Bill Macmeikan’s photos, taken at the end of September, show the 1974-built Pace, one of the two larger units in their fleet – and the Norwegian-built Teseo (1965) which served as the Dalsfjord until coming to Italian waters in 1994 when she took her present name. In 2001 she was re-named the Lerina for a period..

SAREMAR

7 November 2011

The Cagliari-based company continue to operate a number of short crossings despite having moved onto longer routes in recent years. The shortest of these is between La Maddelena and Palau on which the 49 metre long Arbatax (1966) is used. Photo: Bill Macmeikan.  

FASTNET LINE

2 November 2011

INTERIM EXAMINER APPOINTED TO FASTNET LINE

1 NOVEMBER 2011
THE FASTNET Line Group of companies has been placed into lnterim Examinership by Justice Peter Kelly at a sitting of the High Court. Michael McAteer of Grant Thornton has been appointed Interim Examiner.

The Cork to Swansea Ferry, operated by Fastnet, will discontinue its full published service with immediate effect. All booked passengers will be contacted in the coming days, with full refunds been issued. A further hearing date of 15th November has been set by Justice Kelly upon which the Interim Examiner will present a report on progress to the court.

FASTNET LINE apologises to its customers for any inconvenience that the short notice of the withdrawal of the service may cause. The re-structured viable business plan that has been presented as part of the examinership process, forecasts that the service will re commence on Friday April 6th 2012 and sail until Saturday September 29th 2012. It is envisaged under the new schedule, that the service with not operate during the months October to March inclusive in the future.

The full statement can be read on

CONDOR FERRIES

1 November 2011

The 74-metre Incat Condor 10 has been sold for service on an internal Korean ferry route. Manned by a Condor Ferries delivery crew she took 25 days to reach Pusan from Weymouth with a refuelling stop in Malta, then on to Port Said, Suez to Jeddah in Saudi Arabia and onto Colombo, Singapore, and then to their final destination of Pusan in South Korea via the Luzon Straight. Condor 10 was the first car-carrying fast ferry to serve the Channel Islands when she started operating on the Weymouth to Channel Islands route in April 1993. She was replaced in 2010 by the 86m Condor Rapide.

CALEDONIAN MACBRAYNE

1 November 2011

The Muineag passed through Pentland Firth on 30th October en-route for Gydnia for dry-dock and major survey. The
Isle of Arran (pictured) is substituting on the Ullapool-Stornoway overnight freight service.

The Loch Nevis was due in the Mersey on 1st November but, after spending the morning off the Manx coast appears to have missed the tide and will not dock until 2nd November.

SCANDLINES

24 October 2011

The two new vessels for the Gedser-Rostock route to be put in service in 2012 will be christened M/S Copenhagen and M/S Berlin. M/S Copenhagen will sail under the Danish flag while M/S Berlin will sail under the German flag. The ferries are being built by P+S Werften in Stralsund and offer capacity for 460 cars or 90 trucks. Passenger capacity will increase to 1,500 from 1,000 today.

Full details of the new ferries are available on: http://www.scandlines.com/en/new-ferries-2012/welcome