#HSStoTurkey - The former HSS Stena Explorer which was withdrawn last year on the Dun Laoghaire-Holyhead route, has completed in exiting the Strait of Gibraltar this morning bound for Turkey, writes Jehan Ashmore.

The sole remaining HSS craft renamed One World Karadeniz had departed the fast-ferry’s Walsh homeport at the beginning of November without having to call to the UK overseas territory for bunkers.

This is due to the capabilities of using a 2,300 tonnes deep-sea anchor handling/supply tug Bluster. The tug flagged in the Netherlands is been tasked in towing the sold Stena fast-ferry of almost 20,000 tonnes to new owners in Turkey.

In our last report four’s days ago, One World Karadeniz had reached a position off north-western Spain while heading towards Portugal.

Since then the delivery voyage has included the Strait of Gibraltar between Europe and North Africa, where the One World Karadeniz was closer to the Spanish enclave of Ceuta bordering Morocco.

The near 70m tug this mid-afternoon has further progressed into the Mediterranean Sea as the 126m One World Karadenzi is far offshore off Malaga and heading for Yalova.

The port with its shipyards is located south of Istanbul.

#FerryScrubbers - Pont-Aven operated the final Cork-Roscoff round trip sailings last weekend with the Brittany Ferrries flagship scheduled to reopen the seasonal service in April 2016, writes Jehan Ashmore.

Saturday’s sailing also marked the last Irish-France crossing of the 2,400 passenger /650 cabin cruiseferry before the 41,748 tonnes ferry’s funnel are to be installed with 'scrubbers' this winter. The fitting of scrubbers are a result of new stricter 'green' controls following the EU Low Environmental Low Sulphur Directive that came into effect at the beginning of this year.

Pont-Aven will be unique in that she will be the only ferry operating in Irish waters during 2016 fitted with the sulphur emission scrubbers. This is due to the fact that the ferry also plies on the Roscoff-Plymouth route in the English Channel, one of several geographical zones that are under the EU directive to curb on emissions.

The Irish Sea nor surrounding waters are part of such a sulphur zone, SECA (Sulphur Emission Control Area). In addition to the English Channel, the other SECA zones include the North Sea and the Baltic.

Work to install the emission reduction technology on the 2004 German built Pont-Aven are understood to take place early next year at the Astander shipyard in Santander. The installation of scrubbers are essentially gas filters which allow the ferry to burn cost-effective heavy fuel oil, whilst still complying with new, stringent regulations applying to ships' emissions.

The Spanish port is also where the Pont-Aven serves a regular service to Plymouth.

So far the majority of Brittany Ferries fleet have undergone work to fit scrubbers, as briefy referred in Afloat, notably in the case of Normandie last year. It transpired following her return to the Caen (Oustreham)-Portsmouth route, the alteration of the funnel's appearance was rather boxy.

As for Pont-Aven, it will be interesting to see if the modifications carried out, albeit important, do not overwhelming detract from what is an overall attractive looking ferry.

The latest fleetmate currently receiving scrubbers is Normandie’s route-mate, Mont St. Michel. Likewise, the work is been currently carried out in Santander and is due to be completed in December.

Mont St. Michel sailings are instead been taken by Armorique, which stood down from her main Roscoff-Plymouth duties. In turn the most western English Channel route services are been maintained by Bretagne. As previously reported on Afloat.ie, Bretagne ended the final 2014 round trip sailings on the seasonal link to Ireland. 

Getting into more technical details, a scrubber cleans the ship's exhaust, removing about 90% of the sulphur dioxide, this is to comply with new MARPOL VI limit of 0.1% sulphur emissions. They have the added benefit of removing about 70% of particulate matter which is also harmful to health.

One scrubber is required for each engine, which requires considerably investment, for example Pont-Aven has seven engines (four for propulsion, and three for electrical power). So each will require seven scrubbers.

Approximately, the cost is £10 million per ship - as well as the length of time it takes to install the scrubbers of around eight weeks. Afloat understands that Brittany Ferries are expected to pay more than €31m to complete the programme of installing the scrubbers across almost the entire ferry fleet. 

During a recent sailing on board Armorique, a senior crew member commented to Afloat.ie that the 2009 Finnish built ferry will also undergo the work to install scrubbers between January and March.

Returning to the Irish route, Pont-Aven is scheduled to resume seasonal sailing service with the first inbound crossing to Cork on 1 April 2016. The outward return leg departs Ringaskiddy ferryport the next day on 2 April to Roscoff.

