It is and always will be a bit of an embarrassment that up until the 28th of August 2003 Larne Ferry Web had never been on any of the JJ Siestas built sister ships that have served the Fleetwood route since it began in 1975.  Thankfully for me Captain Gerry Hughes put that right when he organised for Larne Ferry Web to join him and his crew for a round trip to Fleetwood aboard the European Seafarer.  

The ship

The European Seafarer was built in 1975 to the order of Stena Line by the JJ Siestas shipyard in Hamburg.  The ship never actually sailed for Stena, nor did she get a Stena name, but instead she was earmarked for charter to the Union Steamship Company of New Zealand as the Union Melbourne.  As soon as she was ready for sea the Union Melbourne was brought to Rendsburg in Germany to be lengthened by 16 metres to a new overall length of 141 metres.

Pandoro )part of the P&O group) brought the ship back to British waters on charter in 1978.  She sailed initially on the Larne to Liverpool service in her original green hull and red funnel.  Later, she sailed briefly under the new name of Union Trader before being bought by Pandoro in 1980.  After a thorough refit on the Tyne she re-entered service renamed Puma again on the Larne to Liverpool route.  Later reorganisation saw all Larne calls concentrated at Fleetwood, while Liverpool became the exclusive home of the Dublin based ships and the Puma was to see service for long spells on both routes.  The name Puma stayed with the ship until 1998 when she became European Seafarer after restructuring saw Pandoro being restyled P&O Irish Sea and a new naming policy was adopted for the fleet.

Ironically when she joined the Pandoro fleet in 1978 she joined her two older Siestas-built sisters, then trading as Bison and Buffalo.  At that time the Union Melbourne was the biggest of the 3 vessels having benefited from her initial lengthening in 1975.  This gave Pandoro vital experience with the longer ship,  and she became the template for Bison and later Buffalo when both these ships were lengthened to match the Union Melbourne.  Now as European Seafarer the ex Union Melbourne is the smallest ship of the 3 with both the European Pioneer (ex Bison) and European Leader (ex Buffalo) each being extended a second time during the 1990s.

With the capacity to carry a huge payload of 4000 tons deadweight on only a 4.0 to 4.5 metre draft she is an ideal ship for the twisting, shallow channel at Fleetwood; testament to just how long these ships have stuck at the service.  The Siestas Sisters continue to be an important part of the P&O Irish Sea fleet, especially the European Seafarer.  From Cherbourg in France up to Troon in Scotland the Seafarer has visited all the ports in an operational capacity and has even found time to slot in on special charter sailings from Campbeltown to Mostyn transporting windfarm components.

In one final twist to an already fascinating ferry tale the arranged transfer of P&O's Fleetwood route and vessels to Stena Line will see the European Seafarer finally sailing for the company that had her built back in 1975.  All of course depends on the Monopolies and Mergers Commission which is currently chewing over the deal now but if things go according to plan European Seafarer may become Stena Seafarer as early as Easter 2004.

The Master

Originally from Dublin Captain Gerry Hughes had only one ambition in life; to go to sea.  From his early days as a youth roaming the docks in Dublin he got a flavour of the life at sea and enrolled at Warsash Nautical Training College in 1979.  Graduating from there in 1983 he sailed with Shell before joining P&O's Larne to Cairnryan route in 1991.  

The first ship he worked on at Larne was the Ionic Ferry (II), working his way up the ranks he served more or less exclusively on the Cairnryan vessels except for brief spells on the European Navigator and European Highlander (I) (now European Mariner).  Recently transferred from the Cairnryan route to the European Seafarer and a completely different style of operation than he was used to it was find his feet or find the beach at Fleetwood.  Fortunately Gerry quickly found his feet and after learning the tricks of navigating the River Wyre into Fleetwood he is a pillar of authority on every sand bank and tidal stream into the port.

Running a very relaxed ship, with much emphasis on the re and not the lax, Gerry leads his crew as if they were a bunch of his best friends rather than being a stern authority figure over them.  The camaraderie between the Captain and his crew was magnificent leading to a great atmosphere on board even at 0400 on a cold, windy run along the River Wyre.  

Gerry's normal working pattern is two weeks on and two weeks off.  While on board he carries out all pilotage duties into and out of port as well as completing a mountain of paperwork to account for every small detail of what happens on board.  On his two weeks off Captain Brooks takes charge allowing Gerry to get home to his wife and family in Warrenpoint for a well earned rest.

The Trip

I joined the European Seafarer at 2000 for her 2100 sailing from Larne on Thursday the 28th of August and little did I know I was in for a truly memorable 24 hours at sea.  Captain Hughes met me at Port Control and took me on board up the gangway.  Formally welcoming me on board in his day room Captain Hughes' Irish charm and hospitality immediately made me feel at home on board.

