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The Atlantic Steam
Navigation Company (Est. 1948)
Atlantic
Steam Navigation era (1948 – 1971):
The Atlantic Steam
Navigation company commenced operations with the chartered tank landing
craft
Empire Cedric between the Lancashire port of Preston
and Larne in
May 1948. Her success saw the further charters of the Empire Doric,
Empire
Gaelic and Empire Cymric and the opening of a second link to Belfast by the
'Gaelic' in 1950.
During 1956 the entire fleet of LSTs (Landing Ship (Tank)) was
requisitioned by
the Government during the Suez Crisis and chartered German ships were
hastily
introduced to keep the services going while in the following year the
company acquired
their first purpose-built ships. A product of the Wm. Denny & Bros.
yard at
Dumbarton the Bardic Ferry and Ionic Ferry were the World's first
commercial
roll on - roll off vessels and carried not just lorries but had
sufficient
headroom of their vehicle decks to accommodate a double decker bus.
Government
requirements meant that the vehicle decks were strengthened to carry
tanks in
case of future emergencies and up to twenty containers could be carried
on
their upper decks. First and Second Class accommodation for 55
passengers
was provided, each with their own dining rooms and lounges.
The Bardic
Ferry made her
maiden voyage between Preston and Larne in September 1957 while the
'Ionic'
entered service on the same link in October 1958 at which time the
premier ship
was transferred to Tilbury - Antwerp. Two more larger vessels of this
type were
duly ordered from the Ailsa at Troon and the Cerdic Ferry (Rotterdam
service) and Doric Ferry (Antwerp
service)
entered service at Tilbury in November 1961 and April 1962 by which
time the
'Bardic' was back on the Irish Sea.
With the
new vessels in
operation, the LST fleet was gradually reduced until the final such
ship, the
Empire Nordic, was withdrawn in December 1966. With no relief ship
during the
annual overhauls, ASN chartered Thoresen's Viking 1 to serve the Preston - Larne route during January 1967.
During the
1960s, ASN had
purchased a small pier at Cairnryan on Loch Ryan, Wigtownshire, for
£60,000 and
in 1970 they decided to upgrade it for a new short-sea service.
European
Ferries Group era (1971 – 1998):
The
European Ferries Group
(EFG) acquired the ASN for £5.5 million in November 1971 and
immediately
injected new ideas, new ships and a new style of service. The closure
of
Preston, with its tidal problems and a long and narrow course up the
River
Ribble, occurred in March 1973 and the following day the Ionic Ferry
(with an
increased passenger certificate for 218) sailed to Cairnryan for trials
before
commencing the new service across the North
Channel
in July. The closure of Preston - Larne saw the Belfast services doubled using the
Bardic
Ferry and Doric Ferry but at the close of July 1974 the passage was
terminated
and all traffic was in future shipped through Cairnryan which had by
this time
gained a second linkspan. October 1973 had seen the EFG purchase the
Larne
Harbour Company.
In an
effort to boost
seasonal traffic on the crossing, the Dover
ferry Free Enterprise III was introduced on the Cairnryan - Larne route
between
July - October 1974. She then returned south at which time the Bardic
Ferry
took up station. The small, stern loader Free Enterprise I was
transferred to
the link for the 1975 season after which the Free Enterprise IV
appeared in
1976 and was such a success that she remained for the next ten years.
The year
1976 also saw the sale of the 'Bardic' and the 'Ionic' to Greek
owners.
The ro-ro
vessel European
Gateway, which had entered service at Felixstowe during June 1975, was
also
transferred to the North Channel link in March 1980 to cover for the
annual
overhaul of the ‘FE IV’ and the Doric Ferry while that winter she was
sent to
Amsterdam to be lengthened and to increase her passenger capacity to
328 before
operating the North Channel service on a permanent basis with the ‘FE
IV’. Now
spare vessels, in the following year the ‘Doric’ and ‘Cerdic’ were
offered for
sale.
Sadly the
‘Gateway’ was lost
off Felixstowe during a period in which she was covering for overhaul
in
December 1981. The Gaelic Ferry was then transferred to the Ulster
link
until replaced by the Europic Ferry in March 1983.
