Old Larne Ships at Work in Spain

Former Superstar Express in Spain
[new material added 25/10/06 at the bottom of the page]

The Port of Larne has been graced with 3 different fast craft engaged on P&O's Larne to Scotland fast ferry services. Inaugurated in June 1996 the fast ferry crossing between Larne and Cairnryan was established by the monohull vessel Jetliner. Capable of 35 knots the Norwegian built Jetliner was able to complete the crossing to Scotland in 1 hour, 30 minutes faster than the next fastest competitor at the time, Seacat Scotland on the Belfast - Stranraer route. The highly marketable route was an instant success but early promise was tainted somewhat by Jetliner's poor mechanical reliability which began to show only 1 month after the route opened. Technical problems dogged the craft throughout her service at Larne up until her withdrawal in 2000 at the finish of her charter to P&O. Jetliner later moved to further service in Indonesia and is now laid up there - an expensive commodity that her current operators can no longer afford to keep in service.

With the Jetliner's poor technical record something was needed to restore customer confidence in the Larne - Cairnryan route. This came in the shape of Superstar Express, which after a good performance on P&O's Portsmouth - Cherbourg route was replaced there by the larger fast craft Portsmouth Express and was thus spare to come to Larne and take over from Jetliner. Superstar Express took over at Larne on the 18/4/00 with Jetliner bowing out of service the previous day. With the Superstar Express' superior reliability compared to Jetliner, confidence in the fast craft option from Larne began to filter through to the travelling public to such an extent that fast craft services from Larne were expanded in the 2003 season when Superstar Express combined crossings from Larne to the Ayrshire port of Troon in her itinerary as well as the established Larne - Cairnryan service.

The Superstar Express lasted one further season on the Troon and Cairnryan routes before bowing out of service from Larne with a weather delayed crossing from Troon on the 19/9/04 which did not arrive in Larne until the early hours of the next day. In September 2004, after a fleetwide review of operations, P&O announced the closure of three of their four services from Portsmouth. This left the Cherbourg Express (ex Portsmouth Express), still with a number of years left to run on her charter, with no dedicated service for the forthcoming 2005 summer season while Superstar Express, whose charter was renewed annually, could be dispensed with at the end of the 2004 season. Thus, the craft that had replaced Superstar Express in Portsmouth in 2000 was also now going to replace her on the North Channel.

Restyled Express although marketed as P&O Express, the former Cherbourg Express made her debut on the North Channel on the 18/3/05 with the 0715 sailing to Troon. Meanwhile, Superstar Express spent the winter of 2004-2005 laid up at Birkenhead awaiting a buyer or another company to charter her. With the summer season almost over Buquebus bought the vessel and in early August 2005 she moved from Birkenhead to Algecrias for refitting and renaming to Avemar Dos prior to starting service on the Algecrias to Ceuta route. Larne Ferry Web reader Seamus McAllister caught up with Avemar Dos in November 2005 during a crossing of the Strait of Gibraltar.


	Three scenes showing the Avemar Dos manoeuvring at her berth and alongside.
	An equivalent view of Superstar Express alongside in Larne during May 2002. Photo: Larne Ferry Web (click to enlarge)




A few views of the interior of Avemar Dos shows only superficial changes from her days on the North Channel as Superstar Express. Seamus writes, "the SSE has been reupholstered and although the crossing time to Morocco is one hour (same as Larne - Cairnryan) the onboard services were limited - the restaurant is now a tea bar and the shop never opened during the crossing. In fact the aft end of the ship was closed off to customers with steel shutters."

Above: Two views of the interior of Superstar Express taken in 2003. Photos: Jimmy Dowey (click to enlarge)
	The familiar profile of another ex Larne ship, the Le Rif better known in these parts as Galloway Princess / Stena Galloway alongside in Algecrias.

Following on from this article Richard Seville forwarded a set of pictures of the Avemar Dos taken in September 2006. Richard reports that the vessel now shows little of her former P&O heritage and is looking in need of a good clean up after a hard season. The former Fables restaurant at the forward end of the main passenger deck is now a branded Telepizza outlet complete with their bright red colour scheme. This offers similar fare to what Fables did with drinks and snacks available rather than full meals in light of the short crossing, and unsurprisingly given its name the outlet specialises in pizzas. Towards the after end of this deck the former reception desk on the starboard side is closed and out of use while the Coffee and Choc Dock is now a Buquebus Travel Agency. The shop remains at the extreme aft end of this deck on the starboard side but was closed to passengers.

The upper passenger deck of the craft is now designated a First Class area whereas in her P&O days this housed the main bar area and was open to all passengers apart from the Club Class lounge area to starboard. This lounge was only accessible on her North Channel sailings on payment of a supplement, which during her last season as Superstar Express in 2004 the Club Class upgrade was priced at £7 per person on Larne - Cairnryan sailings and £10 per person on Larne - Troon sailings. This former Club Class area is reserved as a VIP lounge on Avemar Dos and now sees very little use.

All pictures below taken September 2006 by Richard Seville click on image to enlarge


The staircase between the two passenger decks on Avemar Dos looking upward towards the First Class area.	The main passenger deck showing the former Fables Restaurant area, which is now a branded Telepizza outlet.

The upper passenger deck looking forward towards the main bar.	The former Club Class lounge aboard Avemar Dos is now a reserved VIP lounge

Avemar Dos at speed on another crossing of the Strait of Gibraltar	Le Rif in September 2006 clearly showing her new enclosed bridge wings