Transeuropa Ferries
Encyclopedia
Ferry
A ferry is a form of transportation, usually a boat, but sometimes a ship, used to carry primarily passengers, and sometimes vehicles and cargo as well, across a body of water. Most ferries operate on regular, frequent, return services...
service between Ramsgate
Ramsgate
Ramsgate is a seaside town in the district of Thanet in east Kent, England. It was one of the great English seaside towns of the 19th century and is a member of the ancient confederation of Cinque Ports. It has a population of around 40,000. Ramsgate's main attraction is its coastline and its main...
, Kent
Kent
Kent is a county in southeast England, and is one of the home counties. It borders East Sussex, Surrey and Greater London and has a defined boundary with Essex in the middle of the Thames Estuary. The ceremonial county boundaries of Kent include the shire county of Kent and the unitary borough of...
, UK and Ostend
Ostend
Ostend is a Belgian city and municipality located in the Flemish province of West Flanders. It comprises the boroughs of Mariakerke , Stene and Zandvoorde, and the city of Ostend proper – the largest on the Belgian coast....
, West Flanders, Belgium
Belgium
Belgium , officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a federal state in Western Europe. It is a founding member of the European Union and hosts the EU's headquarters, and those of several other major international organisations such as NATO.Belgium is also a member of, or affiliated to, many...
. TransEuropa Ferries n.v. is the cross channel satellite arm of TransEuropa Shipping Lines d.o.o. (TSL) of Slovenia.
TransEuropa Ferries recently ended its commercial and operating agreement with LD Lines
LD Lines
LD Lines is a French shipping company. It is predominantly a freight operator, with both deep-sea and ferry operations, but also operates some passenger services...
. The companies had collaborated on the Ramsgate–Ostend freight and passenger ferry service, operating one vessel together.
TransEuropa Ferries currently operate two ships on the route, transporting mostly freight vehicles. Since 2004, scheduled sailings started to carry cars and passengers. Crossings typically take four to five hours.
The company operates a direct sales channel, declining to sell through travel agents.
History
- TransEuropa Shipping Lines started a ro-ro freight ferry service between RamsgateRamsgateRamsgate is a seaside town in the district of Thanet in east Kent, England. It was one of the great English seaside towns of the 19th century and is a member of the ancient confederation of Cinque Ports. It has a population of around 40,000. Ramsgate's main attraction is its coastline and its main...
and OstendOstendOstend is a Belgian city and municipality located in the Flemish province of West Flanders. It comprises the boroughs of Mariakerke , Stene and Zandvoorde, and the city of Ostend proper – the largest on the Belgian coast....
on 21 November 1998 when it bought the assets of Regie voor Maritiem TransportRegie voor Maritiem TransportRegie voor Maritiem Transport was the Belgian state-owned ferry service and operated ferries on the Ostend-Dover route under the name Oostende Lines. For the last few years until its demise in February 1997, the ferries from Ostend went to Ramsgate instead of Dover, in partnership with Sally Line...
from the Belgian government. The company TransEuropa Ferries N.V. was founded on 01 June 2001. On 20 July 2004 TransEuropa started a car and passenger ferry service from Ostend to Ramsgate to supplement their existing freight service.
Crews
Compared with other cross-ChannelEnglish Channel
The English Channel , often referred to simply as the Channel, is an arm of the Atlantic Ocean that separates southern England from northern France, and joins the North Sea to the Atlantic. It is about long and varies in width from at its widest to in the Strait of Dover...
services, Transeuropa's ships are a relatively old generation and offer an alternative to the better-known Dover
Dover
Dover is a town and major ferry port in the home county of Kent, in South East England. It faces France across the narrowest part of the English Channel, and lies south-east of Canterbury; east of Kent's administrative capital Maidstone; and north-east along the coastline from Dungeness and Hastings...
(UK) to Calais
Calais
Calais is a town in Northern France in the department of Pas-de-Calais, of which it is a sub-prefecture. Although Calais is by far the largest city in Pas-de-Calais, the department's capital is its third-largest city of Arras....
(France
France
The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...
) ferries.
