Sealink

Last updated

Sealink
GenreFerry company
Founded1970
Founder British Rail
Defunct1984
Fate Privatised
Successor
  • Sealink British Ferries (1984)
  • Sealink Stena Line (1991)
  • Stena Sealink Line (1992)
  • Stena Line (1996)
Area served
United Kingdom, Ireland, Belgium, Channel Islands, Isle of Wight, France
ServicesPassenger, car and coach transportation, freight transportation
Owner British Rail

Sealink was a ferry company based in the United Kingdom from 1970 to 1984, operating services to France, Belgium, the Netherlands, Isle of Man, Channel Islands, Isle of Wight and Ireland.

Contents

Ports served by the company included: Dover, Folkestone, Newhaven, Southampton and Harwich for services to the European continent; Holyhead, Fishguard, Heysham and Stranraer for services to Ireland and the Isle of Man; Weymouth and Portsmouth for services to the Channel Islands. The Isle of Wight was also served from Portsmouth and Lymington.

Sealink also operated the Steamer passenger ferry services on Windermere in Cumbria until privatisation, when these were passed to the newly reformed Windermere Iron Steamboat Company (now Windermere Lake Cruises Ltd).

History

British Rail - full colour logo.svg

British Railways (BR), which from 1965 traded as British Rail, was a state-owned company that operated most of the overground rail transport in Great Britain from 1948 to 1997. It was formed from the nationalisation of the Big Four British railway companies, and was privatised in stages between 1994 and 1997. Originally a trading brand of the Railway Executive of the British Transport Commission, it became an independent statutory corporation in January 1963, when it was formally renamed the British Railways Board. [1]

The period of nationalisation saw sweeping changes in the railway. A process of dieselisation and electrification took place. By 1968 steam locomotives had been entirely replaced by diesel and electric traction, except for the Vale of Rheidol Railway (a narrow-gauge tourist line). Passengers replaced freight as the main source of business, and one-third of the network was closed by the Beeching cuts of the 1960s in an effort to reduce rail subsidies.

On privatisation, responsibility for track, signalling and stations was transferred to Railtrack (later brought under public control as Network Rail), with services run by train operating companies. The British Rail Double Arrow logo remains in place and is now employed as a generic symbol on street signs in Great Britain denoting railway stations. [2]

Sealink was originally the brand name for the ferry services of British Rail in the United Kingdom and Ireland. Services to France, Belgium and the Netherlands were run by Sealink UK as part of the Sealink consortium which also used ferries owned by French national railways (SNCF), the Belgian Maritime Transport Authority Regie voor Maritiem Transport/Regie des transports maritimes (RMT/RTM) and the Dutch Stoomvaart Maatschappij Zeeland (Zeeland Steamship Company).

Historically, the shipping services were exclusively an extension of the railways across the English Channel and the Irish Sea in order to provide through, integrated services to Europe and Ireland. As international travel became more popular in the late 1960s and before air travel became generally affordable, the responsibility for shipping services was taken away from the British Rail Regions and in 1969 centralised in a new division – British Rail Shipping and International Services Division.

With the advent of car ferry services, the old passenger-only ferries were gradually replaced by roll-on/roll-off ships, catering for motorists and rail passengers as well as road freight. However, given that there was now competition in the form of other ferry companies offering crossings to motorists, it became necessary to market the services in a normal business fashion (as opposed to the previous almost monopolistic situation). Thus, with the other partners mentioned above, the brand name Sealink was introduced for the consortium. [3]

Ffestiniog Railway locomotive Britomart being hauled by a British Rail Bedford TK tractor unit, with a Sealink promotion of the Great Little Trains of Wales, during the St Patrick's Day Parade in 1974 in Dublin. FR Britomart Dublin.jpg
Ffestiniog Railway locomotive Britomart being hauled by a British Rail Bedford TK tractor unit, with a Sealink promotion of the Great Little Trains of Wales, during the St Patrick's Day Parade in 1974 in Dublin.

