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We did the Iceland ferry in 2005 when a group of us took three 4 wheel drive trucks for a month in Iceland.The car decks were full and most getting on at Lerwick were 4x4s and camper vans, many from non- Scandinavian Europe, as it was a good way for them to reach Iceland. For the lots of Dutch, German, Italain travellers it was easier to travel via the UK than via Denmark. It was a great adventure and I would do it again if I could.
A few years ago I did a mini cruise from Harwich Parkeston Quay to Esberg with DFDS. The trip included a complimentary lunch and a coach tour of the area. It was a memorable trip as on the return voyage the weather turned a bit rough so much so the disco was closed down. I can remember being sick as a dog not because of the sea state but what I had eaten.
I know this is about routes that no longer exist, but a few people on a couple of ferry forums have said that the Hull-Zeebrugge service might be returning for passengers as early as next year
Any routes worth bringing back?
Rosyth seems to be the one port in development.
I thought extending the northlink ferry seasonally to the Faroes might work to connect with the Iceland ferry. But I don't know if the is slack in the northlink schedule for that
Any routes worth bringing back?
Rosyth seems to be the one port in development.
I thought extending the northlink ferry seasonally to the Faroes might work to connect with the Iceland ferry. But I don't know if the is slack in the northlink schedule for that
Not an international route but an anglo scottish route. I had a relative who was born around 1910. She could recall her father taking business trips from Dundee to London by sea using the service provided by the Dundee Perth and London Shipping Company, a company which was mentioned on this forum earlier this year.
While researching one of the Railcar site’s mystery photos, the site owner brought this to my attention. Any idea quite how they came to get that name?
Not an international route but an anglo scottish route. I had a relative who was born around 1910. She could recall her father taking business trips from Dundee to London by sea using the service provided by the Dundee Perth and London Shipping Company, a company which was mentioned on this forum earlier this year.
While researching one of the Railcar site’s mystery photos, the site owner brought this to my attention. Any idea quite how they came to get that name?
Back in 1924 Newcastle United supporters travelled to London for their FA Cup Final match against Aston Villa aboard the Tyne Tees Shipping Co's new vessel Bernicia on the regular route. The trip cost 25 shillings (£1.25p) for a first-class return ticket. Newcastle won 2-0. The vessel was sold to Greece in 1934, the route no longer economic after competition from the LNER and buses. But I'm digressing.
As I recall that was withdrawn sometime in the 1980s and replaced by a Portsmouth-Le Havre service, which for a time in the 1980s was promoted as a combined rail/sea/rail route branded "The Parisian".
In the early to mid 1980s the Portsmouth-Le Havre service was run by Townsend Thoresen, and with the absorption of that shipping company by P&O in the late 1980s the route became P&O, then I think sometime in the 2000s or 2010s Brittany Ferries took it over.
Not sure if the Portsmouth-Le Havre service still operates: I have a feeling it was withdrawn or became a cargo only service during the Covid pandemic, then it was reinstated but only for vehicles, not for foot passengers.
Not sure if the Portsmouth-Le Havre service still operates: I have a feeling it was withdrawn or became a cargo only service during the Covid pandemic, then it was reinstated but only for vehicles, not for foot passengers.
I did not know this had been withdrawn. I always thought it was very popular as a "booze cruise".
I assume this sort of weekend lost it's popularity for some reason. Did the route just become untenable?
Essentially the E40 motorway between Calais and Jabbeke (Oostende) killed it by reducing the driving time to an hour or so between the two towns. As the extra time the ships took along the coast to Oostende over the simple Dover-Calais crossing was between two and three hours (depending on wind and tide) the new road reduced the driving time from Calais to Bruxelles/Brussel or the Netherlands by one or two hours with the benefit of a shorter sea crossing.
The autoroute was completed in 1997 when the final segment of Belgium’s A18/E40 reached the French border, thus linking with the French A16 motorway and avoiding the drive along the old coast road.
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What a fascinating thread. I have used three of the disappeared routes
Tilbury - Gothenburg. I went on a school exchange trip to Sweden in 1960 or 61. The boat train left St. Pancras for Tilbury behind a 4F. We ambled gently through east London and walked off the train onto the ship. We sailed at about 4pm (as it was then!) and arrived at Gothenburg early in the morning on Day 3. The ship was called, IIRC, the Britannia and we passed its sister ship somewhere in the North Sea in a gale with some large seas. Sometimes we could only see the masts of the other ship and a few seconds later all of it. Quite dramatic.
The return trip was in flat calm in fog. It was difficult to sleep with the foghorn being sounded every few minutes...
Sheerness - Vlissigen. This was a super service, the food and cabins were excellent. In the late 1970s/early 1980s I worked in Ulm in southern Germany and route saved a night in a hotel. When we visited my parents and friends here in Reading we could leave in the late afternoon, drive round the M25 to the Sheerness exit, board, have good meal, sleep and drive off the ship about 0700 (from memory) in Vlissingen. We then had an unhurried drive through Germany and arrived in Ulm in the afternoon. The timing was ideal - we were very disappointed when it was withdrawn.
