LD Lines is to introudce a brand new, high speed Incat 112 metre Wave-Piercing Catamaran to its Dover–Boulogne service from 29 May 2009. The fast ferry will be the first-ever freight carrying high speed vessel to operate across the Dover Straits, and LD Lines becomes the first-ever French ferry company to operate high speed ferries on the short sea routes from Dover. The vessel is also the world’s largest diesel-powered catamaran and it will be the first Incat 112 metre long vessel to operate in Europe.

At nearly 11,000 gt, the new craft is one of the largest vessels yet built by Incat. It is claimed that it will provide “significantly greater seakeeping qualities and passenger comfort than earlier generation fast ferries familiar to Dover Strait, cross channel passengers.”

The service will be greatly enhanced, says LD Lines, as the new fast ferry will increase frequency from the current two to six return sailings daily. All types of tourist traffic will be carried including cars, caravans, motorhomes, motorcycles, coaches and foot passengers, in addition to freight.

The fast ferry will operate up to four return sailings daily between Dover (Eastern Docks) and Boulogne with a crossing time of 1 hour.

Two return sailings daily to Boulogne and one to Dieppe (Monday – Friday) will continue to be operated by the conventional ferry, which introduced the earlier than planned start of the new Dover–Boulogne service in February 2009. Crossing time by conventional ferry is 1 hour 45 minutes.

Both vessels will initially operate into the Port of Boulogne’s existing ferry berths, but following completion of Boulogne’s new Hub Port Ro Ro Terminal from 1 July 2009, both will then transfer to inaugurate and operate into the first linkspan of the new Hub Port Terminal.

The introduction of the new high speed ferry to operate with the conventional ferry on the Dover – Boulogne service, will now mean that the ship Norman Spirit will remain on LD Lines’ Portsmouth Le Havre route. This ship had previously been expected to operate the service to Boulogne’s new Ro Ro terminal from 1 July 2009.

The fast ferry service is a coup for Hub Port Boulogne, but not in the way the port intended, as originally the new ro-ro terminal was developed with the BGV (Bateau Grande Vitesse) service with links to Sheerness, Drammen and Santander, Vigo and Algeciras (and through rail to North Italy) very much in mind.

However, in May last year the port put out a statement that it had no connection with the “BGV Innovation” study group, but that it and its partner ports had selected the “HSC” type of high speed ship design as the basis for proceeding with the project.

In the same month, the port issued a statement that “it has no relation whatsoever with the former British company Chikara Shipping,” and it blamed TV and press articles for the “confusion,” adding that it had severed all ties with Chikara more than a year previously. (See WorldCargo News, April 2008, p1 for background).