In November 1970, Belgium Marine joined the Sealink consortium with five car ferries and six passenger ships. [4]

As demand for international rail travel declined and the shipping business became almost exclusively dependent on passenger and freight vehicle traffic, the ferry business was incorporated as Sealink UK Limited on 1 January 1979, [5] [6] a wholly owned subsidiary of the British Railways Board (BRB), but still part of the Sealink consortium. In 1979, Sealink acquired Manx Line which offered services to the Isle of Man from Heysham.

The Antrim Princess in Larne with Sealink in large letters The "Antrim Princess" at Larne - geograph.org.uk - 565895.jpg
The Antrim Princess in Larne with Sealink in large letters

On 27 July 1984 the UK Government sold Sealink UK Limited to Sea Containers for £66m. [7] The company was renamed Sealink British Ferries. In 1991, Sea Containers sold Sealink British Ferries to Stena Line. The sale excluded the operations of Hoverspeed, the Isle of Wight services and the share in the Isle of Man Steam Packet Company, as well as the Port of Heysham.[ citation needed ] The new owners rebranded the company as Sealink Stena Line, then again a few years later to Stena Sealink Line. [5]

In 1996, the Sealink name disappeared when the UK services were re-branded as Stena Line. The agreement with the SNCF on the Dover to Calais route also ended at this time and the French-run Sealink services were rebranded as SeaFrance.

Livery

Sealink house flag House flag of Sealink.svg
Sealink house flag

Prior to 1964/65 the colours were black hull, white upperworks and black-topped buff funnel.

From 1972/73 Sealink was displayed in white Rail Alphabet typeface on the side of the hull.

The livery from 1984 to 1995 was a distinctive blue-on-white. Previously, the British Rail double arrow logo had been used, with a BR corporate monastral blue hull, white upperworks and black-topped red funnel.

A reversed version of the BR symbol was used on one side of Sealink ship's funnels and flags. [8] This was so that the 'top' arrow was always pointing towards the bow of the ship on funnels, and for flags towards the flag staff.

British Rail owned ships had red funnels with a white logo. Elsewhere in Sealink the symbol was white on blue.[ citation needed ]

Hovercraft

In the 1960s, British Rail started hovercraft services from Dover to Calais and Boulogne-sur-Mer, and also across the Solent to the Isle of Wight. Rather than use the name Sealink, the services were marketed as Seaspeed and Solent Seaspeed. Seaspeed merged with rival Hoverlloyd in 1981 to form Hoverspeed.

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Goodwick</span> Town on Fishguard Harbour, Wales

Goodwick is a coastal town in Pembrokeshire, Wales, immediately west of its twin town of Fishguard.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Stena Line</span> Swedish ferry operator

Stena Line is a Swedish shipping line company and one of the largest ferry operators in the world. It services Denmark, France, Germany, the United Kingdom, Ireland, Latvia, the Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Finland and Sweden. Stena Line is a major unit of Stena AB, itself a part of the Stena Sphere.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Wightlink</span> Ferry company operating routes between Hampshire and the Isle of Wight

Wightlink is a ferry company operating routes across The Solent between Hampshire and the Isle of Wight in the south of England. It operates car ferries between Lymington and Yarmouth, and Portsmouth and Fishbourne and a fast passenger-only catamaran between Portsmouth Harbour and Ryde Pier. It is jointly owned by Basalt Infrastructure Partners and Fiera Infrastructure.

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 SeaCat catamaran ferries in its final year.

MV <i>Manx Viking</i>

The MV Manx Viking / Nindawayma was a passenger, truck and car ferry, whose last active service was on Lake Huron, operated by the Owen Sound Transportation Company; under contract to the Ontario Ministry of Transportation. In Canadian service she served the Highway 6 route between Tobermory and South Baymouth, Manitoulin Island from 1989 to 1992 alongside the MS Chi-Cheemaun.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Isle of Man Steam Packet Company</span> Manx shipping company

The Isle of Man Steam Packet Company Limited is the oldest continuously operating passenger shipping company in the world, having been founded in 1830.