Harwich - Hamburg. My wife's parents lived near to Lübeck in northern Germany and this route was ideal for us to visit them. Reading to Harwich was not too difficult to drive and from the dock in Hamburg to Lübeck is about 75km. Food on the ship, a cinema and a bed, what's not to like?
Not actuallya ferry route but until the 1960s Gibson Rankine line carried pasengers on their small cargo ships linking Grangemouth and Leith with Amsterdam, Rotterdam and Antwerp.
As a child I travelled from Rotterdam to Leith in 1965, a journey involving two night at sea.
I'd imagine there may have been other similar cargo routes which also carried passengers.
Douglas to Ardrossan
Douglas to Stranraer
Douglas to Belfast
Douglas to Dun Laoghaire
Douglas to Fleetwood
Douglas to Birkenhead (12 Quays)
Douglas to Llandudno
Douglas to Whitehaven
Douglas to Ardrossan
Douglas to Stranraer
Douglas to Belfast
Douglas to Dun Laoghaire
Douglas to Fleetwood
Douglas to Birkenhead (12 Quays)
Douglas to Llandudno
Douglas to Whitehaven
I have a vague but definite memory of going to Amsterdam from southern GB on a ferry, reaching Amsterdam on the North Sea Canal. Memorable because the upper deck gave great views out across the countryside of Holland.
Can anyone pin this down, or is it a figment of my imagination? As for possible dates the only one I can think of would be 1997.
Back in 1924 Newcastle United supporters travelled to London for their FA Cup Final match against Aston Villa aboard the Tyne Tees Shipping Co's new vessel Bernicia on the regular route. The trip cost 25 shillings (£1.25p) for a first-class return ticket. Newcastle won 2-0. The vessel was sold to Greece in 1934, the route no longer economic after competition from the LNER and buses. But I'm digressing.
Back in 1924 Newcastle United supporters travelled to London for their FA Cup Final match against Aston Villa aboard the Tyne Tees Shipping Co's new vessel Bernicia on the regular route. The trip cost 25 shillings (£1.25p) for a first-class return ticket. Newcastle won 2-0. The vessel was sold to Greece in 1934, the route no longer economic after competition from the LNER and buses. But I'm digressing.
And to add an International theme, in 1983 around 550 Aberdeen supporters travelled from Aberdeen to Gothenburg and return on the Shetland Ferry 'St Clair', the occasion the Cup Winners Cup Final against some Spanish side called Real Madrid who were apparently the favourites. By the time I got my application in it was fully booked so like most of the other 13,000 I had to fly on one of many charter flights arranged by the club's travel agent.
Fergie took the Cup down to the quayside to greet the returning fans.
And it did of course mean St Clair missed at least one, perhaps two roundtrips to Shetland
There are regular cargo sailings between Aberdeen and Norwegian ports on a weekly rotation serving several Norwegian ports including Bergen but I have no recollectionof a passenger link other than the relatvely short lived extension of the Lerwick ferry to.from Bergen
I have a vague but definite memory of going to Amsterdam from southern GB on a ferry, reaching Amsterdam on the North Sea Canal. Memorable because the upper deck gave great views out across the countryside of Holland.
Can anyone pin this down, or is it a figment of my imagination? As for possible dates the only one I can think of would be 1997.
I don't recall any ferry link direct to Amsterdam from the U.K. - it must have been a one-off cruise. I think Tor Line did run Amsterdam - Gothenburg and Felixstowe - Gothenburg for a time so maybe it was one of their ships?
The current Newcastle ferry uses IJmuiden on the Dutch coast, which is misleadingly billed as 'Amsterdam'!
Tor Line did run a regular, triangular ro-pax service between Amsterdam Coenhaven, Immingham and Gothenburg between 1966 and 1976, and as such went through the IJmuiden locks and the Noordzeekanaal. I think the Amsterdam - Immingham part was weekly. The Amsterdam - UK service ceased in 1976, when Tor Line's UK terminal was moved to Felixstowe. DFDS bought Tor Line in 1981, and the final service between Amsterdam Coenhaven and Gothenburg ran in 1983.
Fred. Olsen Lines also used the Amsterdam Coenhaven terminal from 1967 for a service to Kristiansand, with the vessel Black Prince shared with their Harwich route.
There are regular cargo sailings between Aberdeen and Norwegian ports on a weekly rotation serving several Norwegian ports including Bergen but I have no recollectionof a passenger link other than the relatvely short lived extension of the Lerwick ferry to.from Bergen
Not actuallya ferry route but until the 1960s Gibson Rankine line carried pasengers on their small cargo ships linking Grangemouth and Leith with Amsterdam, Rotterdam and Antwerp.
As a child I travelled from Rotterdam to Leith in 1965, a journey involving two night at sea.
I'd imagine there may have been other similar cargo routes which also carried passengers.
I remember always being fascinated by the Tilbury - Gdansk service in the back of Cook’s T/table. Clearly explained that it wasn’t a ferry so “amenities” very basic.
See the schedule for Aberdeen. Specific and dedicated liner vessels on fixed schedules between established key hub ports in Norway, UK and the Continent.
sea-cargo.no
Check the 'daily position list' for sailing dates.
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