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Latest ferry news for March 2007
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Cairnryan Ferry Port revamp go-ahead due 'within a week'
Date: 26 Mar 2007 Source: The ScotsmanA £40 million redevelopment of one of Scotland's busiest ferry terminals will be approved by ministers within days, one of its operators claimed yesterday.
Stena Line said the green light for redevelopment of the Cairnryan port would enable it to switch Belfast sailings to there from Stranraer late next year.
The joint project with rival group P&O - which already operates between Cairnryan and Larne - would see the new terminal handle more than two million passengers a year.
Michael McGrath, Stena's Irish Sea area director, said he was confident ministers would grant a harbour empowerment order within a week to enable the scheme to go ahead. It follows a public inquiry triggered by residents' concerns over noise.
But the North Channel Partnership, a public-private group lobbying for improved links to the Stranraer and Cairnryan ports, fears the decision may be postponed until after the Scottish elections in May.
Stena commands the lion's share of the Scotland-Northern Ireland ferry market, with 1.2 million passengers in 2005 compared with 600,000 on P&O's service from Cairnryan and 200,000 on its Troon-Larne route. Stena said it carried 1.7 million passengers last year.
Stena wants to move its operations from Stranraer to cut the crossing time by 20 minutes and increase services.
Sweden-based Stena will today announce a doubling of profits - up from £19 million in 2005 to nearly £40 million last year. It put the improvement down to passenger growth, strong freight development and cost-cutting.
Stena Explorer returns on the Holyhead to Dun Laoghaire route
Date: 23 Mar 2007 Source: ClickpressThe HSS Stena Explorer fast ferry service made a welcome return on the Holyhead to Dun Laoghaire route on Saturday 24 February. Following a refit at the Harland & Wolff shipyard in Belfast the craft has returned having received a €1.75 million (£1.17 million) refurbishment including a new seating area at the rear of the craft.
Stena Line route director Vic Goodwin is delighted to have the Stena Explorer, which offers the fastest crossing from Wales to Ireland, back in action.
“We are delighted to have her back on the route. The Stena Explorer plays an important part in helping us maintain and strengthen Stena Line’s position as market leader on the Irish Sea,” said Vic.
The Stena Explorer, which carries 1,500 passengers, 350 cars and/or 50 trucks, operates two return trips per day between Holyhead and Dun Laoghaire. On board facilities include restaurants, bars, shops and the exclusive Stena Plus lounge. Stena Plus passengers can look forward to first class treatment all the way to Ireland, where they can relax in comfortable surroundings and enjoy a wide selection of complimentary snacks and beverages and a choice of daily newspapers.
In addition to gaining access to the Stena Plus Lounge, motorists who have purchased the Premium fare can also benefit from express boarding and disembarkation.
Onboard the HSS there is a range of entertainment available for the whole family, especially during the holiday periods. The HSS Stena Explorer ferry offers a choice of restaurants (Food City Restaurant, Pumpkins Sandwich Bar, Burger King) and bars (The Metropolitan Bar, Spikes Bar) to match travellers’ every mood, as well as a vast array of shopping opportunities with onboard savings. The HSS also represents a fantastic travel experience for children with a number of special events, to make the trip memorable, and children’s play areas.
Stena Line operates the biggest fleet and the widest choice of routes from Ireland to Britain, with ten ferries operational across five routes including the Holyhead to Dun Laoghaire and Dublin Port, Fishguard to Rosslare, Stranraer to Belfast and Fleetwood to Larne routes. The company carries more than three million passengers on its Irish Sea routes each year, more than its rival ferry operators combined.
New Belfast Ferry terminal to cut sailing times
Date: 21 Mar 2007 Source: Belfasttelegraph.co.ukWork has begun on a new £35m Stena fast ferry terminal at the Port of Belfast and the facility is due to open for the summer 2008 season.
The 35,000 sq ft development is being built on a 32-acre site of reclaimed land close to Fortwilliam, two miles downstream from the existing terminal at Donegall Quay.
Because it is nearer to the open sea, the facility will enable the HSS and conventional ferries to cut their journey time to Scotland.
Changes are afoot at Loch Ryan too, where Stena is planning to move out of Stranraer to a new terminal beside the P&O facility at Cairnryan.
Gunnar Blomdahl, Stena's global chief executive officer, who was in Belfast for yesterday's announcement, said the Irish Sea was one of the company's fastest-growing markets.
"Together with the proposed new facility in Cairnryan, the new Belfast terminal will reduce travel time by 20 minutes and allow Stena Line to provide additional sailings," he said.
"Despite competition from low-cost airlines, and a volatile fuel market, we have continued to grow business and nowhere is this more apparent than on the Irish Sea."
Len O'Hagan, chairman of Belfast Harbour Commissioners, said the investment, which did not involve any taxpayers' money, was the biggest undertaken by the port.
He said: "Eight years ago the port began reclaiming part of Belfast Lough with millions of tonnes of stone and sand, creating a site that will allow Stena to relocate its Belfast operation nearer to Scotland.
"By ensuring that local importers and exporters can access the global market more quickly and more often, today's investment will improve the competitiveness of the Northern Ireland economy."