After chatting to Captain Hughes for half an hour or so it was time for him to go to the bridge and prepare to the European Seafarer for departure.  He took me up with him and after completing the pre sailing checks with Tim Harrison, his Chief Officer he explained the various pieces of equipment on the bridge.  The bridge gear was a mixture of old and new equipment.  The original consoles all had big chunky switches and levers with analogue dials showing things from engine revs, prop shaft output, combinator settings and speed.  

All the new stuff could be identified by its shiny plastic coverings, mass of LED lights, liquid crystal displays and dinky buttons.  Most of the new equipment has been retro fitted in the aftermath of SOLAS '90 and then the later Stockholm Agreement.  Particularly important were the controls and status readouts for the new flood control barriers installed on the main freight deck and the cross flooding valves in the trimming tanks all designed to prevent rapid capsize with up to 50cm of water to the main deck.  All this was installed during her refit of 2001 and making her fully complaint with the new stability regulations.

Probably the most important piece of equipment on board is the echo sounder which records the depth of water below the keel of the ship.  Vitally important for the run into Fleetwood the Captain receives running commentary on the depth readout from his Chief Officer the whole way along the River Wyre.

After my technical lesson it was time for the Seafarer to leave Larne.  Taking command from the control console on the port bridge wing Captain Hughes first applied hard starboard thrust to hold the ship alongside and take the strain of the moorings prior to singling up and then letting go a few minutes past 2100.  Adjusting the rudder settings and a quick kick from the bow thruster moved us off the berth and we were away.  

Going out of Larne and rounding the tip of Islandmagee saw me on new territory for the first time, and once clear of the channel the autopilot was set and Captain Hughes handed over the conn to Dan McQuoid, one of his second officers with the instructions for the passage.  Then it was time for some planet spotting and after 2 false alarms Captain Hughes spotted Mars off to the south east, the Stena Caledonia on her evening sailing to Stranarer crossed below its red light and made a pleasant sight off to our starboard bow.

With everything settled down for an uneventful crossing it was down below for a quick snack in the crew mess and to bed.  The passage into Fleetwood would begin at 0330 so it was going to be an early start for me and I asked Captain Hughes to have the fire hose on standby just in case I needed to be persuaded to get out of bed in time.

Now I had a chance to have a close look round my cabin which was clean and tidy and had its own ensuite bathroom, I later discovered it was a vacant crew cabin and had a port hole overlooking the bow.  A plate of fresh fruit and some soft drinks were left for me too.  Reflecting on my first impressions of being on board I couldn't really fault anything, I was half expecting to see a ship well past her sell by date and being held together by prayers, duct tape and the sweat and determination of her crew.  That half of me was so wrong.  Instead, I was met with a tidy ship, a notice on the door telling crew to use overshoes so as not to track oil or grease from the car decks or engine room in through the accommodation.  Facilities were basic but sound, nothing particularly fancy or clever but cosy and homely.  When you look at her clientele- mainly lorry drivers who want a feed, a kip and then back on the road again the Seafarer provides all that in comfortable surroundings.  If Stena do decide to invest in the route with new vessels, if and when they take over, they would do little wrong if they produced updated designs along the same lines as the Seafarer- sometimes the old saying if it isn't broke why fix it?  Should be heeded.

Arrival off the port approaches at 0330 saw one vessel outbound from Heysham pass to starboard and then the European Mariner passed to port on her way to Larne.  Shortly afterwards the Fairway channel was entered and although it was dark I got a sense of the meandering nature of the channel by the constant course corrections being made to turn round the various buoys.  The vessel was hand steered by the bosun with Captain Hughes standing at the bridge front with his eyes ever shifting between the compass and the navigation lights on the marker buoys.  Tim was at the engine controls and carefully read out the echo sounder readings at regular intervals.

The tide was on the ebb and although running in at combinator 7 and an output of 13 knots the speed over the ground was reduced to 6 knots with the strong spring tide flowing against the ship out of the channel.  Swinging around one particular tight turn to port highlighted the strength of the tidal flow when hard over on the rudder had no effect turning the ship, instead Tim had to bring the bow thrusters into action.  With the whole bow sent into vibration as the thrusters whirred into life slowly but surely the lights on the horizon started to move as the Seafarer found the power to fight her way through the tide pushing hard against her.  Captain Hughes later admitted that was the first time he had to take such drastic action to get round that buoy, with the spring tides around at present I was going to witness the Fleetwood tides at their absolute worst.

The readings on the echo sounder were also dropping alarmingly fast.  The ship had lost some ground on passage and with the tide dropping fast in some places the echo sounder was only giving 2.2m below the keel.  The water depth at the berth was also relayed on VHF channel 11 from harbour control and it seemed to be dropping half a metre every 10 or 15 minutes.

