Brittany Ferries’ 6,581gt/2000 built Normandie Express departed Portsmouth International Port on 13th September for the final time this season, bound for Cherbourg. Once de-stored the vessel moved to the Darse de l’Océan in Le Havre on 19th September for lay-up until 20th April 2017 when her 2017 season commences. In 137 days of operation the Normandie Express lost 3 rotations due to inclement weather and no technical problems were reported. By contrast, in the same period Condor’s troubled Condor Liberation lost 28 rotations, 21 due to technical issues, 7 to weather.

Condor Ferries’ Guernsey Consumer Group undertook a survey that was completed by 1,281 people of which over 1,000 said that they were dissatisfied with the service offered by Condor. More than 36% of those questioned also said they would prefer to travel to Weymouth, with 15% choosing Southampton (where no passenger service operates nowadays), 14% Portsmouth and just 13% selecting Poole while 21% expressed no preference. The service was described as unreliable by 1,079 people with the majority of criticisms involving the beleaguered Condor Liberation. Condor has also been urged to buy a second passenger vessel for the U.K. route and to operate a passenger only inter-island service like the good old days. The Poole sailing was cancelled on 20th August due to bad weather whilst a bomb hoax on 22nd August delayed the departure while a security search was undertaken of the ferry and the ferry terminal. Both the Condor Rapide and Commodore Clipper experienced technical problems of their own in mid-September.

Irish Ferries’ new 50,000gt ship due for delivery in May 2018 now has a new artist’s impression (above) that shows how much she resembles the Ulysses. The €144 million cruise ferry is being built by Flensburger Schiffbau-Gesselschaft. The newbuild is expected to provide additional capacity on the Holyhead-Dublin route during the week, and Dublin-Cherbourg at weekends, replacing the chartered 26,375gt/2011 built Visentini class Ro-Pax ship Epsilon.

Jadrolinija of Croatia is boosting its fleet with a new 2,000 passenger capacity Ro-Ro ferry and Poland’s Remontowa Marine Design & Consulting (RMDC) has won the public tender for the development of concept and classification design of the ship. The ferry will operate in the Adriatic Sea between the port of Split and the islands of Hvar, Korcula and Vis and will accommodate up to 2,000 passengers and 206 cars, or 85 cars and 20 trucks. Passenger spaces located on two decks will include a restaurant, bars, buffet, childrens’ playroom and designated space for passengers on the open deck. Four diesel engines will power the vessel.

Iscomar’s last crossings between Mallorca and Menorca operated on 11th September using the 3,134gt/1977 built Nura Nova (above). The service had run since 1998 and carried 1.35 million passengers.

Mersey Ferries is drawing up a 20 year strategy and will appoint a Naval Architect with a view to introducing a new vessel by 2021. The strategy is centred on reducing Mersey Ferries’ £2.3 million operational costs. Discussions are ongoing with local organisations on options for the future of the Royal Daffodil which remains out of service. The Snowdrop is likely to be retained until 2031 when a second new vessel is expected to be commissioned. This plan is based on her mechanical condition. It is also hoped that the names Royal Daffodil and Royal Iris of the Mersey can be retained for the new vessels.

Mols Linien takes over the Bornholm services on 1st September 2018 and has now confirmed the acquisition of the 12,358gt/1978 built Faergen ship Povl Anker. The ship will undergo an extensive refit having selected her in favour of the former Newhaven ship Sardinia Vera.

Tallink announced on 12th September that it plans to swap cruise ferries on two routes. This will involve moving the 48,915gt/2009 built Baltic Queen from the Tallinn-Helsinki to the Tallinn-Stockholm route from 13th December and the 40,803gt/2002 built Romantika to the Riga-Stockholm route from 12th December. The Tallinn-Helsinki cruise service will again be operated by the upgraded 59,912gt/1993 built Silja Europa from 12th December after refit following her return from charter with Bridgeman. The flag of Romantika will be changed from Estonian to Latvian whilst the Silja Europa and Baltic Queen will remain under the Estonian flag.

Rathlin Island Ferry’s new vessel Spirit of Rathlin (above) was lifted into the water on 12th September by her builder Tyrell Shipping of Arklow. She will replace the 1976 built former CalMac ferry Canna on the service from Ballycastle to Rathlin Island.