#AnotherHSSWorld – Since the sole surviving HSS 1500 fastferry departed Holyhead, Wales last weekend, the previous Stena Explorer is currently off the Spainish coast, writes Jehan Ashmore.

The craft sold by Stena Line to Turkish owners and renamed One World Karadeniz, departed her former Welsh homeport from where she made her debut in 1996. For 18 years she plied on the route to Dun Laoghaire Harbour until withdrawn in 2014.

In that timeframe she carried over 15 million passengers, 3 million cars and over half a million freight units on almost 29, 000 sailings on the Ireland-UK route.

It was observed all of the Stena Line livery markings were removed, while I was making a trip through Holyhead by coincidence in the early hours of that same day before she finally made her departure from the Anglesea port.

At the stern the new name of the Finnish built craft could be seen albeit in the dim light prior to boarding a night ferry to Dublin Port.

During mid-day the HSS bid farewell to Holyhead and vice-versa as Stena staff and spectators witnessed an emmotional farewell of the historic occasion. She was due to have departed the previous Thursday, however weather conditions changed such plans.

A flotilla of local tugs escorted the 126m long by 40m wide craft out of the confines of the inner harbour before transferring One World Karadeniz for her delivery voyage by the tug Bluster.

The Dutch anchor-handler and supply tug of more than 2,000 tonnes is towing the almost 20,000 tonnes fast-ferry.

So far the repositioning voyage of One World Karadeniz has included a final exit of the Irish Sea, through the Celtic Sea and a first for the craft with a passage in new waters off the Bay of Biscay.

By mid-morning today, the Bluster was making 4.8 knots with her tow of One World Karadeniz some 44 nautical miles off Fisterra along the north-west coast of Spain.

Afloat understands that voyage time to Turkey is expected to take 17 days to reach Yalova. The port with several shipyards is to the south-east of Instanbul.

It will be interesting to see what future the new owners have in mind for HSS craft given her high-fuel costs of recent years. Could she be converted for other purposes? given her large wide decks for use as a platform but this is only speculation.

#AddedCapacity - Irish Sea freight-only operator, Seatruck Ferries is to add a third vessel to its growing Dublin-Liverpool route beginning on 17 November.

The additional mid-week departures will provide much needed peak capacity on a route which the operator claim is attracting increasing support from un-accompanied traffic.

The additional vessel is in direct response to demand and feedback from the Seatruck customer base and has been tailored to reflect the changing needs of the Irish market.

Driver shortages are causing operators to reassess their traditional accompanied method.

Seatruck Ferries believes in a switch to greater volumes of unaccompanied movements from ports, which reduces road mileage compared with the transit through Wales or Scotland. As economic conditions improve, this addition is the next stage in the freight operator's strategic development plan.

The move will complement the existing Seatruck services operating between Warrenpoint-Heysham and Dublin-Heysham (see ship's captain interview). The M6 Link road is nearing completion and will dramatically reduce the transit time to Heysham Port from junction 34 of the M6.

Commenting on the development, Seatruck CEO Alistair Eagles said,  "I am delighted to announce the deployment of additional tonnage on the Liverpool-Dublin route. October was another record month for this service and we are all really excited about the extra space that we will soon be able to offer to both existing and new customers.

He added. "2016 will be a pivotal year for Seatruck with not only the additional capacity on this route but with the opening of the M6 link which will be a game changer for the development of our routes from the Port of Heysham"

#CampbeltownFerry - Campaigners according to BBC News who want a ferry link between Kintyre and Ayrshire to continue say a meeting with the transport secretary was "positive".

Calmac has run an experimental service linking Campbeltown and Ardrossan over the past three summers. Afloat.ie adds that as previously reported the seasonal route ended in September.

Campaigners said it had made a difference to Kintyre's economy and met Transport Secretary Derek Mackay to make their case.

A decision on the service's future is expected before Christmas.

The service - which was always envisaged as a pilot - provided three sailings in each direction each week.

It used a vessel (m.v. Isle of Arran) primarily used to provide an enhanced service between Ardrossan and Brodick on Arran over the summer months.

The sailings provided an alternative to the four-hour drive between Campbeltown and Glasgow and was the first regular car ferry service between Kintyre and Ayrshire.

For more details on this story, click here

#FarewellHSS- As the sun shone down on Holyhead dozens of people lined the breakwater yesterday to say farewell to Stena Line’s HSS Explorer, reports the Daily Post.

The fast ferry set sail from the port for the last time after she was sold to a Turkish company.