Close to the berth Captain Hughes took over steering from the starboard bridge wing and he moved the bow right up adjacent to the loading ramp with the starboard side facing the line of 4 dolphins that make up the berth in Fleetwood.  He then swung the helm hard over to port hoping that the ebb tide would catch the bow and help swing it round.  Half way round with the stern safely clear of the berth it was a quick sprint across the bridge to open up the port bridge wing controls and then it was a case of easing the stern onto the berth and bringing the bow into position to berth port side to.  When Captain Hughes rang off the engines he turned to me and with an expansive sweep of his arm he said, "welcome to Fleetwood, the Valhalla of the North."

Dawn broke at low water and there was now some light to see Fleetwood.  Looking out toward the sea was just extensive mud flats with a trickle of water running in that would hardly be deep enough to float my rubber duck in.  Apart from the almost isolated 'pond' that the European Seafarer was floating in the rest of the place was all mud, even some of the marker buoys had been left high and dry.

A variety of views around Fleetwood all taken on the morning of the 29/8/03.  Click on thumbnails to enlarge
The River Wyre at low water	View of the channel at sailing time
Wyre Surveyor inspects the approaches to the ro-ro ramp	View over the Seafarer's aft deck towards the ro-ro ramp.

With a while to wait until the River Wyre filled with water again the European Seafarer's turn round was quite leisurely, she embarked a good load of trailers, some brand new Mini Coopers and about a dozen passengers cars.  

At 1000 preparations were made to get back out to sea and what had only been a muddy trickle an hour before had now become the channel as the River Wyre rapidly filled back up with the flood tide.  In the time it took to get the elaborate shore wires and chains used to tie up the ship in Fleetwood back onto shore again the tide had risen an extra half metre.  By 1025 the ship was away from the berth and on her way out the channel.

The outward transit of the River Wyre, this time in daylight, was much more interesting as all the sandbanks and how close they were could clearly be seen.  Still struggling against the tide, a flood tide this time, the European Seafarer's speed was again about halved while in the channel.  Around one of the many tight turns the tide, when its flowing so fast, can't get round and with the combination of the Seafarer moving in such shallow water it all sets up a strong tidal force that caught the stern and started whipping it round towards the beach.  The crew were quickly on it to compensate and return the ship to her proper course.  Captain Hughes later explained the tricks of navigating the channel and number one on his list was anticipation.  If you anticipate the problem then you have time to compensate, hold your thinking until a problem actually happens by the time you figure out what to do and then do it too late and invariably the ship ends up on the mud.

Out of the channel and into some deep water the crew could finally stand down and switch the ship over to autopilot.  The Seafarer was now catching up on a Seatruck vessel heading from Heysham to Warrenpoint but our courses gradually diverged as the Seafarer turned north and the Seatruck vessel headed south, soon the Ben-My-Chree appeared on the horizon and she passed between the two freight ships inbound to Heysham.

It had gotten quite breezy that morning and the wind had now increased to a steady North Easterly 30 knots with occasional gusts to 40 knots.  This was all blamed on me and I was labelled a Jonah by Captain Hughes.  With the strong head wind the Seafarer continued on at a steady 17 knots for Larne keeping well off the shallows at the Bahama Banks, north of the Isle of Man and the shallows west of the Mull of Galloway.  The fin stabilisers were in use for the crossing and the only real movement was some pitching as the Seafarer ploughed her way through the moderate swell.  For a hopeless sailor like me, I was surprised that I did not feel unwell at this and I even enjoyed an excellent bowl of celery soup with the Captain and his officers at lunchtime without embarrassing myself!

After lunch it was time for a little snooze to catch up on some sleep from the night before, through bleary eyes I saw either the Merchant Brilliant or Merchant Bravery on her way to Heysham from Belfast around 1330.  I missed the European Pioneer but was back wide awake to see the European Mariner heading past the mouth of Belfast Lough at 1610.  Well inside our scheduled arrival time of 1800 the ship was throttled back as there would be no ramp man or dockers at Larne to unload the ship.  This gave time for another fine meal in the mess room before heading to the bridge to see the run into Larne.

The passage into Larne even in strong wind off the berth was simple compared to Fleetwood, from number 1 buoy into the berth is only about a mile and there is plenty of room and deep water to manoeuvre in.  Captain Hughes brought the European Seafarer alongside with ease and the ship was all secure at 1810 ending an excellent day at sea.

Reflections

In one book I read recently dating from 1995, the European Seafarer and her sisters were already written off with supposedly new ships to replace them on the drawing board ready for ordering.  No new ships ever came and the European Seafarer has soldiered on for 8 years since.  She was in outstanding condition internally and all being well she certainly is in the condition to go another few yet if she continues to get good care and attention.  

Now before I finish, it is just left for me to thank Captain Hughes and his crew for a magnificent trip.  I can easily see me recounting this to people when I'm old and grey sitting behind my Zimmer frame.

Also see:

European Seafarer on Larne Ferry Web

Larne to Fleetwood route history

Larne to Fleetwood fleet list

European Seafarer at Campbeltown

European Seafarer comes to the rescue

Updated: 15/02/05

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