As part of the scheme, the Harbour Commissioners are funding the construction of a new dual carriageway link road from the M2 at Fortwilliam to the Harbour Estate.
The contract for design and build work on the terminal has been won by McLaughlin & Harvey, the Newtownabbey-based construction firm, and project management will be by Mouchel Parkman from Holywood.
The expansion comes at a time when the Harbour Commissioners are awaiting the verdict of the Government on its ports policy review.
The commissioners claimed the proposals amounted to an attempt to asset-strip the port.
AT Ferries unlikely to resume Bilbao-Portsmouth service
Date: 20 Mar 2007 Source: Lloyds ListIt has not been the best start to a new year for Portsmouth. The UK’s second busiest ferry port has suffered a major delay in the start-up of a new freight service to Cherbourg, France by Irish operator Celtic Link Ferries and a decision by Spanish operator Acciona Trasmediterranea (AT Ferries) not to resume its Bilbao service at the end of April.
The Spanish operator, the country’s largest ferry company, unexpectedly pulled the plug on the Bilbao service in mid-January this year, saying that the vessel on the run, the 2002-built ro-pax Fortuny, was going into drydock for her annual refit and the service would resume on April 25.
Portsmouth Continental Ferry Port was only given 48 hours’ notice on the suspension of the three-times-a-week service.
AT Ferries told Lloyd’s List in a statement: “Acciona Trasmediterranea regrets that it is unable to resume service on the Bilbao-Portsmouth route this spring due to a shortage of vessels to cover its fleet needs.
“For technical and operational reasons the Fortuny super-ferry has now transferred to the Mediterranean zone, where it will operate throughout the high season.
“The company may resume services if it can find and charter a vessel of similar characteristics. The company has contacted clients who may be affected by this change and will pay the corresponding refunds.”
The feeling within the industry is that AT Ferries will not return to Portsmouth this year, or ever, as the type of vessel that it is looking for on the charter market quite simply appears not to be available.
Transmanche Ferries now bookable online!
Date: 15 Mar 2007 Source: Directferries.co.ukTransmanche Ferries can now be booked online with directferries.co.uk.
Transmanche Ferries operate a ferry service between Newhaven and Dieppe in France, up to 3 times daily.
In just four hours, Transmanche Ferries takes you from Newhaven, the UK port closest to London and a short distance from the famous seaside resort of Brighton, to Dieppe, ideally situated in Upper Normandy with fast connections to Paris and all parts of Northern France.
Transmanche Ferries all year ferry service between Newhaven and Dieppe operates with two very comfortable and modern vessels, the Seven Sisters and the Côte d’Albâtre.
For more information, or to make a Newhaven Dieppe Ferry booking, please visit our Transmanche Ferries page.
AT Ferries Portsmouth Bilbao service ends
Date: 8 Mar 2007 Source: Directferries.co.ukAT Ferries are no longer running a ferry service from Portsmouth or Bilbao
Although the AT Ferries UK - Spain connection only commenced operation in May 2006, due to continuing operational reasons that could not be solved in the medium term, it was announced on 8th March 2007 that they had cancelled all scheduled sailings between Portsmouth and Bilbao.
Alternatives to the At Ferries service are available with P&O Ferries on the same route, and with Brittany Ferries from Plymouth to Santander.
For more information, please visit our Ferries to Spain page.
Memorial for Zeebrugge ferry victims
Date: 6 Mar 2007 Source: ITV NewsA memorial service has been held to mark the 20th anniversary of the Zeebrugge ferry disaster in which 193 people died.
The Reverend Sean Carter described the moment The Herald of Free Enterprise ferry turned over on its side in Zeebrugge harbour in Belgium 20 years ago as "a dark and dreadful night for so many people".
"It still makes no sense to us. We are still shocked as we recall this 20th anniversary," he told survivors and victims' relatives at the British and International Sailors' Society centre in Dover.
"It was one of those events which people will always remember where they were at that time," he added.
The ferry company Townsend Thoresen, which later became P&O European Ferries, was severely criticised for its "sloppiness" in a public inquiry.
The inquiry confirmed that the ferry had left the harbour with its bow doors open, allowing water to flood the car deck and forcing the ferry to overturn. The crew member responsible for closing the doors was asleep at the time.
The 45-minute service was followed by relatives casting wreaths and flowers into the sea off the Prince of Wales pier and a ceremony at the Herald Wood - a Zeebrugge memorial area in the Whitfield district of Dover.
Fast ferry returns after major refit
Date: 1 Mar 2007 Source: icNorthWalesThe HSS Stena Explorer fast ferry service has made a return to the Holyhead to Dun Laoghaire route following a £1.17m refit.
Explorer was kitted out at the Harland & Wolff shipyard in Belfast and now includes a new seating area.
The fast ferry, which carries 1,500 passengers, 350 cars and/or 50 trucks, resumed duties across the Irish Sea last Saturday.
Stena Line route director Vic Goodwin is delighted to have the Stena Explorer, which offers the fastest crossing from Wales to Ireland, back in action.
“We are delighted to have her back on the route. The Stena Explorer plays an important part in helping us maintain and strengthen Stena Line’s position as market leader on the Irish Sea,” he said.
© Direct Ferries Ltd
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