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28th December 2004

P&O's Dublin - Liverpool ferry Norbank arrived at Larne early on the 27th of December for a hull survey.  The vessel berthed on Curran Quay at around 0630 on 27th December and sailed again shortly after 1900 on 28th December.  Divers were kept busy during daylight hours checking that everything under her water line was in order and were tended to by the tug Sarah McLoughlin.

Three views of the Rotterdam registered Norbank at Larne's Curran Quay on 27/12/04 with Sarah McLoughlin in attendance.  Its been a while since a Dutch registered vessel has graced the port of Larne but in the past many Dutch registered coastal container vessels called at the port.  Some of their crews even took a liking to the place and took up residence.  Photos: Larne Ferry Web (click to enlarge)

27th December 2004

Cairnryan service;

The final Cairnryan sailing before Christmas was the 2000hrs service ex Larne on the 24th of December carried out by European Causeway which then laid up at Cairnryan over the festive season.  She restarted with her 0730 sailing ex Cairnryan on the 27th of December.

The final inbound sailing was carried out by European Highlander on the 2000 departure from Cairnryan on the 24th of December.  The vessel laid up on MacKean Quay over Christmas and restarted with the 2000 ex Larne on the 26th of December, returning from Cairnryan at 0415 on the 27th.

Troon freight service:

European Mariner finished for Christmas with the 0230 sailing ex Troon on the 24th of December and did not sail again until the New Year. 

Fleetwood service:

The festive season wind down began on the 23rd of December with Stena Seafarer the first vessel retiring from front line service for Christmas lay up.  Her final sailing was the 0300 sailing ex Fleetwood on the 23rd of December.  After discharging in Larne she loaded technical equipment required for some maintenance work to be carried out on board during her lay off.  She departed Larne at 1545 for lay up at the Stena Line terminal in Belfast.  Her regular 0300 ex Fleetwood and 1600 ex Larne sailings are cancelled until the New Year.

The final outbound sailing from Larne to Fleetwood was taken by Stena Leader on the 2200 sailing from Larne on the 23rd of December.  She was laid up in Fleetwood over Christmas and restarted with the 2200 ex Fleetwood on the 27th of December.

The final inbound service from Fleetwood to Larne was carried out by Stena Pioneer on the 2200 sailing ex Fleetwood on the 23rd of December.  This arrived in Larne on the morning of the 24th and the Stena Pioneer remained on Continental Quay until the 2200 sailing to Fleetwood on the 27th of December.  The Fleetwood service, as in previous years, is operating a reduced timetable of only one departure per day at 2200 until the New Year.

The table below summarises vessel status over the Christmas Holidays:

19th December 2004

Extra voyages were carried out on the Larne - Cairnryan service on Sunday 19th December when the normal weekday sailing schedule operated with departures from Larne at 1030 and 1330 instead of the 1200 Sunday only sailing.

16th December 2004

Larne was buffeted by some strong westerly winds on Thursday 16th of December with all the local ferries and their crews doing really well to maintain their schedules as best as they could during a particularly busy time of the year.

European Mariner suffered the biggest delay of the day with her 0230 ex Troon arriving off Larne at 1215 instead of 0645.  On her approach to the berth with winds blowing off the quay at over 50knots the vessel was unable to get any lines ashore astern after about 30 minutes of Herculean work battling against the unyielding winds blowing against her.  Not to be deterred the freight ship left the harbour and made an about turn to have a second attempt to berth.  After the European Causeway passed in with the 1030 sailing ex Cairnryan the European Mariner managed to berth on the second go, this time with a little help to even up the struggle with the wind.  With the combined efforts of local tugs Sarah McLoughlin and Donna McLoughlin pushing at her starboard quarter the vessel was all fast at around 1400 allowing a full load of freight to get ashore.

The European Mariner was back on schedule that evening with her 1900 sailing to Troon unruffled by her windy welcome at Larne a few hours before.

Two views of European Mariner making her way towards Larne from Troon around 12noon on 16th December 2004.  Left photo: Wilson Adams, right photo: Larne Ferry Web (click both to enlarge)

12th December 2004

European Mariner resurrected a long since discontinued shipping movement by carrying a rare weekend Troon freight sailing on 11th December 2004.  She departed Larne around 0900hrs for Troon clearing a backlog of freight before returning on Sunday at 1600hrs in time to pick up her usual 1900hrs sailing on Sunday evening.  The last time this sailing ran regularly was when the European Navigator was employed on the Troon run in 2002.

Meanwhile at Fleetwood, Stena Seafarer was pressed into action at the weekend, operating in place of Stena Pioneer on the morning sailing from Larne to Fleetwood on 11/12/04.  Stena Pioneer spent the weekend on Curran Quay doing maintenance picking up her run again with the 1000 ex Larne on 12/11/04.

