Austal Limited revealed on 11th September that it had been awarded a contract for a fast ferry by the Prime Minister of Trinidad and Tobago following an announcement from the Trinidad and Tobago Cabinet and the local press.

BC Ferries issued a Request for Expressions of Interest (RFEOI) on 5th October for the procurement of five new major vessels. The competitive bidding process is open to local, national and international shipyards, including consortiums, and BC Ferries is encouraging local and national companies to bid on these projects. The new ships will replace the Queen of Alberni, Queen of New Westminster, Queen of Cowichan, and Queen of Coquitlam, and will introduce an additional vessel to the fleet to address forecasted increases in vehicle and passenger traffic in the coming years.

Brittany Ferries’ 6,581gt/2000 built Normandie Express (above) concluded her season with a bad weather cancellation having operated extra days as cover for the 35,586gt/2002 built Mont St. Michel as the latter needed an emergency dry docking in Brest. She proceeded to Cherbourg and then went on to the sycrolift for annual overhaul week beginning 24th September. The Mont St. Michel was in trouble again on 7th October when she suffered an electrical fire and remained alongside at Ouistreham. The 27,541gt/1992 built Normandie was diverted to Cherbourg daily until 11th October when services returned to normal.

The 20,133gt/1992 built Barfleur (above) was in Poole all day on 9th October thanks to yet another strike in France.

Clipper Group has finalised the sale of its ferry services, Danske Færger A/S, to Molslinjen A/S having been given the go-ahead from the competition authorities. This marks the group’s exit from the ferry business after a 10 year involvement. Meanwhile, Molslinjen’s new Austal 109 highspeed ferry is being fitted out (above) ahead of trials, having been rolled out of her building hall in August.

Condor Ferries’ 5,007gt/1997 built Condor Rapide arrived at Poole on 8th October for a scheduled week-long maintenance period. This provided the unusual sight of both Condor fast craft at Poole together. The 14,000gt/1999 built Commodore Clipper covered the St. Malo route and the 7,606gt/1998 built Arrow served Portsmouth in lieu of the ‘Clipper after spending time with Northlink operating Aberdeen-Kirkwall-Lerwick.

Color Line AS, Hav Lines AS and Viasea AS have been granted NOK 33.8m in subsidies from the Norwegian Government (Kystverket) to move more freight from the road to the sea. Color Line is establishing a new Oslo-Kiel Ro-Ro service from 9th January using the purchased 12,433gt/1998 built Ro-Ro ship Finncarrier. In total, 1.4 million tonnes of goods could be transferred to sea transport during the period of the subsidy.

Corsica Linea’s 30,144gt/1999 built Vizzavona (formerly the Euroferry Corfu and built as the Finneagle) was chartered for a NATO exercise in Norway, departing Marseille on 8th October for La Rochelle to load army personnel and Ro-Ro cargo prior to proceeding to Fredrikstad.

Koninklijke N.V. Texels Eigen Stoomboot Onderneming (TESO) has failed to secure a Buyer for the 8,311gt/1990-built Schulpengat, a 1,320-passenger/300-car capacity double-ended ferry that became surplus to requirements following the introduction of the 15,483gt/2016 built Texelstroom. She will now go for scrapping.

P&O Ferries’ former fast ferry, the 5,902gt/1998 built Express, has been operating for ARMAS in the Canary Islands this summer but is now reported as being sold to Golden Star Ferries of Greece and renamed Golden Express.

Scotslion Ferries Ltd., a consortium of business people, is looking into the feasibility of purchasing the laid-up 851gt/1978 built former CalMac ferry Saturn (above) in a bid to free up vehicle space on the current two CalMac ferries serving the Isle of Arran by carrying freight according to reports. The consortium is not happy with recent events affecting the freight and tourist service when the 3,296gt/1983 built Isle of Arran was out of service and the 5,221gt/1993 built Caledonian Isles had to operate with reduced capabilities prior to going to drydock. The Saturn was bought by Pentland Ferries but languishes unused at St. Margaret’s Hope.

Sealink stalwart Earl Godwin was built in 1966 as the Svea Drott. She passed to Sealink in 1974 and was renamed Earl Godwin for services to the Channel Isles and Cherbourg. She was sold to Moby Lines in 1990 and operated as Moby Baby (above) and Moby Spa until 2017 when sold to Portucalence Shipping Co. Ltd. and renamed Anemos (meaning Wind). A tow to Piraeus, Greece, followed for refit. However, the 5,667gt ship’s condition quickly proved to be beyond economical refurbishment and she went for scrap at Aliaga in October after a year of lay up.

The Woolwich Ferry service concluded a chapter in its history on 5th October when the present ferries were retired from service. The John Burns, Ernest Bevin and James Newman (above) were named after prominent local politicians (James Newman was mayor of Woolwich 1923–25).) and were built in Dundee in 1963 by the Caledon Shipbuilding & Engineering Company to replace the existing paddle steamers. The Voith-Schneider propelled vessels were each powered by two 500bhp 7-cylinder Mirrlees National diesel engines and were the closest vessels still in service comparable to the trio of C-Class ferries that were built by Robb Caledon, powered by Mirrless Blackstone engines, propelled by Voith Schneider units and withdrawn 2008-2009. All three Woolwich Ferries have been sold for scrap with the John Burns towed away for demolition in Le Havre, by the 327gt/2014 built TSM Kermor on 6th October, six days later than planned. This delay allowed all three ships to remain together until the end. The last sailing was operated by the Ernest Bevin. The ferry service first opened in 1889 and there will now be a 3 month suspension of the service to allow for the renewal of the linkspans. The new ferries, the Ben Woollacott and Dame Vera Lynn, have been built in Gdansk and will initially go to Tilbury Docks for crew training whilst the berths are rebuilt.