Seatruck Ferries

Seatruck Ferries
Subsidiary
Industry Freight transportation
Founded 1996
Headquarters Heysham
Area served
 Irish Sea
Key people
 Kristian Morch (Chairman)
Alistair Eagles (CEO)
Parent Clipper Group
Website www.seatruckferries.com

Seatruck Ferries is a UK-based freight-only ferry company which commenced services in 1996. It is part of the Clipper Group, a shipping company based in The Bahamas.[1] The company operates out of four ports on the Irish Sea, including Heysham and Liverpool.

History

Formation (1996–2002)

Riverdance, Seatruck's first vessel

Seatruck was established in 1996, operating one ship, Riverdance, between Heysham and Warrenpoint. She was joined in April 1997 by sister ship Moondance, which was also operated on the Heysham to Warrenpoint service, a service which continues today as a two-ship service.

Clipper Group (2002–present)

In 2002, the company was acquired by Danish shipping company Clipper Group. Also in 2002, European Mariner was chartered for two months, before moving on to Color Line.

In 2005, Seatruck Ferries ordered their first new ships, five "P Series" ro-ro freight ferries,[2] however only four were built. These vessels were named Clipper Point, Clipper Panorama, Clipper Pace and Clipper Pennant. All four vessels were built by Spanish shipyard Astilleros de Huelva.

The first of the RoRo2200 ferries - Seatruck Progress

Between late 2005 and late 2009, Seatruck acquired four sister ships, Challenge (Clipper Ranger), Triumph (Helliar), Shield (Hildasay) and Arrow. These are now deployed on charters to Caledonian MacBrayne, NorthLink Ferries and the Isle of Man Steam Packet Company respectively.

In 2007, Seatruck chartered the Celtic Star, which was deployed on the Liverpool to Dublin route.

In January 2008, the company's pioneering ship, Riverdance, ran aground in Blackpool.[3] Seatruck chartered Phocine to cover Riverdance's services until Clipper Point entered service. Attempts to refloat the vessel failed and she was broken up in situ in the summer of 2008.[4] In March 2008, Clipper Point became the company's first new ferry, entering service on the Heysham to Warrenpoint route. "Panorama" followed in January 2009, "Pace" in March 2009 and "Pennant" in October 2009.

In March 2008, the same month that Clipper Point entered service, Seatruck Ferries placed an order for four RoRo 2200 ferries to be built by Flensburger Schiffbau-Gesellschaft in Germany.[5]

The first two of these vessels launched in late 2011, named Seatruck Progress and Seatruck Power, whilst the third, Seatruck Performance, launched in January 2012. The final ship of the class, Seatruck Precision, launched in March 2012. "Progress" entered service in December 2011, "Power" joined the fleet in February 2012,[6] "Performance" joined the fleet in April 2012[7] and lastly "Precision" will join the fleet before mid-2012.

In late 2011, one of earlier "P Series" vessels - Clipper Panorama - was renamed Seatruck Panorama whilst Clipper Pace was renamed Seatruck Pace in February 2012.

In 2015, Ole Frie stepped down as Chairman of the board. Kristian Morch was appointed as Frie's replacement. Alistair Eagles was also appointed CEO of Seatruck.

In May 2015, the Clipper Ranger finished her long-term charter with Caledonian MacBrayne. The Clipper Point also finished her charter with DFDS. She was then chartered to Inter Shipping (Spain) to operate on the company's Algeciras - Tanger Med II route.

In January 2016 Seatruck upgraded its website. The web domain traditionally offered information on ferry bookings and was principally following a lead generator based model for car and motorhome web bookings which only offered phone and email booking. [8] This type of booking model is endemic in the ferry booking industry online. [9] [10] However, this new change illustrates Seatruck's shift towards online modernism. The web technology was developed by Freightlink Solutions Ltd, an online freight ferry booking aggregation service. [11]

Routes

Seatruck currently operate three routes on the Irish Sea, serving four ports.

Fleet

Current fleet

Seatruck currently have twelve vessels - six of which are in service for Seatruck. The other six are out on charter to various companies.

The newest vessel in the Seatruck fleet is Seatruck Precision, which entered service in June 2012.