Left: European Mariner was unusually engaged on a weekend Troon freight sailing departing Larne at 0900 on 11/12/04 returning at 1600 on 12/12/04.  She is pictured inward to Larne with the 0230 ex Troon sailing on 9/4/04.  Meanwhile the right hand picture shows the last time the LFW camera snapped the 0900 ex Larne to Troon taken by European Navigator on 7th December 2002 (also giving me the lame excuse to show a picture of one of my old favourites....) Both photos: Larne Ferry Web (click to enlarge)

Left: Unusual view of Stena Seafarer powering away from Continental Quay with her 1600 service to Fleetwood pictured from the European Highlander berthed on MacKean Quay, 7th December 2004.  Photo: Gregg Pedder (click to enlarge).

Rosslare Europort News has an excellent photo of Stena Seafarer on berthing trials there on 13th November, click here and scroll down to the appropriate section of the page.

Dr. John Needs the Doctor

11th December 2004

Larne's Trent class lifeboat Dr John McSparran (14-30) has been retired from service for repairs to a broken crankshaft.  Taking her place is relief Trent class lifeboat Henry Heys Duckworth (14-15), which was first observed at the lifeboat mooring at Castle Quay on the 11/12/04. 

Left: Trent Class Lifeboat RNLB Henry Heys Duckworth (14-15) at Larne on 11th December 2004.  Photo: Larne Ferry Web (click to enlarge)

29th November 2004

P&O's Larne based fast ferry timetable for the summer season of 2005 has been issued and there are a number of changes from last season.

With their recent review of ferry operations in September 2004 P&O stated their intention to replace Superstar Express after 4 years of excellent service on the North Channel services from Larne to Cairnryan and Troon.  The vessel taking her place is the former Cherbourg Express which will have her name truncated to Express when she begins service in March 2005.

The full timetable for the 2005 season which will run from the 16th of March to the 18th of September 2005 is:

Crossing times are maintained at 1hr 50minutes on Larne - Troon and the well established 1 hour crossing time on Larne - Cairnryan.

In comparison, the timetable for the 2004 season which stretched from the 8th of April to the 19th of September was:

The most apparent difference is the removal of one round sailing to Cairnryan from the 2005 schedule allowing much longer turn rounds for the larger Express.  The new season has also been extended by three weeks into March, while the single Cairnryan sailing appears to better compliment the sailings of European Causeway and European Highlander rather than clashing with them.  Previously, the 1420 and 1730 Superstar Express sailings ex Cairnryan arrived at the same time as the 1330 and 1630 conventional ferry sailings from Cairnryan.

It will be an interesting 2005 season.

Left: New for the summer of 2005 at Larne the  fast ferry Express departing Portsmouth for Cherbourg on the 19th of July 2003.  Photo: Larne Ferry Web (click to enlarge)

24th November 2004

Ballylumford Power Station received a call by the 23217grt tanker Kaltene on the 23rd of November 2004.  The tanker passed into the port at 0845 and moored at the B station oil jetty assisted by the Svitzer Marine tugs Norton Cross (based in Belfast) and Shannon (based at Greenock).  Local workboats from John McLoughlin's fleet assisted with line running once the tanker made it alongside the jetty.  The tugs Shannon and Norton Cross were both making their Larne harbour debuts on this trip in with the tanker.

Ballylumford Power Station is gas fired but some disruptions to the gas supply via the pipeline to the UK mainland has resulted in the power station having to switch to burning oil on a few occasions recently. 

Kaltene (ex Pink Star):
IMO number: 9253234
Call Sign: V7GC7
Gross tonnage: 23217
Deadweight: 37000 tonnes
Length: 182.55m
Beam: 27.3m
Max Draft: 11.20m
Type of ship: Chemical/Oil Products Tanker
Built: 2003 by Hyundai Mipo
Flag: Marshall Islands
Registered owner: KALTENE NAVIGATION, 4A, Andrejostas iela, Riga LATVIA 
Manager: LSC SHIPMANAGEMENT SIA (of same address as owner)

The tanker departed the power station at 1500hrs on the 25th of November this time with the tugs Norton Cross (for'ard) and Rowangarth (aft) assisting.  Both these tugs are usually based in Belfast although Rowangarth is only there temporarily while Willowgarth is away on a charter.  Local tug Sarah McLoughlin brought the pilot back to shore once the tanker had cleared the channel.

Arrival Photos (24/11/04):

Norton Cross takes the strain while Sarah McLoughlin brings the mooring gang ashore for the imminent arrival of European Highlander.

