SeaCat
Encyclopedia
Northern Ireland
Northern Ireland is one of the four countries of the United Kingdom. Situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, it shares a border with the Republic of Ireland to the south and west...
, Scotland
Scotland
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
and England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
between 1992 and 2004. The company was originally based in Stranraer
Stranraer
Stranraer is a town in the southwest of Scotland. It lies in the west of Dumfries and Galloway and in the county of Wigtownshire.Stranraer lies on the shores of Loch Ryan on the northern side of the isthmus joining the Rhins of Galloway to the mainland...
later moving to Belfast
Belfast
Belfast is the capital of and largest city in Northern Ireland. By population, it is the 14th biggest city in the United Kingdom and second biggest on the island of Ireland . It is the seat of the devolved government and legislative Northern Ireland Assembly...
. The name originates from the use of high-speed catamaran
Catamaran
A catamaran is a type of multihulled boat or ship consisting of two hulls, or vakas, joined by some structure, the most basic being a frame, formed of akas...
ferries.
History
SeaCat announced that they would open a service from BelfastBelfast
Belfast is the capital of and largest city in Northern Ireland. By population, it is the 14th biggest city in the United Kingdom and second biggest on the island of Ireland . It is the seat of the devolved government and legislative Northern Ireland Assembly...
to Stranraer
Stranraer
Stranraer is a town in the southwest of Scotland. It lies in the west of Dumfries and Galloway and in the county of Wigtownshire.Stranraer lies on the shores of Loch Ryan on the northern side of the isthmus joining the Rhins of Galloway to the mainland...
in Scotland. The route would take just 90 minutes, berth to berth. In May 1992 the service opened using SeaCat Scotland, a fast 74 metre Incat
INCAT
INCAT is a part of Tata Technologies Limited, a company in the Tata Group and operates in the field of Automotive Industry providing Engineering and Design solutions. The company took over a much larger player in the field namely INCAT, a Europe based company, in 2005...
craft built in the same year.
Services to Stranraer ran smoothly until Stena Line
Stena Line
Stena Line is one of the world's largest ferry operators, with ferry services serving Scotland, Sweden, Northern Ireland, Denmark, Norway, England, Wales, Ireland, Germany, the Netherlands and Poland. Stena Line is a major unit of Stena AB, itself a part of the Stena Sphere, a grouping of Stena AB,...
announced in November 1995 they would move to Belfast
Belfast
Belfast is the capital of and largest city in Northern Ireland. By population, it is the 14th biggest city in the United Kingdom and second biggest on the island of Ireland . It is the seat of the devolved government and legislative Northern Ireland Assembly...
from Larne
Larne
Larne is a substantial seaport and industrial market town on the east coast of County Antrim, Northern Ireland with a population of 18,228 people in the 2001 Census. As of 2011, there are about 31,000 residents in the greater Larne area. It has been used as a seaport for over 1,000 years, and is...
and operate to Stranraer. In 1999 SeaCat was feeling the pinch of the growing success of the Stena HSS and began a daily service to Troon
Troon
Troon is a town in South Ayrshire. It is situated on the west coast of Scotland, about eight miles north of Ayr and three miles northwest of Glasgow Prestwick International Airport. Lying across the Firth of Clyde, the Isle of Arran can be seen. Troon is also a port with freight and ferry services...
alongside the Stranraer service. Dumfries and Galloway
Dumfries and Galloway
Dumfries and Galloway is one of 32 unitary council areas of Scotland. It was one of the nine administrative 'regions' of mainland Scotland created in 1975 by the Local Government etc. Act 1973...
council requested that SeaCat dropped the Troon link in favour of Stranraer, or else SeaCat would have to vacate Stranraer by 2000. SeaCat ceased operations to Stranraer on 13 March 2000; however, there was an agreement in place that SeaCat could use the port in the "event of an operational need".
