THE CAPITAINE LE GOFF

A visit to the newly arrived vessel at Dieppe

By Derek Longly

In 1972 a ship somewhat novel to the service was bought by SNCF to be introduced for the carriage of freight and vehicles only.  

She was, at that time, virtually brand new, having been built that same year by Hatlo Verksted A/S at Ulsteinvik, Norway and intended for the Larvik - Frederikshavn Linien with the name Admiral Carrier I.  However, she was sold immediately after her launch to a subsidiary of SNCF.

I had the good fortune to be in Dieppe, after a stay in Rouen, while she was being readied and was able to include myself with a group of people invited to have a look around the ship.

Although the Falaise had already introduced ro-ro operations some while earlier it was still a relatively recent concept on the Newhaven to Dieppe route and this new ship was radically different in design to both Falaise and the twin 'V' ships Villandry and Valencay. 

As a result it was extremely interesting to be able inspect the Capitaine Le Goff with her rather small superstructure, square section funnels and through operation with both a bow door and stern doors. We were given as comprehensive a tour as possible, allowing for the fact there was still work in progress to ready her for entry into service.

The first few photos attached were taken during that tour whilst the last one shows the ship as she appeared shortly after commencing on the route.

Once the vessel was introduced it was fairly quickly discovered that she had a stability problem and she was rebuilt with a stabilising tank across her midships structure.

For anyone interested very full details of her history can be found at: http://www.doverferryphotosforums.co.uk/mv-capitaine-le-goff-past-and-present.