P&O Ferries is a British shipping company that operates ferries from United Kingdom to Ireland, and to Continental Europe. The company was created in 2002 through mergers and acquisitions within P&O. It has been owned by Dubai-based DP World since 2019.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Port of Dover</span> Cross-channel port situated in Dover, Kent, south-east England

The Port of Dover is a cross-channel ferry, cruise terminal, maritime cargo and marina facility situated in Dover, Kent, south-east England. It is the nearest English port to France, at just 34 kilometres (21 mi) away, and is one of the world's busiest maritime passenger ports, with 11.7 million passengers, 2.6 million lorries, 2.2 million cars and motorcycles and 80,000 coaches passing through it in 2017, and with an annual turnover of £58.5 million a year. This contrasts with the nearby Channel Tunnel, the only fixed link between the island of Great Britain and the European mainland, which now handles an estimated 20 million passengers and 1.6 million trucks per year.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Harwich International Port</span> Port

Harwich International Port is a North Sea seaport in Essex, England, and one of the Haven ports. It lies on the south bank of the River Stour one mile upstream from the town of Harwich, opposite the Port of Felixstowe. The port was formerly known as Parkeston Quay.

Stena Line Holland BV is a subsidiary of Stena Line that operates ferry routes between Harwich and Killingholme on the east coast of England and Hook of Holland and Europort in the Netherlands. The head office is in Hook of Holland in the Netherlands. Apart from during the two world wars there has been a continuous service operating between these two countries, initially by the railway companies serving the east coast of England together with Stoomvaart Maatschappij Zeeland a Dutch ferry company. In 1990 Stena Line had purchased both parts and Stena Line Holland BV came into being.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Sally Line</span> British ferry operator on the English Channel and North Sea

Sally Line UK was a British ferry operator on the English Channel and North Sea.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Isle of Wight ferry services</span> Ferry services connecting the Isle of Wight to mainland England

There are currently three different ferry companies that operate vessels carrying passengers and, on certain routes, vehicles across the Solent, the stretch of sea that separates the Isle of Wight from mainland England. These are Wightlink, Red Funnel and Hovertravel.

The Channel Ports are seaports in southern England and northern France, which allow for short crossings of the English Channel. There is no formal definition, but there is a general understanding of the term. Some ferry companies divide their routes into "short" and "long" crossings. The broadest definition might be from Plymouth east to Kent and from Roscoff to Zeebrugge although a tighter definition would exclude ports west of Newhaven and Dieppe. A historic group of such ports is the Cinque Ports of south-east England, most of which have ceased to be commercial ports.

MS <i>Port Link</i>

Port Link is a ro-pax ferry that was formerly operated by Sealink and Stena Line between Holyhead and Dun Laoghaire and later Stranraer and Larne / Belfast. Now it is used by ASDP Indonesia Ferry for Merak to Bakauheni line.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Port of Holyhead</span> Ferry port in Anglesey, Wales

The Port of Holyhead is a commercial and ferry port in Anglesey, United Kingdom, handling more than 2 million passengers each year. It covers an area of 240 hectares, and is operated by Stena Line Ports Ltd. The port is the principal link for crossings from north Wales and central and northern England to Ireland. The port is partly on Holy Island and partly on Salt Island. It is made up of the Inner Harbour, the Outer Harbour and the New Harbour, all sheltered by the Holyhead Breakwater which, at 2.7 kilometres, is the longest in the UK.

European Ferries Group plc was a company that operated in passenger and freight ferries, harbour operation and property management in the United Kingdom and the United States. It was taken over by the Peninsular and Oriental Steam Navigation Company and renamed P&O European Ferries in 1987.

