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Latest ferry news for April 2009
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LD Lines to introduce revolutionary fast ferry in Dover
Date: 20 Apr 2009 Source: LD LinesLD 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.
For more information or to make a booking, please visit our LD Lines page.
Dover Ferries resume as blockade ends
Date: 16 Apr 2009 Source: BBC NewsFerry services from Dover have resumed after French fishermen ended their blockade of Calais and Dunkirk ports.
Thousands of holidaymakers and hauliers trying to cross the Channel had faced a third day of disruption in a dispute over EU fishing quotas.
A blockade of Dunkirk was also lifted, so protesters could discuss an offer of cash aid from the French government. The port of Boulogne remains closed.
P&O and SeaFrance ferries have resumed. Norfolkline is also in operation.
The ports had been blockaded since Tuesday.
French Fisheries Minister Michel Barnier has reportedly offered four million euros in aid to fishermen in the north of France, but has rejected demands to increase fishing quotas.
A spokeswoman for P&O said on Thursday morning: "The blockade is being lifted for today.
"We can start as soon as possible to get ships moving and resume a normal service as soon as possible."
The ferry operator said a backlog of cars and lorries at Dover had been cleared by 0830 BST.
Ferries started sailing immediately rather than waiting for scheduled sailings, a P&O statement added.
Ferry passenger Rafla Reszelluska, a Polish builder living in North Finchley, north London, who had to wait at Calais, said: "I'm very relieved. It's been very frustrating and I have had enough.
"This is none of our business, we just want to go home. We don't care about the situation in this place."
And another passenger at Calais, Judith Blatch, 47, from Sudbury, Suffolk, said: "I'm very happy. We have some sympathy with the French fishermen because it's their livelihood, but it wasn't doing the reputation of France any good."
She added: "With the fishermen blockading the ports it does put you off France."
'Worst possible time'
One of the Calais protesters, Pascal Hamy, 49, said "There have been some concessions but they're not enough.
"What we want to do is work. We're not guilty of causing the problem [for travellers].
"The people guilty of that are the French government and Brussels. It's not us.
"We understand people are stuck here and we know that they are frustrated.
"We're sorry but this action is the only thing the politicians understand."
The blockade was lifted overnight to allow the backlog of passengers to clear from Calais.
It was imposed again early on Thursday and then lifted again.
People had earlier been advised to make alternative travel arrangements.
Hundreds of lorry drivers have been queuing on the M20 in Operation Stack - put in place by Kent Police to reduce traffic congestion close to Dover.
Jo Tanner, from the Freight Transport Association, said the blockade had come at the worst possible time.
"It is costing £40 per hour per HGV and if you look at Operation Stack and the number of trucks it soon adds up," she said.
"Particularly when we have an industry that's already struggling thanks to the recession, thanks to successive fuel duty increases, this is absolutely the last thing that we need."
Mark Darlow, 41, an exhibition contractor from Retford in Nottinghamshire, was due to sail with his father, Peter, from Dover to Calais on Wednesday.
"This is having a huge effect on businesses, not just in the UK but the whole of Europe, this is one of the busiest freight terminals worldwide," he said.
One French union had reportedly tried to extend the blockade to Eurotunnel, but a spokesman for the tunnel operator said the French police would not allow that to happen.
French fishing unions have been protesting at ever tougher EU-imposed quotas, and demanding the French government take a stand on their behalf or offer more financial assistance.
On Wednesday, French ministers refused protesters' demands for increased cod quotas, but said they might offer extra financial support.
P&O has already said it is preparing a compensation case against the fishermen, and has estimated the cost to its business at about £1m a day.
Eurotunnel services and trains run by Eurostar have been unaffected by the industrial action so far.
Extra passenger and freight trains have been running from Folkestone to Calais to deal with increased demand.
French boats block Channel ports
Date: 15 Apr 2009 Source: BBC NewsFrench fishing boats have mounted a blockade of three Channel ports, interrupting ferry and freight traffic in a dispute over fishing quotas.
At Calais, Boulogne and Dunkirk fishing fleets were preventing ships entering or leaving the harbour.
However, ferry company P&O says the Calais blockade has now been lifted and stranded passengers are on the move.
British police have warned of serious delays and have started parking lorries on the M20 motorway.
Richard Barclay, returning from an Easter break in Belgium with his family, said some passengers had showed signs of frustration towards the port authorities, but "most people are just resigned to wait".
"The main problem is there is nothing to do, and only one facility, with an hour's wait to buy a sandwich," he told BBC News.
Calais relief
Late on Tuesday ferry operator P&O said that the blockade of Calais had been lifted, and it hoped to clear the back-log of 3,000 passengers by morning.
French fishing unions say they are protesting at ever tougher EU-imposed quotas, and are demanding that the French government take a stand on their behalf or offer more financial assistance.
