Goodbye Norman Arrow
- 12 November 2009 13:1732890Sad to see the new state-of-the-art ferry tied up on the Admiralty Pier this morning and the conventional ferry heading out over the channel
Been nice knowing you :) - 12 November 2009 13:3032892Interesting Paul. I took a picture of it on 6th June, with Coombe Valley transport arriving to collect an anchor from it. The picture I took before it, was that yellow ferry. Unbelievably, both have now gone. One of my topics on here, `Each a glimpse and gone forever`.Tell them that I came, and no one answered.
- 12 November 2009 13:3332893
Tell them that I came, and no one answered. - 12 November 2009 18:1232917Yes indeed Paul the magnificent machine lies idle today all forlorn and seemingly abandoned. Abandoned anyway in regards to fulfilling her channel crossing role. No longer required. Surplus to requirements, in one of the shortest reigns in history. The shot below is one of the last pictures, if not the very last picture, of her in action. I like it because it was a very grey day and a shaft of light picked her out in the approaches to Dover, making it all look somewhat spiritual as though there was heavenly intervention....
email: dover7@msn.com - 12 November 2009 18:3732920Not quite abandoned, I think off for an alternative route soon from Portsmouth....Been nice knowing you :)
- 12 November 2009 19:0532929I read it was having a winter lay-up and start service again next Easter/May time.
If it took too long to dock and unload/load (the reason given for being taken out of service on the Dover/Boulogne route), maybe the manufacturers didn't design it properly.
Would LD Lines be eligible for a refund on their lease ?
Roger - 13 November 2009 20:5333025So the Spirit of Norman lives on, somewhere in the Grey mystical sea, hibernating through the winter months to reappear with the Easter Bunny
- 17 November 2009 02:1833309Norman Arrow alongside in the Western Docks after finishing her brief career in Dover. Has now gone over to Boulogne and is believed to be going to remain there for a month or so before going to Portsmouth to lay up until Easter.
The photo was taken through a zoom lens and the Burstin Hotel in Folkestone is on the left of the picture and looks as if it is just the other side of the Admiralty Pier!
- 17 November 2009 08:3533317A sad, short episode for Dover and LD Lines.
I do hope that this will not adversely affect LD Lines as a Ferry company, nor Dover or Boulogne as visitor destinations.
Promoting and using both of them will help of course as we need to continue to promote Dover to the French.
LD Lines are still putting the French version of the Discover Dover leaflet on their ships (so I understand, but if anyone travels on the LD Ferry to Boulogne and they aren't on board, please do let me know) and with the run-up to Christmas, it could prove effective for Dover.
Roger - 17 November 2009 08:4533321I wish the LD Lines would operate UK- Jersey - St Malo and offer Condor Ferries some competition.
Marek
I think therefore I am (not a Tory supporter) - 18 November 2009 08:1833383That would be great Marek - I'd use it too.
Roger - 19 November 2009 00:3733422After all the hype, Norman Arrow seems to have turned out to be the most disastrous and unsuited Dover ferry since the Bessemer.
LD Lines have reverted to their first choice, the Norman Spirit, which was the one they had in mind before they had this sudden brainstorm to acquire a fast craft.
Now that they have a proper ferry on the run, with masses of capacity and all facilities, using the new hub port with excellent connections, let us hope that they make a success of Dover-Boulogne.
- 19 November 2009 08:0533429They had a lease for it and I suppose they can't get out of that lease, but if it is not doing what it said on the tin, there should be some recompense for them.
You'll only really now how good or bad it is, by using it for 3 months or so and that is what they did, sadly finding out that it takes too long to dock and load/unload.
Roger - 21 November 2009 08:0633578Yes indeed, I dare say that the lawyers are busy. The vessel was constructed by Incat in Tasmania. She was purchased by MGC Chartering of Ireland. LD Lines have chartered her from MGC Chartering.
She will now lay up until Easter. Having an expensive vessel out of service for all this time is big money and the terms of the charter party will dictate whether LD have a claim against MGC, and the latter may also have an issue with Incat. As an aside, the amount of miles she has so far travelled in service must be far less than the 11,726 nautical mile delivery voyage from Australia.
The Incat website has a video showing a trial loading: "112m WPC Truck Turning Trial - a total of 28 trucks of three types drove on and off Hull 66. Times recorded confirm that the ship can be fully loaded in accordance with the ship's specification."
http://www.incat.com.au/domino/incat/incatweb.nsf/0/7147D363007F2D45CA2575940007487F?OpenDocument
Significantly perhaps, the video only shows a single truck being loaded on an otherwise empty cardeck. This operation in itself appears somewhat tortuous. One would imagine that it would be a lot more difficult towards the end of loading when the cardeck is already almost full.
Rather optimistically, the website also states: "The reduction in port turnaround times through the development of Incat's unique vehicle deck arrangement has received widespread endorsement from an industry where every minute and every dollar counts. While early vehicle craft were equipped with bow doors, contemporary commercial vessels load and discharge over the full width stern, enabling a capacity load to discharge within minutes. By comparison, single lane discharge through the bow of the craft is a relatively slow and tedious process."
In point of fact, the lack of bow doors appears to be the primary factor in the slow rate of load and discharge experienced. Her replacement, the Norman Spirit, is a drive-through ferry which will be able to handle a much larger quantity of trucks and cars without any of the palaver involved on the Norman Arrow.
It is easy to be wise after the event but I do think that all this was eminently forseeable, as were the other obvious drawbacks involved with any fast craft.
