Hoverspeed was a ferry company that operated on the English Channel from 1981 until 2005. It was formed in 1981 by the merger of Seaspeed and Hoverlloyd. Its last owners were Sea Containers; the company ran a small fleet of two high-speed SeaCatcatamaran ferries in its final year.
Hoverspeed played a part in developing the hovercraft, and ran six SR.N4 Mountbatten class hovercraft and one SEDAM N500 Naviplane. Hoverspeed last operated hovercraft on its Dover to Calais service. They were withdrawn on 1 October 2000 and Hoverspeed continued to use Seacat catamarans built by Incat.
Background and formation
Early attempts to consolidate operations
During the early 1970s, when both Hoverlloyd and Seaspeed were struggling to return a profit, the two operators had been in negotiations on a partnership to amalgamate operations. However, management at Hoverlloyd was not convinced the UK government would sanction any form of arrangement between Seaspeed and a foreign company. The situation was exacerbated when discussions became public knowledge and plans for a consortium were quickly abandoned.[1]
Loss-making company
In late 1981, when the two companies eventually merged, the situation was dire. Despite a valuation at £110 million, combined losses were £8 million with ticket prices 25 to 30% higher than the ferries. Under the terms of the merger, Hoverspeed was also under obligation to accept the two French hovercraft in exchange for a 10% participation in share capital by French state-owned SNCF.[2] The new company was spearheaded by Gerry Draper, new Chief Executive and a former marketing director at British Airways. Draper had been involved in filling empty passenger seats aboard the new Boeing 747 jumbo jets in the early 1970s when IATA regulations prohibited discounting. He was also successful in turning Concorde services profitable.[3]
Nevertheless, a number of early decisions plagued the new company. First, Hoverspeed inherited an antiquated reservation system which was inadequate, resulting in potential travellers having great difficulty in contacting Hoverspeed and many being told crossings were fully booked when they were not. This necessitated the reversion to a very basic manual reservation system to try to cope with demand.[4] In 1982, loss income was estimated at between £3 million and £4 million.[5] Second, excess capacity drove profit margins down. The most damaging mistake was to increase the number of crossings operated, over 10,000 in 1982, which did not match demand and the decision to briefly re-open the Ramsgate route for the summer season which was counter-productive.[6] Third, parity pricing continued with ferry operators, even during peak season. This was a source of concern since 70% of the turnover (and traffic) was generated during the summer season between mid-June and mid-September.[7]
Despite carrying 2.5 million passengers and 400,000 vehicles, a 21% market share, with 35% fewer flights and 250 staff made redundant, the new entity continued to register losses with £5.5 million for the year 1982, £3.5 million in 1983.[8] The new French hovercraft, the N500, achieved only 60% reliability and did not meet ride comfort or control standards. It was eventually broken up for spares and scraps. The SR.N4 craft, moreover, could not accommodate the recently introduced double-deck and one-and-a-half deck coaches and this part of the market was lost. By 1984, the company was near collapse.[9]
Management buy-out
In February 1984, the UK government refused to provide further guaranteed loans, British Rail sold its 50% ownership which it had retained in the company (and its losses) for a nominal sum of £1 to a syndicate consortium of 5 directors. Thus, Hoverspeed was effectively given away to its own management and was wholly owned within the private sector backed by merchant bank Kleinwort Benson providing guarantees and underwriting the cash needed to operate via NatWest.[10]
The company immediately adopted premium instead of parity pricing, justified on the grounds that a faster service was expected to be more expensive. An aggressive advertising campaign was mounted against the ferries and more effort was made to target fares accurately. For 1984, the company made a loss of £621,000. Its performance went up with a pre-tax profit of £194,000 for 1985 with an increase in US passengers. This figure rose to £625,000 in 1986.[11]
Purchase by British Ferries Ltd
Dover hoverport
Ripe for sale, in February 1986, Hoverspeed was sold by the management consortium to British Ferries (Sealink UK's holding company) owned by Sea Containers, a transport group engaged in marine container leasing, manufacturing, depot and logistics operations, railways operator, ferry operator and leisure industry investor for a sum of £5 million, each syndicate making a profit of £600,000. Large financial gains made by former managers of British Rail was to become a feature of rail privatization.[12]
In 1987, Hoverspeed returned a profit of £1.6 million with a turnover of £42.3 million per year and £4.7 million in 1988 and a turnover of £44 million per year.[13]
Being part of a larger shipping company allowed fresh re-capitalization, cheaper fuel as well as access to legal services. With the reduced fleet of hovercraft aging, it also permitted capital investment into more fuel efficient vessels with the first SeaCat catamaran services introduced in 1991 and larger Super SeaCats in 1997, the latter to achieve economies of scale in the face of stiff competition from the Channel Tunnel and the ferry companies.[14]
Closure
After sustaining losses annually since 1995 (the last financial year the company returned a pre-tax profit) it was clear, by the early 2000s, Hoverspeed could no longer continue operating business-as-usual.
Competition from the Channel Tunnel
Despite the introduction of the Super SeaCats, Hoverspeed could not match EuroTunnel both in terms of economies of scale and pricing. This became apparent in the company's pre-tax profits immediately following the opening of the Channel Tunnel in May 1994.
Consequently, Sea Containers announced it refused to support Hoverspeed’s losses on the English Channel and that they would cease operations on the Dover-Calais route, ending over 40 years of service.
Company wind-down and sale of assets
It was initially thought that both the 81m Seacats would move to Sea Containers Mediterranean services. However in March 2006 both the Seacat Rapide and Seacat Diamant were put up for sale by Sea Containers. Superseacat One which had operated for Hoverspeed on its now-closed Newhaven – Dieppe (2000 and 2002–2004) and Dover – Calais / Ostend (2001) fast ferry services was sold in April 2006 to Acciona Trasmediterránea and was renamed Almudaina Dos.