The tugs release the tanker while the inbound European Highlander (extreme left) waits for traffic clearance.  Photo: LFW (click to enlarge)

21st November 2004

Cruise ship Van Gogh called at Larne on the evening of the 21st of November.  She arrived at 1915 once European Mariner cleared the port with her 1900 service to Troon berthing on Curran Quay with assistance from the local tug Sarah McLoughlin.  The extremely smart looking vessel departed again shortly after 2100 on a cruise to Lisbon, Portugal.

The ship called in at Liverpool on the 11th November and photos are available on Irish Sea Shipping here

Van Gogh's particulars:
IMO number: 7359400
Call Sign: J8WK2
Gross tonnage: 15402
Type of ship: Passenger/Ro-Ro Cargo Ship
Year of build: 1975
Flag: St Vincent and Grenadines
Registered owner: MARITIEM & LEASING,16, Nijverheidsweg, Barneveld NETHERLANDS
Manager: Club Cruise (of same address as owner)

Left: Cruise ship Van Gogh arriving at Larne 21/11/04.  Photo: Larne Ferry Web

Stena Seafarer Problems

21st November 2004

Technical problems with Stena Line's Larne - Fleetwood vessel Stena Seafarer has resulted in the cancellation of some sailings.  The ship was loaded for her 1600hrs sailing to Fleetwood on the 17th of November when the technical problem developed causing the cancellation of that sailing.  The vessel remained in Larne and shifted from Continental Quay to Curran Quay once the European Mariner departed with her 1900 service to Troon, allowing the inbound Stena Leader to berth.  The Stena Seafarer was discharged at Curran Quay with her cargo being transferred to the other vessels.

The ship remained out of service at Curran Quay until her 1600 sailing ex Larne on Sunday 21st November with the Troon freight sailings of European Mariner transferred to Chaine Quay during the time Stena Seafarer was laid up on Curran Quay for repairs. 

14th November 2004

Stena Line's Larne - Fleetwood vessel Stena Seafarer has undertaken a number of berthing trials over the past two weekends.

Berthing trials at both Dublin and Holyhead were carried out over the weekend of 6th - 7th of November during her normal weekend lay up period.  The vessel tried out the berths at each port normally used by Stena Adventurer.  She had previously used P&O's Dublin berths in her days as Puma and European Seafarer during spells serving P&O's Dublin - Liverpool and Dublin - Mostyn routes but had never tried Stena's Dublin terminal before. 

The following weekend (13th - 14th November) Stena Seafarer visited both Rosslare and Fishguard for further trials, using Stena Europe's usual berths.  The trials at the 4 ports were all completed successfully.  Fishguard personnel were particularly impressed with the vessel's cargo handling capability.

See: http://www.abergwaun.com/index09.htm

Looking back at the Larne Ferry Web archive these trials appear to be the Seafarer's first ever visit to both Holyhead and Fishguard harbours during her 26 years of Irish Sea service and now must surely rank her as one of the most travelled and versatile vessels to serve these shores.  It is expected she will provide overhaul cover on Stena's Dublin - Holyhead and Rosslare - Fishguard routes early in 2005.

Larne Ferry Web will endeavour to keep readers as up to date as possible with the vessel's progress whilst engaged on her Irish Sea tour during the early part of 2005.

12th November 2004

Seatruck Ferries vessel Moondance, which normally sails from Warrenpoint - Heysham, has recently made the news playing a significant role in the rescue of a survivor from the fishing boat Emerald Dawn.

The Kilkeel based Emerald Dawn was fishing for crabs about 6 miles out from Kilkeel when she got into difficulties and sank on the 10th of November.

Moondance was on a routine sailing and passing through the search area when she located one survivor from the two man crew of the Emerald Dawn who had been clinging to a raft for almost 24 hours.  The vessel was able to direct rescue craft to the scene allowing the man to be taken to hospital on the Isle of Man. 

Moondance is better known in Larne from her brief spell of service between January and February 2001 when she temporarily sailed between Larne and Heysham.  Seatruck's Warrenpoint service had to be transferred to Larne after a hydraulic ram failed on the Warrenpoint linkspan putting it out of action for a number of weeks.

Left: Moondance at Larne on 3rd February 2001. 
Photo: Aubrey Dale (click to enlarge)

4th November 2004

Larne - Fleetwood ferry operator Stena Line has once again been recognised for passing the Hospitality Assured standard for service and business excellence on the Irish Sea.  This is the fourth year in a row that Stena have gained the accreditation and its the first year that their newly acquired route between Larne - Fleetwood and the 3 vessels which operate it has been included.

