Pride bows out in spectacular fashion
The recent scrapping, sorry, "recycling", of the former P&O Ferries Dover Strait ferry 'Pride of Calais' received some commentary in trade media last year, not least of all because she was a highly popular ship on the key Dover-Calais service.
A new career on charter to TransEuropa Ferries as the 'Ostend Spirit' looked promising, until that company went bust shortly after the partially repainted ship was repossessed by P&O for non-payment of fees.
It was probably the sight of freshly painted 25-year-old-ship heading off to the scrapping beaches of Aliaga, Turkey, that sparked most of the media debate. She really did look like new and her lines, futuristic in appearance in 1987, certainly helped to create that impression. As she disappeared over the horizon of the English Channel and turned her bows south, it was the last time United Kingdom-based commentators would see the ship and the debate soon fizzled out, that is until social media gave her one final blast of publicity.
Film footage of the ship's passage to Turkey appeared on YouTube and showed the scene on the bridge as the master welcomed the pilot on board and followed his instruction to beach the ship. But she did not want to die and, having misjudged the approach, she was taken astern away from the beach to try again.
"Full Ahead," the pilot is heard saying to the master. The master checks the request and the handles are put on tens. The ship is worked up to 19 knots and "aimed" at a gap between two partially broken hulks. With whistle blasting, the ship runs up onto the beach, the film showing dust, sand and other nasties rising above the bow before she comes to a stop. In her death throes, "finished with Engines" is rung off and the once-pride of the English Channel, the so-called Chunnel Beater, was dead. And that was that.
Until another film appeared, this time from ashore!
This one went viral and the worldwide attention it received even earned it a spot on the BBC News. "It was a spot on the shore too tight to park in, but nothing a high-speed approach couldn't fix," the headline enthused, with the rest of the article describing the ferry speeding to shore before, "scraping to a standstill between two other boats readied for the gas axe."
RIP 'Pride of Calais'.
Kiwi ferry for Chinese owner!
New Zealand's East by West Wellington Harbour ferry service has been bought by Chinese couple Jin Jun and Xuying Qiao.
East by West managing director Jeremy Ward said the couple, who have tourism interests in China, plan to immigrate to New Zealand and wanted to add a third ferry to the 25-year-old company's fleet. As part of the deal Mr Ward will continue to manage the business for at least two years.
Mention of Wellington prompts me to update the saga of the 'Aratere' on her propeller repairs. The ship was due to leave New Zealand for Singapore over the weekend of 8-10 February. Sailing on one shaft, the passage was expected to take three weeks.
One happy outcome of the voyage is the promotion of officer Jenny Cuttriss to master; the first female master of an Interislander ferry. Captain Cuttriss was previously chief officer on the 'Aratere', which lost her starboard propeller during a passage from Picton to Wellington on the night of November 5.
Bergensfjord to Fjord Line
Fjord Line has finally taken delivery of its new LNG cruise ferry 'Bergensfjord', having been delayed several times with shipbuilder Bergen Group Fosen saying that installation and testing of the gas-fuelled Rolls-Royce Bergen engines and other technical equipment was taking longer than planned. The vessel joins sister 'Stavangerfjord', which made her debut in July last year.
The two 170-metre, 1,500-passenger and 600-vehicle ferries were originally ordered with dual-fuel engines. However, in July 2012 Bergen Group received a contract modification to deliver the two ships delivered with single-fuel LNG engines.
Delivery of the second ship certainly seems to have gone more smoothly.
LNG for Britanny
I am delighted to see Brittany Ferries has stepped out with an announcement that its next cruise-ferry will not only be its largest ever, but also LNG-fuelled and the most environmentally-friendly ship to operate in UK waters. The cruiser will emit 25 per cent less carbon dioxide than marine fuel and produce no smoke. It will also be entirely free of sulphur and very low in nitrogen oxide emissions.
Costing £225 million (US$370 million), the new ferry will be built in St Nazaire by STX France, which has been working with Brittany Ferries' technical department for two years to develop a feasibility study into the project.
The ship is scheduled to enter service in late spring 2017 and will replace flagship 'Pont-Aven' on the routes between Spain, England, France and Ireland. The 'Pont-Aven' will move to the Portsmouth-Saint Malo route.
Justin Merrigan
Image credit: Photo courtesy of Chris0693/Wikimedia