In 2003 P&O Irish Sea
P&O Irish Sea
P&O Irish Sea was the trading name of P&O Ferries in the Irish Sea from 1998 - 2010. It has now merged back to being P&O Ferries.-History:P&O Irish Sea was formed in 1998, following the merger of the Cairnryan-based service of P&O European Ferries Ltd and Pandoro...
began to serve Troon on a seasonal basis, in direct competition to SeaCat. SeaCat incurred losses, despite the service being far more popular than that run by P&O and being a year-round service. By December 2003 the SeaCat service switched to being a seasonal service. The 2004 season started on 12 March and ended on Monday 1 November 2004.
In January 2005 SeaCat announced they were to 'review the service' and a 'definitive' decision would be made within 30 days. On 7 February 2005, SeaCat closed their 12-year-old service.
Changes in the ferry industry
When SeaCat were reviewing their service they expressed views on how the shipping industry underwent immense change.When the company was formed back in 1992 they were the first car carrying high speed catamarans on the Irish Sea
Irish Sea
The Irish Sea separates the islands of Ireland and Great Britain. It is connected to the Celtic Sea in the south by St George's Channel, and to the Atlantic Ocean in the north by the North Channel. Anglesey is the largest island within the Irish Sea, followed by the Isle of Man...
. However in 1996 HSS was introduced by Stena Line which made a mark on SeaCat. This mark caused the closure of their Stranraer
Stranraer
Stranraer is a town in the southwest of Scotland. It lies in the west of Dumfries and Galloway and in the county of Wigtownshire.Stranraer lies on the shores of Loch Ryan on the northern side of the isthmus joining the Rhins of Galloway to the mainland...
services.
In 2000 when SeaCat switched services to Troon they had success which was in the forms of full vessels per sailing. This was short-lived when in 2003 P&O Irish Sea also began operating a Larne-Troon service, which beat SeaCat's time by 40 minutes. In 2004 the losses were 'immense' and the route had to be discontinued.
SeaCat were the pioneers of fast ferry travel in 1992-1996.
Belfast
The BelfastBelfast
Belfast is the capital of and largest city in Northern Ireland. By population, it is the 14th biggest city in the United Kingdom and second biggest on the island of Ireland . It is the seat of the devolved government and legislative Northern Ireland Assembly...
terminal at Donegal Quay was constructed in the 1960s for, a service between Belfast and Ardrossan. This service was terminated and the terminal lay disused for some time. It was then used by Belfast Car Ferries
Belfast Car Ferries
Belfast Car Ferries was an Irish Sea ferry company that operated a passenger and freight roll-on/roll-off service between Northern Ireland and England.-History:...
for their service to Liverpool which closed in October 1990. It originally had two passenger walkways; however one was removed in 1996. The terminal is still owned by Sea Containers however, the Isle of Man Steam Packet Company no longer uses the terminal, and has instead moved to Albert Quay to the former Stena Line terminal. The Donegal Quay facility is now vacant.
Stranraer
The Stranraer terminal was constructed in 1991 and had one passenger walkway. The terminal was used up until April 2000 when services moved to Troon. The terminal building was demolished soon after vacation of the harbour, the walkway remaining until 2005. The harbour area which SeaCat once occupied at Stranraer has since been developed into a marina as part of the waterfront redevelopment being carried out by Dumfries and Galloway council. As of November 2008 the marina has been opened and currently is home to many small pleasure craft.Troon
The terminal building was a portable buildingPortable building
A portable building, or demountable building , is a building designed and built to be movable rather than permanently located. A common modern design is sometimes called a modular building, but portable buildings can be different in that they are more often used temporarily and taken away later....
and was used up until 2004. There were two portable buildings, one of which, the 'foot passenger lounge' was cleared as soon as the service was terminated. The check-in building persisted until April 2008 when it was cleared as well. The facilities are being redeveloped into a berth for cargo ships transporting wood to Ailsa.