Full press release from Stena Line below:

HOSPITALITY RE-ASSURED WITH STENA LINE

LEADING ferry company, Stena Line has once again been recognized for surpassing the Hospitality Assured Standard for Service and Business Excellence on its Irish Sea routes to Ireland.

This is the fourth year in succession that Stena Line's Irish Sea routes have met the required standard and the first time that the company's recently acquired Fleetwood to Larne route, with three additional vessels, has been included.

Now all nine of Stena Line's vessels across five routes have the Hospitality Assured quality mark which is awarded only to organisations in the hospitality and leisure sector which demonstrate delivery of the highest standards of service across all areas of their business.

Developed by the Hotel and Catering International Management Association (HCIMA), the award is based on a system of self-assessment and individual on-site evaluation by independent experts and enables Stena Line to measure the quality of its customer service against a checklist of 10 areas of best practice.

These include customer research, service delivery, business planning, operational planning, standards of performance, training and development and customer satisfaction.

Celebrating the news, Ian Jamieson, Stena Line's Route Operations Services Manager, said:

"Once again, we are delighted to receive this accreditation. Hospitality Assured is a long-term commitment to our customers and the most useful monitor for service excellence we have found.

"Coupled with our outstanding reliability throughout the year and our constant staff development and training programmes, this accreditation confirms Stena Line's commitment to bringing passengers exceptional service while continuing to be the number one choice for ferry passengers on the Irish Sea," he added.

Stena Line is the market leading ferry company on the Irish Sea with the biggest fleet and choice of route between toIreland. The company carries more than three million passengers between Britain and Ireland each year on its five routes from Holyhead to Dublin Port and Dun Laoghaire, Fishguard to Rosslare, Stranraer to Belfast and Fleetwood to Larne.

22nd October 2004

The Royal navy frigate HMS Norfolk paid a visit to the East Antrim coast on manoeuvres early on the 22nd of October.  She came close in to the coastline in the vicinity of Number 1 buoy, Larne for part of her exercises before departing again around 1000hrs passing the inbound Stena Pioneer.  HMS Norfolk was in the area for a naval exercise involving vessels from both the Royal Navy and US Navy

More Cruises for Larne?

22nd October 2004

UK Tour operator Travelscope has revealed details of a 10 day cruise which is scheduled to depart Larne on the 5th of August 2005 with a chartered vessel which is to be renamed Rembrandt 2.  Details about the cruise can be found on Travelscope's website at:

http://www.travelscope.co.uk/Rembrandt_Sunshine_Cruise_Ex_Larne.html

(Larne Ferry Web takes no responsibility for the information on Travelscope's website, the link is here for your information only)

P&O Chief Executive Visits North Channel Operations

19th October 2004

P&O Ferries Chief Executive Robert Woods paid a visit to P&O's North Channel operations at Larne and Cairnryan on the 19th October.  During his visit Mr Woods reaffirmed the company's commitment to its North Channel services from Larne to Cairnryan and Troon in the wake of its recent restructuring which saw major entrenchment in the Western English Channel operations from Portsmouth and the replacement of Larne's fast ferry Superstar Express with the Cherbourg Express.

Full P&O Irish Sea press release is pasted below:

P&O CHIEF EXECUTIVE REAFFIRMS COMMITMENT TO IRISH SEA

P&O Chief Executive, Robert Woods, took the opportunity of a visit to Larne and Cairnryan today to make clear the company's commitment to its Irish Sea ferry operations.
Following a crossing onboard European Causeway and a tour of the Port of Larne, Mr Woods had high praise for the operation. "P&O Irish Sea has continued to perform exceptionally well despite difficult market conditions.  "We confirmed our commitment to the Larne-Cairnryan route in recent years with the purchase of two new sister ships, European Highlander and European Causeway, which have since established themselves as among the best and most reliable on the Irish Sea.  Freight carryings are at an all time high while our confidence in the passenger market has been underlined by the introduction of our seasonal fast ferry service between Larne and Troon."
Port operations at both Larne and Cairnryan were also commended by Mr Woods: "A successful ferry business is dependent on a first-class service from our ports. The calibre of the Port of Larne's operation has been publicly acknowledged through the prestigious title "Irish Port of the Year" which was recently awarded to the port for its commitment to customer service".  Plans are underway for a major development at the Port of Cairnryan which will reinforce its position as one of the leading ports serving the Irish Sea.

Stena Seafarer at Belfast

9th October 2004

Stena Seafarer carried out berthing trials at Stena Line's Belfast terminal on the 9th of October 2004.  Click here to be directed to a page showing a few photos of her at Belfast forwarded by Stena Seafarer's master Captain Gerry Hughes.