Further
fleet reshuffles saw
the Free Enterprise IV return to Dover
in July 1986 while her place was taken by the former Southampton-based
Dragon
which was renamed Ionic Ferry. The ‘Europic’ and ‘Ionic’ partnership
lasted
until 1992 when the stretched Dover -
Zeebrugge
twins Pride of Sandwich (Ex Free Enterprise VI) and Pride of Walmer (ex
Free
Enterprise VII) were replaced in the Dover
Strait and made
available for the North Channel
becoming the Pride of Ailsa and Pride of
Rathlin.
<>Capacity was certainly
boosted on the shortest route to Ireland and the last ASN ship, the
Europic
Ferry, was downgraded to freight- only purposes and was renamed
European
Freighter. ‘The Ionic’ was withdrawn and sold to Greek owners.
In June 1996, P&O European Ferries acquired the revolutionary £20
million
monohull fast craft, Jetliner. The 600 passenger, 160 car vessel
crossed the North Channel in just one
hour and offered six sailings
each day. Her arrival saw the withdrawal of the Pride of Ailsa which
was sold
to Egypt while
former Dover
ro-ro vessels
European Endeavour and European Trader joined the route to boost
freight
capacity in September 1995 and February 1996.
The
remaining ‘Free
Enterprise’ class vessel, the Pride of Rathlin was withdrawn from
service in
June 2000 after the delivery of a 23 knot new ropax ferry built in Japan.
The new
ship reduced conventional crossing times to just 105 minutes and
accommodates
375 cars(or 107 commercial vehicles) and 410 passengers.
PANDORO
era (1974 – 1999):
The
Pandoro part of P&O
European Ferries (Irish Sea) can trace
its
history back to 1974. The name is a clever acronym of P AND O RO (i.e.
roll
on). Seeking to increase its road haulage and freight interests,
P&O had
purchased the well-established Coast Lines (who were at this time 26%
share
holders in North Sea Ferries) in 1971 and in the following year the
Group reorganised
its 120 subsidiaries which were absorbed into five new divisions.
Long
established names such
as Coast Lines, its subsidiary the Belfast Steamship Company (operating
the
overnight Liverpool - Belfast link with
the new
car ferries Ulster
Prince and Ulster
Queen)
and Burns
& Laird (operators of the Lion on the daylight Ardrossan - Belfast route)
disappeared and the operating
title of P&O Ferries (Irish Sea Services) was adopted.
In 1972 the
formation of Ferrymasters (Ireland) Ltd. (the parent company of
which Coast lines owned an interest) soon saw a new service operating
between
Fleetwood and Larne which commenced operation in June 1973. In the
following
November the British Transport Docks Board started work on a ro-ro
terminal at
the Lancashire port and in 1974 P&O purchased the new ro-ro vessels
Bison
and Buffalo from Stena Line for £8 million. A further £1.25 million was
invested in ro-ro units to be used in connection with the new ships.
Then in December 1974 they founded Pandoro providing a local transport
operation for shippers to Ireland
into which Ferrymasters (Ireland)
was absorbed. In addition to the new service to Larne, one of the ships
also
served Dublin
in a new joint venture with the British & Irish Steam Packet Co.
(B+I). The
Bison was first in service in February 1975, actually operating her
maiden
voyage from the Royal Seaforth Dock in Liverpool, while the Buffalo followed
in March.
The ro-ro trade expanded rapidly at a time when the ‘troubles’ in Northern Ireland
were having a profound effect on the tourist and passenger/car market.
Smaller,
less profitable services were soon axed as the new Pandoro services
went from
strength to strength and services to and from Garston, Preston,
Warrenpoint,
Newry and Londonderry were all closed.
P&O
unveiled their 'new
image' in October 1975 when the Belfast Steamship Co. and Burns &
Laird
Lines became P&O Ferries (Irish Sea Services) and the Ulster Queen and Ulster
Prince were duly painted in
their pale blue livery.
The Lion
was withdrawn from
service at Ardrossan in February 1976 after which she was sent to the Dover Strait
to commence a new Normandy Ferries link with Boulogne.
The
long-established
overnight Liverpool - Belfast route was
finally
withdrawn in November 1981 with losses estimated at £1 million after
which the
'Ulster'boats were laid-up pending sale in Ostend.