They have not said how long their protest will last.
The EU says limiting the size of fishing catches is the best way to stop stocks being wiped out through over-fishing.
For travel updates, please visit our Ferry Travel updates page.
French blockades halt channel crossings
Date: 15 Apr 2009 Source: BBC NewsFerry operator P&O has cancelled all Dover to Calais crossings due to a blockade by French fishing boats.
The blockade at the port of Calais is also causing motorway disruption in Kent, police have said.
Fishing fleets have been stopping ships entering or leaving Calais, Boulogne and Dunkirk since Tuesday, in a dispute over fishing quotas.
The French general workers' union CFDT has threatened to blockade Eurotunnel and Eurostar on Thursday.
P&O has said the protest was costing £1m a day and it was preparing a compensation case against the fishermen.
The ferry operator has not said in which jurisdiction such a compensation case might be heard.
Services to Boulogne and Dunkirk have also been called off until further notice, P&O said.
Norfolkline passenger Charles Suckling, who was stranded at Dunkirk overnight, said the French Red Cross had been handing out thermal blankets to passengers who were in their cars, and also setting up camp beds and sleeping tents in the ferry terminal building.
The French army had also arrived to deliver food rations, he added.
Richard Barclay, who was due to sail from Calais to Dover on P&O with his family on Tuesday night, was making his journey back to Maidstone by train on Wednesday morning.
They spent the night with relatives in Bruges and managed to rebook their journey.
But he said he and his family arrived at the ferry port on Tuesday to see about 30 or 40 coaches all carrying children, who were stranded and waiting to cross the Channel.
"There were coach-loads of children, either schools or football teams," he said.
"It's the children I feel sorry for. They were probably at the end of their Easter break and had run out of money.
"They were spilling out into the car parks, playing football, and generally hanging out as teenagers do."
P&O spokesman Chris Laming said blockades were lifted temporarily overnight, allowing the ferry operator to repatriate 3,000 passengers who were waiting on the quayside.
He said: "We got them all home by about two o'clock this morning, but at six o'clock, eight fishing boats went back into the port of Calais and the whole thing kicked off again."
Mr Laming said fishing vessels had strung themselves across the entrance to the port, and the blockades operated "on the principle that we dare not run them over".
Motorway closure
Kent Police said part of the M20 was closed again on Wednesday to cope with the disruption.
The force said Operation Stack - in which lorries awaiting Channel crossings park on the coastbound M20 - was lifted overnight but then brought back in.
Police advised cross-Channel passengers to contact travel operators for further details.
The Freight Transport Association (FTA) has renewed calls for an overnight lorry park in Kent.
FTA policy manager for the South East, Natalie Chapman, said: "Operation Stack costs industry hundreds of thousands of pounds every time it is employed."
She added: "This current situation adds a sense to urgency to our continued calls for an overnight lorry park in Kent with enough capacity for the thousands of lorry drivers that depend on this gateway to and from the Continent."
French fishing unions have said they are protesting at ever tougher EU-imposed quotas, and demanding the French government take a stand on their behalf or offer more financial assistance.
On Wednesday, French ministers refused protesters' demands for increased cod quotas, but said they might offer extra financial support.
Agriculture minister Michel Barnier said he would meet industry representatives to discuss further support for fishing boats in difficulty, but the government offered no suggestion the quota limits would change.
Government spokesman Luc Chatel said France obtained a 30% increase in cod quotas in the Channel, in the latest annual negotiations.
The EU has said that limiting the size of fishing catches is the best way to stop stocks being wiped out through over-fishing.
Two MEPs for the South East have called on the French government to put an end to the dispute.
Labour MEP Peter Skinner said: "I am furious that yet again French fishermen have been allowed by the authorities in France to blockade ports essential for UK trade and tourism".
He said the action was hurting the British economy and stretching police services.
Richard Ashworth, Conservative MEP, said: "British fishermen have as much right as French fishermen to complain about the failings of the EU's Common Fisheries Policy (CFP).
"We do need to overhaul the CFP and the Common Agricultural Policy but it is the French government that often acts as a roadblock to reform."
And he added: "It is time the French government put an end to this. Our transport links should never operate at the mercy of French fishermen."
Information from P&O said that neither P&O Ferries nor the three other ferry companies operating out of Dover were sailing to Calais on Wednesday, nor were there any services to Boulogne or Dunkirk until further notice.
Long-term travellers were advised to make their way to the port and make alternative arrangements, which could include rail travel.
Day trippers were advised to rebook their journeys.
Swansea Cork ferry service may restart in May
Date: 8 Apr 2009 Source: Irish TimesSwansea Cork ferry service could be up and running by next month if shareholders agree to a deal to purchase a new vessel, the MS Julia.
