Notes from the Larne Ferry Web Archive

In this month's Notes from the Archive I pick out a few year's from the past and show the shipping movements during a regular July day from days gone by:

Vessel	Arr. Time	Origin	Berth	Operates	Dep. Time	Destination	Operates
European Causeway	0145	Cairnryan	MacKean	Not Sun arr 0045 Mon	0415	Cairnryan	Not Sun
Stena Pioneer	0600	Fleetwood	Continental	Daily	1000	Fleetwood	Daily
European Highlander	0600	Cairnryan	MacKean	Not Sun	0730	Cairnryan	Daily
European Mariner	0645	Troon	Curran	Not Sun	1900	Troon	Not Sat
Superstar Express					0740	Troon	Daily
European Causeway	0930	Cairnryan	MacKean	Daily	1030	Cairnryan	Dep 1200 Sun
Stena Seafarer	1100	Fleetwood	Continental	Mon - Sat	1600	Fleetwood	Sun - Fri
Superstar Express	1215	Troon	Chaine	Daily	1245	Cairnryan	Daily
European Highlander	1230	Cairnryan	MacKean	Not Sun	1330	Cairnryan	Not Sun
Superstar Express	1515	Cairnryan	Chaine	Daily	1555	Cairnryan	Daily
European Causeway	1530	Cairnryan	MacKean	Daily	1630	Cairnryan	Daily
Stena Leader	1800	Fleetwood	Continental	Daily	2200	Fleetwood	Daily
European Highlander	1830	Cairnryan	MacKean	Daily	2000	Cairnryan	Daily
Superstar Express	1830	Cairnryan	Chaine	Daily	1900	Troon	Daily
European Causeway	2200	Cairnryan	MacKean	Daily	2359	Cairnryan	Not Sat dep 2300 Sun
Superstar Express	2325	Troon	Chaine	Daily			Lay up until 0740 next day

Superstar Express: Laid up on Chaine Quay from 2325 each night to 0740 next morning.

Fleetwood service: Subject to tidal restrictions in Fleetwood that may cause sailing times to alter by up to 2 hours from those shown. Stena Seafarer laid up from 1100 on Saturdays to 1600 on Sundays either at a free berth in Larne or at anchor. She may also sail in place of either Stena Pioneer or Stena Leader to allow those ships off for maintenance.

Troon Service: European Mariner laid up from 0645 Saturday to 1900 Sunday either at anchor or on a free berth in the harbour.

Timetable subject to disruption due to vessel refits. Always contact relevant ferry company for up to date sailing information before relying on information contained in this table.

Vessel	Arr. Time	Origin	Berth	Operates	Dep. Time	Destination	Operates
Stena Galloway	0005	Stranraer	Chaine	arr 2305 Sat and Sat	0130	Stranraer	Not Sun use MacKean Quay on Sat
Pride of Ailsa	0215	Cairnryan	Continental	Not Sun or Mon	0400	Cairnryan	Not Sun or Mon
Stena Antrim	0220	Stranraer	Chaine	Not Mon	0345	Stranraer	Not Sun or Mon
Stena Caledonia	0520	Stranraer	Chaine	Not Sun or Mon	0800	Stranraer	Daily
Puma	0600	Fleetwood	MacKean	Daily	2200	Fleetwood	Daily
Pride of Rathlin	0615	Cairnryan	Continental	Not Sun or Mon	0800	Cairnryan	Daily
Merchant Valiant	0630	Ardrossan	Curran	Not Sun	1900	Ardrossan	Dep 0830 Sat
Stena Galloway	0800	Stranraer	Chaine	Not Sun	0930	Stranraer	Sun - Fri
Stena Antrim	0935	Stranraer	Chaine	Daily	1130	Stranraer	Daily
Pride of Ailsa	0945	Cairnryan	Continental	Daily	1130	Cairnryan	Daily
Pride of Rathlin	1345	Cairnryan	Continental	Daily	1530	Cairnryan	Daily
Stena Caledonia	1350	Stranraer	Chaine	Daily	1530	Stranraer	Daily
Stena Galloway	1550	Stranraer	Chaine	Daily	1800	Stranraer	Dep 1700 Sat and Sun
Merchant Valiant	1600	Ardrossan	Curran	Sun only	2000	Ardrossan	Sun only
Pride of Ailsa	1745	Cairnryan	Continental	Daily	2000	Cairnryan	Daily
Viking Trader	1800	Fleetwood	MacKean	Daily	2200	Fleetwood	Daily
Stena Antrim	1820	Stranraer	Chaine	Daily	2000	Stranraer	Daily
Stena Caledonia	2120	Stranraer	Chaine	Daily	2300	Stranraer	Not Sun
Pride of Rathlin	2145	Cairnryan	Continental	Daily	2330	Cairnryan	Not Sat or Sun

Larne - Stranraer

	The Sealink Stena Line Fleet on the Larne - Stranraer route in summer 1994; Top left: Stena Caledonia, above: Stena Antrim and left: Stena Galloway. All pictured in the approaches to Larne harbour. All photos: Dougie McIntyre (click to enlarge)
Where are they now? Stena Caledonia: Still owned by Stena Line serves Belfast - Stranraer route Stena Galloway: Sold by Stena Line in 2002 now named Le Rif and sails across the Straits of Gibraltar between Algericras (Spain) and Tangier (Morocco). Stena Antrim: Sold by Stena Line in 1998 now named Ibn Batouta and sails with the former Stena Galloway between Algericras and Tangier
Larne - Cairnryan

