Notes from the Larne Ferry Web Archive

The permanent transfer of a vessel away from Larne is always a time that touches this webmaster with sadness. I don't like to see my flock leave me, but the commercial pressures on ferry companies are many and the removal of life expired or redundant ferries is a fact of life (one I don't like much). On the up side the removal of one ferry usually presents the opportunity of a new ferry to get to know.

In the past February has been a 'black' month as it has been all too often the month that saw the removal of Larne ferry veterans. In this month's "notes from the archive" I look at three favourites below:

The European Navigator made her first call at Larne in 1987, she was called the Viking Trader then and was visiting the port to cover the refits of the Ionic Ferry and the Europic Ferry on the Larne to Cairnryan route. Her usual route was on Townsend Thoresen's Portsmouth - Le Havre freight service, but she was withdrawn as part of the settlement plan to French seamen made redundant when Townsend Thoresen's French flagged ferry Leopard was sold and not replaced. Such a useful unit was idle for long and Townsend's new P&O masters saw a future for the Viking Trader on the Irish Sea as part of their Pandoro freight operations.

She was transferred on a permanent basis to Larne from 1989 replacing the Bison on the Larne - Fleetwood route this then allowed the Bison to move to Dublin on charter to B&I Line to replace their Tipperary which was transferred to North Sea Ferries. Lacking fin stabilisers, the Viking Trader wasn't often stopped in bad weather despite her handicap and being on the notoriously rough Larne - Fleetwood crossing.

Viking Trader arriving at Larne on the evening of the 12th of May 1990 inbound from Fleetwood. The Viking Trader was the regular on this sailing from 1989 up to 1994 and was often to be seen on it in a relief capacity after this date up to her withdrawal in 2003. Photo: Aubrey Dale

After July 1994 the Viking Trader was replaced on the Fleetwood route by the return of the Bison to Larne. The Viking Trader shifted to the Dublin - Liverpool route and was later renamed Leopard in 1996. She was often to be seen back at Larne to cover breakdowns and overhauls, including a number of spells on the Cairnryan route as well as the Fleetwood run.

Renamed European Navigator in 1998 she was transferred on a permanent basis to the Larne - Cairnryan route to provide much needed additional capacity in March 1999, over the summer of that year she was back at Fleetwood to cover refits and eventually ended up there as the 3rd vessel on a new 3 vessel diagram on that route in October 1999.

Towards the end of her career at Larne she was used on the Larne - Troon route from January 2002 in an attempt to boost traffic with a larger vessel but by October that year it was clear the extra traffic hadn't materialised and the European Mariner was placed back on the route from January 2003. This gave the European Navigator one final fling on the Fleetwood route - the route she had served so well and so long. She covered for the European Seafarer which was away at Dublin and Rosslare covering refits. Her last inbound sailing arrived at Larne at 0500 on the 2nd of February 2003 after a spate of bad weather had delayed her for several hours. She stayed in port all day de-storing for the final run to dry docking and hand over to her new owners in Liverpool.

2nd February 2003, European Navigator's last day in Larne at Curran Quay. The sun shone brightly on the good old 'Nav' as she prepared for her last trip out (your webmaster almost shed a wee tear taking this one....) Photo: Larne Ferry Web

2226hrs on the 2nd of February 2003 and the European Navigator leaves Larne with her twin hooters sounding over Larne for the final time. Her final P&O master was Captain Hywel Jones with Captain Brian Gordon of the European Leader on board as the Mersey Pilot. Her destination was Liverpool for dry-docking and handover to her new owners Arab Bridge of Jordan who renamed her Black Iris. Photo: Larne Ferry Web.

At the end the Navigator was very run down inside but over the years she will be remembered as a reliable and hard working vessel. Probably her worst moment came in January 2000 when she ran aground in Larne. She was re-floated with only minor damage caused but apart from that incident she quietly went about her work, P&O Irish Sea's very own flexible friend, a job now fulfilled by her near sister European Seafarer.

The Stena Galloway will always be fondly remembered in Larne as the final Stranraer 'Princess.' Built in 1980 as the Galloway Princess the ship was the last in the long line of ferries on the Larne - Stranraer route to carry the Princess nomenclature - a tradition that went back to 1872 and the first ferry of the Princess line - the paddle steamer Princess Louise.

The Galloway Princess steaming into Larne with the 1130 ex Stranraer on the 2nd of December 1989. Probably the classic image of her wearing the rust of a year's hard labour this hardworking vessel was the final Stranraer based ferry to carry Princess in her name. Photo: Aubrey Dale

The Galloway Princess had her proud Princess name removed in 1991 and became the Stena Galloway instead, moving from one proud naming tradition to Stena Line's equally proud tradition, although Stena Line's use of the Stena prefix only goes back to the 1960s. Now that the Galloway's royal title was no more she would still reign supreme at Larne for a further 4 years until November 1995 when Stena decided to relocate their Stranraer service from Larne to Belfast.

No longer a Larne vessel she still remained close by - just 30 minutes down the road from Larne in Belfast. On clear days she could still be seen from Larne on passage back and forth across the North Channel, so although she was gone she was still very much in touch with her old home at Larne. She even came back for a visit on Monday the 29th of May 2000 for berthing trials in connection with a proposed move by Stena back to Larne with their Stranraer conventional ferries. These plans, alas were eventually aborted.

Stena's move to Belfast did not prove the commercial success that they had hoped it would be. Running into the capital of Northern Ireland with the new fast ferry Stena Voyager had boosted passenger traffic but the freight traffic had declined. This began to put the pinch on the Stena Galloway and sister ship Stena Caledonia both running the back up service to the fast craft.