SeaCat Scotland
Liverpool
Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough of Merseyside, England, along the eastern side of the Mersey Estuary. It was founded as a borough in 1207 and was granted city status in 1880...
at around 15:00 on 28 November 2002. For 2003-2004 she operated for Hoverspeed
Hoverspeed
Hoverspeed, formed in 1981 by the merger of Seaspeed and Hoverlloyd, was a ferry company that operated on the English Channel from 1981 until 2005....
between Dover and Calais. From September 2004 until March 2007 she was laid up in Sunderland. She is now in service in Egypt
Egypt
Egypt , officially the Arab Republic of Egypt, Arabic: , is a country mainly in North Africa, with the Sinai Peninsula forming a land bridge in Southwest Asia. Egypt is thus a transcontinental country, and a major power in Africa, the Mediterranean Basin, the Middle East and the Muslim world...
between Port Safaga
Port Safaga
Port Safaga, also known as Bur Safaga and Safaga , is a town in Egypt, on the coast of the Red Sea, located south of Hurghada. This small port is also a tourist area that consists of several bungalows and rest houses, including the Safaga Hotel, with a capacity of 48 rooms .Having numerous...
and Duba
Duba
Duba is a small city on the northern Red Sea coast, of Saudi Arabia. It is in Tabuk Province. Local citizens describe it as The Pearl of the Red Sea. Population: Population of Duba is about 65,000.-History:...
.
SeaCat Rapide
SeaCat Rapide was used by SeaCat in 2001 for Isle of ManIsle of Man
The Isle of Man , otherwise known simply as Mann , is a self-governing British Crown Dependency, located in the Irish Sea between the islands of Great Britain and Ireland, within the British Isles. The head of state is Queen Elizabeth II, who holds the title of Lord of Mann. The Lord of Mann is...
services, and also between Liverpool
Liverpool
Liverpool is a city and metropolitan borough of Merseyside, England, along the eastern side of the Mersey Estuary. It was founded as a borough in 1207 and was granted city status in 1880...
and Dublin. (The Liverpool-Dublin route was also closed in November 2004). In 2002 SeaCat used her on the Belfast to Heysham service, which stopped on Wednesday 21 August 2002 when the Rapide had an engine fire on the 07:00 service to Heysham. In 2003 and 2004 she was used on the Belfast to Troon route (Seacat Scotland operated Dover-Calais). Rapide was the final craft Seacat used on their Troon route. Rapide left Toon for the final time with the 19:30 service from Troon on Monday 1 November 2004. She left Belfast for the final time at 16:20 on 8 November 2004 bound for Sunderland to be laid up with Seacat Scotland, Emeraude France and Diamant
Other vessels
- SeaCat Danmark (1997–1999): now operates in the Adriatic SeaAdriatic SeaThe Adriatic Sea is a body of water separating the Italian Peninsula from the Balkan peninsula, and the system of the Apennine Mountains from that of the Dinaric Alps and adjacent ranges...
as Pescara Jet. - SeaCat Isle of Man (2002–2003): operates for the Isle of Man Steam Packet Company as HSC SnaefellHSC SnaefellThe HSC Snaefell, now HSC Master Jet is an Incat WPC74 , owned by the Isle of Man Steam Packet Company. The vessel was the first fast craft to bear a Manx name. She is also the sixth vessel to bear the name...
. - Hoverspeed Great Britain (2001): now operates in the Aegean SeaAegean SeaThe Aegean Sea[p] is an elongated embayment of the Mediterranean Sea located between the southern Balkan and Anatolian peninsulas, i.e., between the mainlands of Greece and Turkey. In the north, it is connected to the Marmara Sea and Black Sea by the Dardanelles and Bosporus...
as Searunner. - SuperSeaCat Two (2000): operates for the Isle of Man Steam Packet Company as HSC VikingHSC VikingHSC Hellenic Wind is a high-speed craft owned by Hellenic Seaways, having previously being owned by Sea Containers.-Isle of Man Steam Packet Company:...
.