A consortium of shareholders is expected to fully ratify the deal at a meeting in Skibbereen, west Cork tonight. The 28-year-old Finnish vessel, which was recently refitted, will undergo some minor alterations to comply with Irish maritime law. It is hoped that it can start sailing between Swansea and Cork before June.
The deal also needs to be ratified by creditors of the Finnish firm that used to own the vessel.
West Cork Tourism chairman Conor Buckley said he hoped co-op members – who have raised almost €3 million in pledged investments to help purchase the ferry – would ratify the sale agreement when they meet at the West Cork Hotel in Skibbereen tonight.
“This is a huge milestone for the consortium and we are confident that the deal will be accepted wholeheartedly by shareholders,” Mr Buckley said. “We believe that we have negotiated a great deal which, in some ways is even more attractive than what was originally on the table.”
At 155 metres long, the MS Julia has previously run routes between Sweden, Denmark and Norway. The vessel can carry up to 1,800 passengers and can accommodate almost 500 cars.
The new boat is expected to cost about €10 million, of which the Munster co-operative of buyers will be expected to provide €3 million. An additional €6 million is expected to come from a loan issued by a bank that has a vested interest in the boat.
The consortium is accepting investment pledges and a new online donation system, www.bringbacktheswanseacorkferry.com, welcomes smaller amounts of cash from supporters of the campaign.
Established seven weeks ago, the consortium has been accepting pledges since February 12th and has been in talks to negotiate a deal for the MS Julia for the past three weeks.
Fine Gael MEP candidate for Ireland South and former GAA president Seán Kelly said the resumption of the service would be a major boost for tourism and business in Munster.
Deal 'agreed' for Swansea ferry
Date: 3 Apr 2009 Source: BBC News WalesA co-operative hoping to restart the Swansea to Cork ferry has agreed the basis of a deal to buy a new ship.
It needs to be ratified by creditors of the Finnish firm that used to own it. The service stopped three years ago.
The consortium, which has raised over £2.5m from pledges by small investors, said it was "very optimistic" the sale would be approved.
Details of the deal will be outlined at the first shareholders meeting in Ireland next week.
The Swansea Cork service last sailed in 2006 and backers say since then the economies on both sides of the Irish Sea have suffered.
The consortium has been talks for the last month over securing the replacement ship - the Julia.
It is a 340-cabin ferry that could carry 1,400 passengers.
A spokesman said: "This deal now has to be ratified by the creditors of Stella Line, the owners of the ship.
"We are very optimistic that they will approve the deal and that we can then go ahead and purchase the ship."
The rest of the funds would come from bank loans, industry sources and grants.
The shareholders meeting is being held at the West Cork Hotel in Skibbereen on Tuesday.
Maritime lobby blocks rule on passenger rights
Date: 1 Apr 2009 Source: Lloyds ListAllies of Europe’s maritime industries in the European parliament have succeeded in watering down a Brussels regulation on passenger rights, writes Justin Stares in Brussels.
Euro MPs voted yesterday to exclude passenger carriers from the obligation to provide compensation following delays in case of force majeure, which was loosely defined.
The original version foresaw “free of charge hotel,” transport and meals in all cases if a delay led to an additional overnight stay.
“Compensation should not be conditional on unspecified material circumstances,” argued the law’s rapporteur, French Euro MP Michel Teychenné.
But MEPs in the parliament’s transport committee argued that ferry and cruise operators should not be responsible for delays beyond their control. Among those asking for changes were British MEP Timothy Kirkhope and Germany’s Georg Jarzembowski.
The calls led to a compromise amendment backed by all the major political groups defining force majeure as “extreme tidal conditions, strong winds, significant wave heights and ice formation”. The report was approved by 18 votes to none with 14 abstentions and now passes to the parliament plenary later in April.
In parallel, EU transport ministers also discussed the proposal, stating after their meeting that they hoped to reach agreement by June.
The regulation follows similar laws in aviation and land transport.
“We have no problem with the objectives of the law, but we hope that the specificities of the industry will be taken into account,” said European Community Shipowners’ Association secretary-general Alfons Guinier.
Portsmouth fast craft crossings resumed
Date: 1 Apr 2009 Source: Directferries.co.ukBrittany Ferries has today reinstated its fast cross channel ferry services from Portsmouth.
The operator will provide daily return ferries from Portsmouth to Cherbourg between Monday and Thursday, with crossings from Portsmouth to Caen on Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays.
Normandie Express, the largest fast ferry sailing in the English Channel, will operate the services from Portsmouth at 08:00 BST each day.
With a journey time of around 180 minutes, the crossings will get travellers to France in time to enjoy lunch and provide the option of a daytrip in the popular holiday destinations of Brittany and Normandy.
© Direct Ferries Ltd
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