Although the company ended Hovercraft service, they still retained ownership of the remaining 2 SR.N4s until 2006 when they were sold to Wensley Haydon-Baillie. In 2016, following a transfer of ownership of both land and the craft to the Homes and Communities Agency, a public campaign was launched to save one or both of the craft.
By summer 2016, it was established that The Princess Anne would be saved and refurbished as a permanent exhibit at the Hovercraft Museum. The fate of The Princess Margaret, which was not in such sound structural repair, was announced on 30 May 2018 - usable parts will be moved to The Princess Anne and the craft will be scrapped.
The closure of Hoverspeed left a single company in the United Kingdom still operating hovercraft flights, Hovertravel.
Fleet
Mark III SR.N4 hovercraft arriving in Dover on its last commercial flight, 1 October 2000Ingénieur Jean Bertin arriving at Dover in 1980HoverSpeed Great Britain at Dover, 1992HoverSpeed France at Dover, 1992SuperSeaCat Two at LiverpoolRapide approaching Calais
Currently in service (2025) as HSC Speedrunner Jet with Seajets[34]
Hoverports
Dover Hoverport
Since the closure of Hoverspeed in 2005, the Dover Hoverport had remained unused until SpeedFerries moved to the site from the Eastern Docks. They operated from the hoverport to Boulogne from Easter 2007 until November 2008 when SpeedFerries went into administration and their services ceased. The hoverport site then lay abandoned for the second time in its thirty-year history until demolition of the site began in May 2009 in preparation for the redevelopment of the Western Docks and a new Cruise Terminal.
Calais and Boulogne Hoverports
Following expansion of Calais port in January 2016, Calais Hoverport [35] was subsequently demolished, only Boulogne (Le Portel) hoverport site remains, albeit long abandoned and derelict.
Hoverspeed took on the purpose-built Hoverlloyd site at Pegwell Bay, the Ramsgate Hoverport. Passenger and car services continued during 1982 but were then moved to Dover. Hoverspeed kept the site in use for administration and hovercraft maintenance, including craft overhauls, until 1987.
Routes
Hoverspeed operated several routes. These were:
Dover–Calais (1981–2005; Hovercraft, Seacat and SuperSeaCat service): Hoverspeed's primary service was established by British Rail owned Seaspeed in 1968 with the car carrying SRN 4 Hovercraft The Princess Anne and The Princess Margaret. Seaspeed were not the first hovercraft service between Dover and Calais, Townsend Car Ferries had operated a passenger-only SR.N6 in 1966. Hoverlloyd also ran hovercraft services in 1966 to Calais but from Ramsgate. Seacats were introduced on the route on 2 June 1991. It was intended that the Seacats would replace the remaining SRN 4 hovercraft but this did not happen until 2000. The Dover – Calais service has seen all members of the Hoverspeed fleet operation on it at some point. The route closed on 7 November 2005, the Seacat Diamant operating the last crossing.
Dover –Boulogne-sur-Mer (1968–1993; Hovercraft and Seacat service): the Dover-Boulogne route was opened in 1966 by Townsend Car Ferries using an SR.N6 passenger-only hovercraft. In 1993 Hoverspeed closed the Dover-Boulogne route after deciding that the Hoverport at Le Portel (near Boulogne-sur-Mer) was no longer required, and the SeaCat operation moved to nearby Folkestone.
Dover –Ostend (1998–2003; Seacat and Superseacat service): after the failure of the Holyman Sally Line service from Ramsgate to Ostend, Holyman became partners with Hoverspeed and moved the service to Dover. The 81m Incat fastcraft used on the service lost their 'Holyman' prefix and became the Rapide and Diamant. Sea Containers later bought Holyman's share in the operation and the fastcraft.
Folkestone– Boulogne (1993–2000; Seacat service): after transferring the Boulogne route to Folkestone, Hoverspeed used Hoverspeed Great Britain and kept the hovercraft at Dover. In 2000 the Hoverspeed service ended and in 2001 the port at Folkestone closed to all ferry traffic after the termination of the Falcon Marfreight service.
Newhaven–Dieppe (1999–2004; Superseacat and Seacat service): Hoverspeed took over the high-speed passenger service after P&O Stena Line's withdrawal the year before. The route was continued using SuperSeaCat One. Hoverspeed's last service on the route was at the end of the 2004 summer season. Despite taking bookings for 2005 they withdrew from the route: a deal that would have seen Transmanche Ferries charter Superseacat One for the route fell through.
Portsmouth–Cherbourg (1990–1991): Hoverspeed's first Seacat route using the Hoverspeed Great Britain; this was closed on 6 January 1991 after a series of technical problems throughout the operating season.
Ramsgate Hoverport– Calais (1982): the former Hoverlloyd route was run from the purpose-built hoverport at Pegwell Bay from the merger until the end of the 1982 season
References
Citations
↑Moses MBE, William (2011). The Commercial and Technical Evolution of the Ferry Industry 1948-1987. University of Greenwich. p.209.
↑Wilkins, Robin (Winter 1988). "The Role of Hoverspeed in the Cross Channel Market". Transport Economist. 16: 5.
↑Robin Paine, Roger Syms (2012). On a Cushion of Air. Robin Paine and Roger Syms. p.633. ISBN9780956897800.
12Breeze, Geoffrey, Cowshill, Miles and, Hendy, John (2001). Sally Line - The Complete Story. Ramsey, Isle of Man: Ferry Publications. ISBN1-871947-64-2.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
This page is based on this Wikipedia article Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply. Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.