MS <i>Bari</i>

The MS Bari was a ferry built in 1980 as the St Anselm for Sealink. Starting life on the Dover-Calais, she operated with Ventouris Ferries in her last routes in the Mediterranean.

MS <i>Wawel</i>

MS Wawel is a ferry launched in 1979 as the Scandinavia. She spent a large part of her career serving the Dover-Calais cross channel ferry route with successive operators. She is currently in service with Polferries as Wawel.

MV <i>Morocco Sun</i>

MV Morocco Sun is a passenger vessel built for British Railways in 1979.

References

Notes

  1. s.1 Transport Act 1962
  2. Her Majesty's Government (2002). "The Traffic Signs Regulations and General Directions 2002 (SI 2002:3113)". Archived from the original on 19 April 2009. Retrieved 27 March 2009.
  3. Sealink title for BR and alliped shipping services Railway Gazette 21 November 1969 page 843
  4. Belgian Marine joins Sealink Railway World issue 368 January 1971 page 3
  5. 1 2 Companies House extract company no 1402237 Stena Line Limited formerly Stena Sealink Line Limited formerly Sealink Stena Line Limited formerly Sealink UK Limited
  6. Sealink UK Limited formed The Railway Magazine issue 935 March 1979 page 111
  7. "The Great British Rail Sale is Over" The Railway Magazine issue 1152 April 1997 pages 24–25
  8. "British Rail / British Railways". Flags of the World. June 2011. Archived from the original on 29 March 2012.

Bibliography

  • Cowsill, Miles (1987). Sealink British Ferries to Ireland. Kilgetty, Pembrokeshire: M Cowsill. OCLC   560725076.
  • Cowsill, Miles; Hendy, John (1997). The Sealink Years:1970–1995. Kilgetty, Pembrokeshire: Ferry Publications. ISBN   1871947359.
  • Cowsill, Miles; Hendy, John (2006). The Saints go marching on: British Rail's Last Cross-Channel Ferries. Kilgetty, Pembrokeshire: Ferry Publications. ISBN   187194774X.
  • Haresnape, Brian (1982). Sealink. London: Ian Allan. ISBN   0711012091.
  • Hendy, John (1988). Sealink Dover–Calais. Staplehurst, Kent: Ferry Publications. ISBN   0951350617.
  • Hendy, John (1989). Sealink Isle of Wight. Staplehurst, Kent: Ferry Publications. ISBN   0951309331.
  • Hendy, John (1993). Ferries of Dover. Staplehurst, Kent: Ferry Publications. ISBN   0951350692.
  • Hendy, John (1997). Ferry Port Dover: the development of cross-channel vehicle ferries, their services and allied infrastructure. Staplehurst, Kent: Ferry Publications. ISBN   1871947472.
  • Hendy, John (2008). Remembering the Lord Warden: British Railways' pioneering car ferry. Ramsey, Isle of Man: Ferry Publications. ISBN   9781871947861.
  • Hendy, John; Merrigan, Justin (2011). Sealink Memories. Ramsey, Isle of Man: Ferry Publications. ISBN   9781906608422.
  • Hendy, John; Merrigan, Justin; Peter, Bruce (2015). Sealink and before. Ramsey, Isle of Man: Ferry Publications. ISBN   9781906608811.
  • McCall, Iain (2014). The Sealink Legacy: 30 years since privatisation. Upper Seagry, Wiltshire: Mainline & Maritime. ISBN   9781900340250.
  • Murtland, Matthew; Seville, Richard (2014). Sealink and beyond. Ramsey, Isle of Man: Ferry Publications. ISBN   9781906608750.
  • Ripley, Don; Rogan, Tony (1995). Designing Ships for Sealink. Kilgetty, Pembrokeshire: Ferry Publications. ISBN   1871947340.
  • Scott, Brian (1989). Sealink and its predecessors in Dublin. Dublin: B. Scott. ISBN   0951455400.

Commons-logo.svg Media related to Sealink at Wikimedia Commons