Larne to Cairnryan 30 Years 1973

On the 10th of July 1973 the first ever sailing on the present day Larne to Cairnryan route took place. The first sailing that day was taken by the Ionic Ferry (I) under the command of Captain William Close from Larne. Operating the route on her own the Ionic Ferry (I) offered sailings from Larne at 0900 and 1600 with return sailings from Cairnryan at 1200 and 1930 seven days per week.

Initially sailing with a passenger certificate for 55 passengers the Ionic Ferry was altered for her new role at Belfast during an extensive refit prior to entering service. Her passenger certificate was raised to 219 with the fitting of two extra lifeboats on her open deck at the stern. This open deck aft was usually used for the carriage of containers lifted on by the ships own electric crane but now it was cleared of its fittings and used for the carriage of cars and light commercial vehicles, driven aboard by means of a long ramp at either port.

The route was initially looked on by contempt by many analysts in the ferry business. The ramp on the north side of Cairnryan pier was thought to be too exposed and would not last out the winter. In the end the service continued uninterrupted throughout the winter and a second berth was soon added at Cairnryan on the south side of the pier along with a second vessel for the following summer season of 1974. Nowadays the route moves more freight between the British mainland and Ireland than any other ro-ro ferry route on the Irish Sea.

Below, I look back on some of the ships that have served the route, dates served are given beside the name (those to my knowledge any way).


Bardic Ferry 1974 - 1976	Free Enterprise I 1975 (bottom) and Free Enterprise III (top) 1974

Doric Ferry 1976 - 1981	Free Enterprise IV 1976 - 1986

European Gateway 1980 - 1982	Europic Ferry 1983 - 1993 (1993 as European Freighter)

Ionic Ferry 1986 - 1992	Pride of Ailsa 1992 - 1995

Pride of Rathlin 1992 - 2000	European Endeavour 1994 - 2002

Jetliner 1996 - 2000	European Trader 1996 - 2001

European Causeway 2000 - present	Superstar Express 2000 - present

European Pathfinder 2001 - 2002	European Highlander (II) 2002 - present

Photo Credits: Dougie McIntyre, Steven Brown, Gary Andrews, Nigel Thornton (for access to his father's photo collection), William Agnew and Jimmy Dowey.

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