Meanwhile at Liverpool, Pandoro built
a ramp
and terminal at the North West Alexandra Dock and chartered then
purchased the
four year old Union Melbourne which, after stretching, eventually
became the
Puma. This proved so successful that the Bison and the Buffalo received
similar extensions in 1981
and 1988. Further increases in freight saw the Bison receive an extra
deck in
1995 while three years later the Buffalo
was given hers.
Further large ro-ro vessels to join Pandoro have been the Ibex which
was built
in 1979 after which she was chartered to North Sea Ferries between 1980
and
1995 during which time she was named firstly Norsea and then
Norskybefore
returning to the Liverpool - Dublin
service under her original name. She too received an extra deck in
1996.
The Viking Trader was built for Stena Line in 1977 but was taken on
charter by
P&O European Ferries (Portsmouth)
Ltd. in 1983 at which time she adopted a familiar 'Viking' name. She
was
transferred to Pandoro in 1989 and eventually renamed the Leopard for
the
Fleetwood - Dublin
route.
In 1993,
Pandoro inaugurated
a new service linking Rosslare with Cherbourg
and acquired the former Dover
- Zeebrugge freighter European Clearway in order to operate the link.
Replaced
at Dover by new tonnage, the ‘Clearway’
had been
transferred to Portsmouth - Le Havre in 1992
before her ‘sale’ to P&O
Group partners. In January 1996 the vessel was renamed Panther. The
Ardrossan -
Larne link received the services of the 1978-built Merchant Valiant in
1993.
Two years later she was purchased and renamed the Lion.
P&O
Irish Sea era (1999 – present):
During
late 1997 and early
1998, in preparation of the formation of P&O European Ferries (Irish Sea), the entire Pandoro fleet was renamed
thus:
Bison
>
European Pioneer
Buffalo
>
European
Leader
Ibex
>
European Envoy
Leopard > European
Navigator
Lion
>
European Highlander
Panther
>
European Pathfinder
Puma
>
European Seafarer
New
tonnage was announced in
1999 when a £33 million ro-pax was ordered from Mitsubishi of Japan for
the
Liverpool - Dublin
route for delivery early in 2001. The vessel will see the transfer of
the
European Leader to the Fleetwood station and further orders of this
type could
well be forthcoming as the company try to expand the passenger/tourist
car
market on the Dublin
route and earlier vessels become due for replacement.
Following
the early
successes of the fast ferry service between Larne and Cairnryan with
the
mono-hulled craft the Jetliner, she was replaced by the Superstar
Express in
April 2002. The Australian-built craft proved very successful on the
service on
the North Channel and was replaced in 2005 by the larger craft the
Express,
which will also operate to both Cairnryan and Troon from Northern Ireland.
In 2000
the Company took
delivery of the first of their two purpose-built ferries for the
Larne-Cairnryan service. The European Causeway, with a capacity for 410
passengers, 375 cars and 107 trailers, entered service in 2000 and was
followed
some 18 months later by the European Highlander. Both vessels since
their entry
into service have been an overwhelming success for the Company. During
May 2002
P&O increased their capacity on their Liverpool-Dublin service
after
transferring the Ro-pax vessels Norbay and Norbank from the Company’s
North Sea
operations.In 2004 P&O disposed of their Fleetwood-Larne service to
Stena
Line of Sweden and the European Leader, European Pioneer and European
Seafarer
were sold to the new operator.
At the
same time the Company
decided to close their Mostyn-Dublin service after it failed to attract
the
levels of traffic they had anticipated. The European Ambassador and
European
Envoy were subsequently sold by P&O for further service in Europe.
In early 2005, the European Diplomat was sold as part of a package to a
group
of hauliers in Ireland
following the Company indicating that they wished to close their
Ireland-France
service.
The Cairnryan-Larne service continues to expand and attract new levels
of
traffic with the successful Japanese-built European Causeway and
European
Highlander, together with the fast craft operations during the summer
period.
The Larne-Troon freight service continues to attract business wanting
to
transfer their goods between the central industrial area of Glasgow
and Northern Ireland
and
also goods for export to Scotland.
Today, the P&O Group operates three ferry routes on the Irish Sea with a fleet of six vessels.
Related Websites:
P&O
Irish Sea
www.poirishsea.com
P&O Ferries
www.poferries.com
P&O Group
www.pogroup.com
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