An unfortunate incident at Rosslare in 2001 finally was to have repercussions for the Stena Galloway at Belfast. Stena's Rosslare - Fishguard ferry Koningin Beatrix lost power and collided with the lifeboat pen at Rosslare while trying to dock on the 9th of September 2001. She badly damaged her stern and was sent to Brest for repairs while the faithful Stena Galloway was sent south to cover.

Working on a service better suited to ships which carry their own ramps to bridge the gap between ship and shore the Stena Galloway's service was not met with total enthusiasm by her car and lorry passengers; all of whom had to wait around on the car decks while shore bridging pieces were craned in to position to connect the ship's vehicle deck to the shore ramp. Those on the upper car deck were further aggrieved as they had to wait even longer while the bottom deck emptied before the giant internal ramps could be lowered and the upper deck unloaded. None-the-less the Stena Galloway was doing her best in difficult circumstances and she certainly did herself proud.

Back at Belfast with a boat missing traffic dropped on the Stranraer route but only by a few percent not enough to continue to justify a second conventional ferry, her absence from Belfast to help a route in dire need had sealed the Stena Galloway's fate. Shortly after her return north on the 28th of October 2001 Stena Line announced that they were withdrawing the Stena Galloway from service, she was to be sold the following February.

Her final sailing on the Belfast - Stranraer route was the 1945 ex Belfast on Thursday 21st February 2002 and the 0300 return from Stranraer on Friday the 22nd under the command of Captain Robin White. Coming back to Belfast with her last commercial sailing into the teeth of a raging gale with heavy rain and sleet it was if the North Channel was in revolt as it was about to lose its last Princess.

She remained at Belfast de-storing throughout the Friday and Saturday before departing Belfast with her new name Le Rif late on Saturday the 23rd of February. Captain Robin White was again in command taking her as far as Cadiz, Spain for her new owners International Maritime Transport Corporation (IMTC). She now sails across the Strait of Gibraltar between Algericras in Spain and Tangier in Morocco, in the company of one time Larne sister ship Stena Antrim, now called Ibn Batouta.

The final Princess gives up her throne on the North Channel as Le Rif (ex Stena Galloway, ex Galloway Princess) and flying the Moroccan flag the ship completes de-storing at Belfast prior to sailing to Spain on the 23rd of February 2002. Photo: Steven Brown

Sealink's very own example of what not to do when you enlarge a vessel bowed out of service at Larne in February 1991. The Darnia started life at Larne in August 1978 as a freight vessel and in that role she was extremely good. A sister ship of the European Navigator which we met above the Darnia was the first vessel Sealink owned that had drive through capability on both cargo decks once she was modified from her original specifications at Harland and Wolff shipyard in Belfast.

In the good old days when the Darnia was young before her conversion. Here she is outward bound from Stranraer passing Cairnryan scrapyard and HMS Eagle which is laid up awaiting breaking. I was once asked which ship in this photograph was the scrapper? Needless to say I was a bit cut up at this bold blasphemy against a ship that had served so long and so well..... Photo: Roy Thornton Collection

She certainly had the pedigree to be a fine vessel and that she was up until 1982. During the summer of 1982 she went to Immingham to have additional passenger accommodation added over her open stern vehicle deck. This boosted her passenger certificate from 88 to 412 and allowed Sealink to use her as a main passenger vessel on the Stranraer crossing. She returned to service after conversion replacing Ailsa Princess in the Larne based fleet.

In the years that followed there were numerous incidents of her having stability problems due to the additional accommodation added. She also got the name of being a bad sea-keeping vessel. 400 tons of steel on her back did her absolutely no good technically but it was a major money earner for Sealink. They had very cheaply gained a new multi purpose ferry at the expense of losing a good sea boat.

The Darnia was commanded over the years by a staunch breed of iron willed men - Captain Billy Brady, Captain Willie Shields and Captain Alan Miller to name just a few all earned their salt on her and became known as the 'Darnia Men.' They were all experts in handling her and knew how to get the best out her. After one particularly rough crossing on the Galloway Princess it was with great relief that the ship reached Corsewall and made the turn into Loch Ryan and gaining some shelter only to meet the Darnia with her lights blazing charging through the swell, with spindrift flying outward bound on her way to Larne.

In another incident at Larne with on shore south-easterly winds pinning both the Darnia and the Free Enterprise IV to their berths, Captain Brady knowing that to try and get out of Larne in the Darnia ran the risk of being blown onto the laid up FEIV on the berth in front of him. Instead he let go the stern ropes and powered his stern round into the wind before casting of the bow ropes and reversing into the wind down the Lough. After getting enough running room he sped out the harbour blasting past the FEIV before the wind could catch him and blow him onto the Townsend Thoresen ship.

Despite her many flaws the Darnia had her dedicated following of fans among her crews many of whom will reminisce with pleasure of their time on "their wee Darnia." It was with great sadness that the news of her removal was met shortly after Stena Line had bought the Sealink operation from Sea Containers. Due to be replaced in the local fleet by the Stena Antrim (ex St. Christopher) she left Larne on her last crossing with the 2100 hours service to Stranraer under the command of Captain Alan Miller. After completing de-storing the vessel sailed to Bremerhaven, Germany for hand over to her new owners, Nordstrom and Thulin who renamed her Nord Neptunus.

The Darnia firing up her twin Deutz main engines at the Ross Pier, Stranraer prior to taking the fully freighted 0500 service to Larne on the 17th June 1988. Aubrey was up early to get this one and it was worth it with the Darnia looking well and her reflection in the mill-pond like Stranraer Harbour is absolutely divine. Photo: Aubrey Dale