Habitually operated by Eastern Europe
Eastern Europe
Eastern Europe is the eastern part of Europe. The term has widely disparate geopolitical, geographical, cultural and socioeconomic readings, which makes it highly context-dependent and even volatile, and there are "almost as many definitions of Eastern Europe as there are scholars of the region"...
an crews (often Slovenia
Slovenia
Slovenia , officially the Republic of Slovenia , is a country in Central and Southeastern Europe touching the Alps and bordering the Mediterranean. Slovenia borders Italy to the west, Croatia to the south and east, Hungary to the northeast, and Austria to the north, and also has a small portion of...
n and Croatia
Croatia
Croatia , officially the Republic of Croatia , is a unitary democratic parliamentary republic in Europe at the crossroads of the Mitteleuropa, the Balkans, and the Mediterranean. Its capital and largest city is Zagreb. The country is divided into 20 counties and the city of Zagreb. Croatia covers ...
n) the service is personal due to the high crew-to-passenger ratio; both the transport itself and the catering on board are considerably cheaper than on most other cross-Channel ferries.
Current fleet
The TransEuropa fleet, with dates of service.- M/F LarkspurMV LarkspurThe MV Larkspur is a freight and passenger ferry which is owned and operated by Transeuropa Ferries.-History:The MV Larkspur was launched for Gedser-Travemünde Ruten as the Gedser in 1976. In 1986 Gedser was sold to Sally Line for use on the Ramsgate Dunkirk route and renamed Viking 2...
(1999-) - originally Gedser / Viking 2 / Sally Sky / Eurotraveller, built in 1976. Currently sailing on Ramsgate line - M/F GardeniaMV GardeniaMV Gardenia is a freight ferry which is owned and operated by Transeuropa Ferries.-History:The Gardenia was launched for Townsend Thoresen as the European Enterprise in 1978. Townsend Thoresen was absorbed by P&O European Ferries in 1987 and the same year the vessel was renamed European Endeavour...
(2002-) - originally European Enterpise / European Endeavour built in 1977. Currently sailing on Ramsgate line
According to the own website of TEF the company operates 5 ships but one of the mentioned ship on that list is the Primrose, which is demolished in 2011
Past fleet
- M/F Wisteria (1995-2000) - scrapped 2007 as M/F Al Arabia
- M/F WisteriaMV Duc de NormandieThe Wisteria is a passenger car ferry operated by Acciona Trasmediterránea and FerryMaroc between Almeria and the Moroccan port of Nador.-History:...
(2005-2006) - originally MV Prinses Beatrix / MV Duc de Normandie - M/F Roseanne (1999-2003) - originally Reina del Cantabricio built in 1982 for Compania Naviera Astur, Gijon.
- M/F Laburnum (1993-2003) - originally Free Enterprise V built in 1970 for Townsend Thoreson.
- M/F Begonia (2002-2005) - currently operating for Baltic Scandinavian Lines between Kapellskär and Paldiski
- M/F PrimroseMV PrimroseThe M/F Primrose was a freight and passenger ferry and operated by Transeuropa Ferries.. In 2010 she was sold to Blu Navy; in 2011 she was renamed to M/F Elegant I to make her last journey to India for breaking up.-History:...
(1998-2010) originally Princesse Marie Christine, sold to Italy - MS Ostend Spirit (2010-2011) - originally Prins Filip, returned to LD Lines
- M/F OleanderMS Pride of Free EnterpriseOleander is one of a class of three roll-on/roll-off ferries built for Townsend Thoresen at the end of the 1970s. Her two sister ships were the and the infamous . She currently operates as the MV Oleander for Transeuropa Ferries-History:...
(2001-) - originally Pride of Free Enterprise / Pride of Bruges / P&OSL Picardy, built 1980. - M/F EurovoyagerMV EurovoyagerThe MV Eurovoyager is a freight and passenger ferry which is operated by Transeuropa Ferries.-History:The Eurovoyager was launched by Belliard Hoboken as the Prins Albert in 1978 for Regie voor Maritiem Transport Belgie on their Ostend to Dover route.In 1994 she was transferred to the Ostend...
(1998-) - originally Prins Albert, built in 1978. Currently sailing Spain-North Morocco
Previous Operators
This route has previously been served by Sally LineSally Line
Sally Line UK was a British ferry operator on the English Channel and North Sea.-History:Sally Line was founded in 1981 by Michael Kingshott as a subsidiary of the Finland-based Rederi Ab Sally, and initially marketed as Sally Viking Line, with a livery that was nearly identical with that of...
, and also Holyman, Regie voor Maritiem Transport
Regie voor Maritiem Transport
Regie voor Maritiem Transport was the Belgian state-owned ferry service and operated ferries on the Ostend-Dover route under the name Oostende Lines. For the last few years until its demise in February 1997, the ferries from Ostend went to Ramsgate instead of Dover, in partnership with Sally Line...
(RMT / Oostende Lines) and Schiaffino.