As previously reported, she was due to leave on Thursday however it’s departure was postponed because of wet and windy weather conditions.

Ian Davies, Stena Line’s Route Manager (Irish Sea South), said: “It is an emotional day for all of us at Stena Line who have worked on the vessel and the route in support of the Stena Explorer over the last number of years.

“We are delighted to see that she will continue her working career in another part of the world and would like to take this opportunity to wish her new owners every success with what is a very special vessel.”

HSS Explorer will be escorted to Turkey by tug boats before starting a new chapter in her operational life. To read more on the historic departure of the HSS, click here.

Afloat.ie adds that final surviving HSS craft has been laid-up in Holyhead since September of 2014 following a decision by Stena to withdraw the highspeed sea service.

Stena continued central Irish Sea corridoor operations on their existing Dublin Port to Holyhead route and consolidated services with the introduction of Stena Superfast X in March of this year. The conventional ferry joined Stena Adventurer which has been in service for more than a decade.

#FerryNews - Proposals to adjust the Strangford Lough ferry timetable are now under public consultation, as the News Letter reports.

The new schedule for October to April would see the cancellation of the last sailings from Strangford (at 10.30pm) and Portaferry (10.45pm), meaning both directions would see the last boat leave 30 minutes earlier on weekdays and Sundays.

However, the plans also see an additional year-round morning sailing from Portaferry to Strangford on weekdays at 7.20am.

The News Letter has more on the story HERE.

#SayOnFerry - TravelWatch, the UK passenger watchdog is urging the public to respond to a survey on the future of ferry services, writes IOMtoday.

Back in July, the independent group welcomed the Infrastructure Minister’s announcement in Tynwald that his department was to hold a public consultation on the future of ferry services.

A survey questionnaire was issued at the end of September, (closing date 9 Nov) seeking the views of passengers and freight users on issues such as preferred departure times and choice of ports in North West England and Ireland, and requesting the rating of items such as frequency of sailing, comfort and reliability of service.

TravelWatch says the tick-box format may be easier for the government to handle, but believes the public should be given an opportunity to make comments on whether the Steam Packet’s second vessel be a fast ferry or conventional ship.

For more on the story, click here.

Afloat.ie adds that the current conventional ferry the Ben-My-Chree (see captain interview) mostly serves on main Isle of Man-UK route between Douglas and Heysham.

#DoverFreightRecord - A record volume of freight has been carried between Dover and Calais by operator P&O Ferries in the third quarter of the year.

According to Lloyds Loading List, the ferry company transported 367,000 units of freight across the Channel between July and September - up 30% on the same period last year and the best single quarter since 2003.

P&O Ferries’ CEO Helen Deeble said: “This quarter has been unprecedented, with the strike by French seamen and the temporary closure of the port of Calais bringing major logistical challenges.”

But she said demand for cross-Channel transport was only going to increase, driven by a rising population and a recovering economy.

“We have increased the number of sailings we make between Dover and Calais to 58 a day and brought a sixth ship back into service on the route in order to make sure that we are best placed to meet that demand."

Freight comprises around two-thirds of P&O Ferries’ business, with tourist traffic accounting for one-third.

#FastFerryLayover - The fast craft ferry, Manannan will have a winter layover period in Manx waters until at least the end of the year, according to operators the Isle of Man Steam Packet Company.

The InCat built 96m craft concludes her 2015 season on 8th November and is not due to resume sailings until 17th March 2016. Normally, Manannan moors on the Mersey during the winter, however this year she will stay in Douglas.

Ben-my-Chree, the main conventional (ro-pax) ferry will operate services throughout the winter, including regular sailings to Heysham and weekend services to Birkenhead.

Steam Packet Company Chief Executive Mark Woodward explained: ‘Ben-my-Chree is a hard-working and reliable vessel which will continue to maintain the Isle of Man’s vital lifeline throughout the winter months.

‘However, we are constantly looking at ways we might improve our service and respond to unforeseen circumstances. This winter we will keep Manannan in Douglas to assess how this may help reduce the time it takes to resume passenger services should Ben-my-Chree be subject to any damage or mechanical issues. In addition, Arrow will be available to ensure freight transport is continued.

‘Having both Manannan and Arrow on stand-by until after the busy Christmas period will provide an extra degree of support for our vital sea links at this important time of the year.’

Manannan will sail over to Merseyside early in the New Year for routine maintenance before returning to the Isle of Man ready for the 2016 season to get under way in March.