TRANSMANCHE FERRIES
Sardinia Vera at Newhaven.
Andy Gilbert
Dieppe arrives at Newhaven
Andy Gilbert
Cote d'Albatre rounds the breakwater for the first time.
Andy Gilbert
Cote d'Albatre prepares to leave Newhaven for the first time.
Andy Gilbert
Led by the pilot boat, Cote d'Albatre heads down river.
Andy Gilbert
Sardinia Vera leaves for the last time.
Andy Gilbert
Seven Sisters at the ramp for the first time.
Andy Gilbert
Impressive! Seven Sisters enters on her first service.
Andy Gilbert
Comings and Goings
By Andy Gilbert
Transmanche Ferries started their operations with the Sardinia Vera, chartered from Corsica Ferries. I guess that, rather than pay for an expensive repaint, they decided to stick with the vessel's current yellow colour scheme! Sardinia Vera was a reliable and popular vessel, in no small part due to the friendliness of her officers and crew.
She was joined by the Dieppe, the former Baltic ferry Saga Star. I wondered at the time how well this big and rather ungainly vessel would fare in the restricted space in Newhaven and wasn't at all surprised to see her aground or even taking a trip east of the East Pier!
The news that Transmanche had commissioned two brand new ferries was welcome news for the Newhaven/Dieppe service, representing as it did the first newbuildings on the route since the Senlac in 1973.
Cote d'Albatre arrived at Newhaven on a gloriously sunny Spring Sunday, the 5th March 2006, passing the breakwater end at 13.23 and leaving at 18.00 prompt. She entered full service the following day. This meant goodbye for Sardinia Vera and she left for the final time in a howling gale at 23.08 on 30th March. As she passed the Hope Inn, she blew the traditional three longs blasts to say farewell. I wonder how many people she woke up!
Cote d'Albatre then ran alongside Dieppe until the maiden arrival of her twin sister, Seven Sisters, on 1st November 2006. The new vessel entered service the following day and, with Dieppe being sold soon after, these two fine vessels have operated the route since then.
In early 2007, LD Lines took over operations of Transmanche Ferries and started to make big changes. A new, Summer-only service, was introduced between Newhaven and Le Havre, with three round trips between Newhaven and Dieppe. Winter sailings dropped to twice daily for a short while but, in January 2008, Transmanche announced that thrice-daily sailings would start again.
Carryings have been excellent on both routes and figures just released show that January 2008's freight figures were over 100% higher than January 2007. Car and foot passenger figures were up by over 25%. No doubt they would have been even better had Seven Sisters not been damaged on leaving Newhaven in bad weather in January, resulting in her being in dry dock for repairs for part of the month.
With the news that £1million is to be spent improving facilities at Newhaven, things are looking up. If I may misquote the old advert, "The future's bright, the future's yellow!"
Andy Gilbert