Image Ship Built
(Commissioned) 		Route Truck
Capacity 		Notes
Arrow
August 1998
(October 2009)
Heysham - Douglas
65
 On long-term charter to the Isle of Man Steam Packet Company [12]
Clipper Pennant
August 2009
(October 2009)
Heysham - Warrenpoint
120
Clipper Point
March 2008
(March 2008)
Algeciras - Tanger Med II
120
 On charter to Inter Shipping (Spain)
Clipper Ranger
April 1998
(October 2005)
Liverpool - Dublin
65
Helliar
October 1997
(October 2007)
Aberdeen - Lerwick
65
 On long charter to Northlink Ferries
Formerly named Clipper Racer
Hildasay
November 1999
(October 2008)
Aberdeen - Lerwick
65
 On long charter to Northlink Ferries
Formerly named Shield
Seatruck Pace
February 2009
(March 2009)
Heysham - Dublin
120
Seatruck Panorama
November 2008
(January 2009)
Heysham - Warrenpoint
120
 Formerly named Clipper Panorama
Seatruck Power
February 2012
(February 2012)
Liverpool - Dublin
151
Seatruck Progress
November 2011
(December 2011)
Liverpool - Dublin
151
 Stena Performer
April 2012
(April 2012)
Heysham - Belfast
151
 Formerly named Seatruck Performance
On long-term charter to Stena Line
Stena Precision
June 2012
(June 2012)
Heysham - Belfast
151
 Formerly named Seatruck Precision
On long-term charter to Stena Line

Former fleet

These are vessels that have previously been operated or chartered by Seatruck.

Image Ship Built
(Commissioned) 		Route Truck
Capacity 		Notes
Anglia Seaways
August 2000
(May 2012)
Heysham - Warrenpoint
120
 Chartered from DFDS
N/A
 Bolero
? 1985
(February 2008)
Heysham - Warrenpoint
N/A
 Sold and converted to cable layer.
Celtic Star
August 1991
(September 2007)
Liverpool - Dublin
70
 Chartered 2007, to P&O Irish Sea in 2008
European Mariner
October 1978
(April 2002)
Heysham - Warrenpoint
53
 Short-term charter in 2002.
N/A
 Lygra
February 1979
(April 2008)
Heysham - Warrenpoint
N/A
 Short-term charter in 2008
Merchant Brilliant
? 1979
(January 2008)
Heysham - Warrenpoint
80
 Short term charter in 2008
Moondance
July 1978
(April 1997)
Heysham - Warrenpoint
55
 Sold in 2010
N/A
 Phocine
? 1985
(February 2008)
Heysham - Warrenpoint
94
 Short-term charter in 2008
Riverdance
April 1977
(July 1996)
Heysham - Warrenpoint
55
 Beached at Blackpool in Jan 2008, later cut up on site

References

  1. ↑ New Seatruck vessels to give port big boost - Lancaster Today
  2. ↑ Seatruck Christens First of Five
  3. ↑ Article "Ferry runs aground off Blackpool" Check |url= value (help). BBC News. February 1, 2008. Retrieved November 26, 2011.
  4. ↑ Article "Final death knell for Riverdance ferry" Check |url= value (help). Blackpool Gazette. April 10, 2008. Retrieved November 26, 2011.
  5. ↑ Article "Seatruck orders four new generation freight ro-ros" Check |url= value (help). Seatruck Ferries. March 3, 2008. Retrieved November 26, 2011.
  6. ↑ Article ""Seatruck Power" ... Ahead on the Irish Sea" Check |url= value (help) (PDF). Seatruck Ferries. October 28, 2011. Retrieved November 1, 2011.
  7. ↑ "Seatruck to launch direct Belfast service" (PDF). Seatruck Ferries.
  8. ↑ "Book your motorhomes, cars and vans". Seatruck Ferries. Retrieved March 30, 2016.
  9. ↑ "Technology will never replace the travel agent". Travel Mole. Retrieved March 30, 2016.
  10. ↑ "New study calls on the travel industry to adopt 'lean' thinking if it wants to deliver true customer value". Amadeus. Retrieved October 29, 2014.
  11. ↑ "Freightlink Solutions Ltd". Retrieved March 30, 2016.
  12. ↑ "ISLE OF MAN STEAM PACKET COMPANY'S NEW FREIGHT VESSEL TO BEGIN OPERATIONS". Isle of Man Steam Packet Company. Retrieved 6 May 2014.
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