Left: Pride of Ailsa at Cairnryan (photo Joe McKay click to enlarge) and right: Pride of Rathlin entering Larne (photo: Steven Brown click to enlarge).
Where are they now? Pride of Ailsa Sold by P&O in 1995 to El Salam Maritime of Egypt and renamed Pride of Alsalam 95. Now sailing between India and Saudi Arabia. Pride of Rathlin Sold by P&O in 2000 to Indonesian owners and renamed BSP III.
Larne - Fleetwood

Larne - Fleetwood Line up for summer 1994: Left: Puma at MacKean Quay, Larne (photo Wilson Adams click to enlarge) and right: Viking Trader arriving at Larne (photo Aubrey Dale click to enlarge). On 22nd July 1994 Bison replaced Puma on the 1000hrs service from Larne while the Puma moved on to the 2200hrs service from Larne allowing the Viking Trader to be transferred to Dublin. Bison is pictured below left arriving at Larne on 22nd July 1994 while below right is unusual visitor Arcade Eagle at Curran Quay unloading from a relief sailing from Liverpool on the 18th of July 1994. Both photos Aubrey Dale click to enlarge.

Where are they now? Puma: Now named Stena Seafarer still on Larne - Fleetwood route for Stena Line Viking Trader: Later renamed Leopard and after that European Navigator. Withdrawn and sold by P&O in 2003 to Arab Bridge of Jordan and renamed Black Iris. Bison: Still on Larne - Fleetwood service now called Stena Pioneer.
Larne - Ardrossan vessel for Summer 1994 was Merchant Valiant pictured right whilst sailing between Warrenpoint and Heysham for Merchant Ferries. Photo: Aubrey Dale click to enlarge. The Ardrossan route has since transferred to Troon and Merchant Valiant is still sailing on it as European Mariner.

Vessel	Arr. Time	Origin	Berth	Operates	Dep. Time	Destination	Operates
Ulidia	0000	Stranraer	Mail	Not Sun or Mon	0045	Stranraer	Not Sun or Mon
Antrim Princess	0045	Stranraer	Mail	Sun only
Ulidia	0715	Stranraer	Curran	Mon - Sat	1645	Stranraer	Laid up Phoenix Quay 0800 -1530 load for departure on Mail berth
Ailsa Princess	0515	Stranraer	Mail	Not Sun	0830	Stranraer	Daily
Free Enterprise I			Continental		0800	Cairnryan	Daily
Antrim Princess	0915	Stranraer	Mail	Daily	1100	Stranraer	Daily
Ionic Ferry	1030	Cairnryan	Continental	Daily	1200	Cairnryan	Daily
Dalriada	1100	Stranraer	Mail	Daily	1245	Stranraer	Daily
Ailsa Princess	1415	Stranraer	Mail	Daily	1530	Stranraer	Daily
Free Enterprise I	1415	Cairnryan	Continental	Daily	1600	Cairnryan	Daily
Antrim Princess	1645	Stranraer	Mail	Daily	1850	Stranraer	Daily
Bison	1700	Fleetwood	Curran	Not Sun or Mon	2030	Fleetwood	Not Sat or Sun
Ionic Ferry	1830	Cairnryan	Continental	Daily	2000	Cairnryan	Daily
Dalriada	1900	Stranraer	Mail	Daily	2045	Stranraer	Daily
Ailsa Princess	2115	Stranraer	Mail	Daily	2230	Stranraer	Daily
Free Enterprise I	2215	Cairnryan	Continental	Daily (lay up overnight)

The Antrim and Ailsa Princess roster rotated on a weekly basis, one ship carried out the heavy schedule with 3 round trips per day while the sister vessel only did 2 per day. The following week the ships were reversed so that the vessels spent alternate weeks on the heavy roster with 3 round sailings and the light roster with only 2 trips per day. The mail berth was later redeveloped and is now called MacKean Quay after the MacKean family which has close links with the harbour, two of the family serving as former chairmen of the Harbour Company.

Stranraer route

To be uninspiring and re-use a phrase invented by Sealink publicity at the time, most people who travelled on the Stranraer route in 1975 took 'a Princess to Ireland.' Pictured above are the Princesses that reigned supreme in Larne during that summer of 1975. Left: Antrim Princess and right Ailsa Princess, which always held a special place in the Sealink fleet as the only ship in the fleet to have a wrap round British rail double arrow logo on her funnel. Photos: Larne Ferry Web Collection and Roy Thornton Collection

The Princesses were ably assisted by their freight only counterparts Ulidia (left) and Dalriada (right). Ulidia is pictured during her daily lay up at Phoenix Quay while the Dalriada is pictured in Loch Ryan. The Dalriada was on charter to Sealink from Stena Line and remained Swedish flagged throughout her period at Larne. Photos: Wilson Adams and Roy Thornton Collection click to enlarge
Cairnryan Service

Free Enterprise I pictured in Loch Ryan during her 1975 summer season on the Larne - Cairnryan route. Photo: Roy Thornton Collection	Ionic Ferry (I) was the ship that opened the Larne - Cairnryan route in July 1973 she served the crossing until 1976. Photo: Roy Thornton Collection
Fleetwood Service
	The Larne - Fleetwood route was born in February 1975 and pictured left is the Bison, the ship that opened the route. The Bison is pictured at Fleetwood in the original Pandoro livery and in her original as built shape. Nowadays as the Stena Pioneer the former Bison is greatly modified from her original design and still serves the route today. Apart from a number of periods on the Dublin - Liverpool route the ship has almost spent her entire career on the Fleetwood crossing. Photo: Clive Jackson (click to enlarge)