Norsemerchant News

According to Norse Merchant Ferries, its RoPax vessel, Brave Merchant, will re-join its Liverpool - Dublin service following a seven-month period on charter to the U.K. Ministry of Defence. Brave Merchant will replace the charter vessel Norse Mersey, soon to be re-delivered to its Italian owner, and will operate together with Lindarosa to maintain the twice-daily service. Initially, NorseMerchant had taken advantage of the return of Brave Merchant to provide cover for its Liverpool - Belfast passenger/freight ferry Lagan Viking while the vessel completed its drydocking program in Liverpool. It is due to make the first sailing on the Dublin route on September 8, 2003, and for a few days will operate alongside Norse Mersey while Lindarosa undergoes some routine maintenance work.

The various yards in A&P are well into the ‘ferry refit’ season, with the latest contract being Irish Continental Lines’ 50,938 grt passenger/car ferry Ulysses, which is currently in A&P Birkenhead. This yard is also currently repairing NorseMerchant Ferries’ 9,368 grt Merchant Bravery. The largest ferry project currently underway in the A&P Group, is the modification of the 24,688 grt, 2002-built RoRo vessel Stena Foreteller at A&P Tyne’s Hebburn shipyard. The vessel, the former Cetam Massilia, is owned by Sweden’s Stena RoRo AB, and managed by the Stena’s Northern Marine Management, Glasgow. The contract involves major modifications to the purifier room entailing relocating this equipment to a newly-created machinery space within the lower car hold.

NorseMerchant Ferries is to upgrade its Heysham - Belfast service to three sailings per day in each direction with effect from March 1, 2004. The third sailing will be provided by River Lune which has returned to the NorseMerchant Ferries fleet following an external charter. She joins Merchant Brilliant and Merchant Bravery on this route and will enable the company to offer two overnight sailings from Heysham to Belfast. "There is an immediate demand to increase frequency on the Heysham - Belfast route. The addition of River Lune to the route is in response to our customers' needs. We have a very loyal customer base and this reinforces our commitment to them. The extra frequency will improve equipment productivity for our clients, particularly in the unaccompanied sector.

Harland and Wolff has been nominated to provide vital elements of infrastructure for the new 12 Quays RoRo ferry terminal in Liverpool. The contract, placed by Transmarine Ltd. of Newcastle Upon Tyne, a market leader in marine logistics, calls for Harland and Wolff to construct both the pontoon and linkspan for the development. The pontoon measures 70 x 48 x 3.5 m deep with a weight of 1,200 tons, while the linkspan measures 86 x 14 x 10 m high and will have a weight of 500 tons. The project is scheduled for completion in August 2001. Once operational, the all-weather twin-berth facility will be used exclusively by the newly merged ferry operator, NorseMerchant, for six crossings per day to Belfast and Dublin and is expected to reduce voyage times by an average of 90 minutes.

NorseMerchant Ferries has responded to market demand for increased trailer capacity between North-West England and the Republic of Ireland by adding a third vessel to its Birkenhead - Dublin service. With a capacity of approximately 70 trailers, the newly-chartered Leili will provide over 400 additional spaces per week in each direction on this route when she enters service in October. A sister vessel to NorseMerchant's Varbola, currently operating on the Heysham - Belfast route, Leili can also carry 12 driver accompanied units. Sailing from Birkenhead at 03.00hrs, Leili will arrive in Dublin at 11.00hrs, enabling same day delivery. The return sailing from Dublin at 15.00hrs will arrive in Birkenhead at 23.00hrs, allowing next day deliveries throughout the UK.

NorseMerchant Ferries, a subsidiary of Cenargo International, is to introduce a third vessel to its Liverpool – Belfast service. Built in 1996, the 2,119 lane metre Lindarosa will join Mersey Viking and Lagan Viking on this route from 4 September 2002, increasing the number of daily sailings available to three on Tuesdays to Saturdays and two on Sundays and Mondays. A dedicated freight vessel, Lindarosa will carry up to 150 trailers and a maximum of 12 drivers. “It was always part of our planning to add this third ship once we transferred our operations to our new riverside terminal, Twelve Quays. On our old terminal, we simply didn’t have the space to increase the number of sailings.