In The Beginning
The Duc de Normandie was born as the Prinses Beatrix for SMZ, having
been constructed at the Verolme Shipyard in Holland. She was to sail
between Harwich and the Hook of Holland under the 'Sealink' banner.
She was launched by her namesake HRH Princes
Beatrix on the 14th January 1978 and
entered commercial service on the 29th June. She was to prove to
be both a popular and reliable vessel for Sealink, but was soon to
prove
too small for the continually expanding route.
During the Winter of 1984/5 Brittany Ferries began to investigate
the possibility of operating a route from the already popular port
of Portsmouth (from which they were the first ferry company to
operate) to Normandy. Townsend Thoresen
already operated to the Norman port of Le Havre from Southampton
(later moving to Portsmouth) but had turned down an invitation to operate to the newly constructed ferry
terminal at Ouistreham. Brittany Ferries were quick to
accept the offer realising the potential the new port offered, as well
as enabling them to finally rival Thownsend Thoresen's established
routes to both Le Havre
and Cherbourg.
Now that Brittany Ferries had a new port and route they were
now in need of new tonnage which would be both suitable for the 6
hour crossing but also capable of rivalling the existing services
offered to Normandy. On the 1st October 1985 Brittany Ferries
announced that they had purchased the Prinses Beatrix from SMZ to
operate the new route which it was decided would open in June 1986
ready for the summer season. Following
her purchase she was
immediately chartered back to SMZ to continue operating between
Harwich and the Hook until the arrival of their own new tonnage -
the Koningin Beatrix. As part of the purchase deal the the Armorique was
also chartered to SMZ to offer extra capacity during the winter
months. In May 1986 the Prinses Beatrix sailed to Rotterdam for
a major refit prior to
entering service with Brittany Ferries which saw A.I.A. redesign her
interior with a Norman feel to give passengers a taste of France
from the moment they boarded the ship (a theme which was to continue
with all future Brittany Ferries vessels). The main bar, l'Alambic',
boasted a real Calvados Still whilst the wine bar had a Norman cider
press. The
main lounge was named 'Claude Monet' after the French artist who lived
in Normandy, and opened out into a terraced garden. Additional
facilities included the installation of a bakery capable of producing fresh patisseries, a
coffee shop and two restaurants, all of which were to result in the
new vessel being the flagship of the fleet
and offer an attractive
alternative to Townsend Thoresen's passengers.
The flagship vessel was re-named Duc de Normandie for her new role and
was appropriately re-registered in Caen. Prior to
the opening of the new route the Armorique made two goodwill sailings to Caen to celebrate the launch of the new route,
where she sailed up the canal to berth the centre of the city of
Caen to 'fly the flag'.
The Duc de Normandie officially entered service on the 5th July 1986 with the
23:30 departure between Portsmouth and Caen (Ouistreham). Her
interior and size set new standards of ferry travel on the channel
and sent shockwaves to rival ferry operators.
The route was an
immediate success and exceeded all expectations, so much so that
plans were considered to 'jumbo-size' her for the 1987 season. The
Truckline vessels Purbeck and Coutances were brought in to provide much
needed extra capacity on the route during summer weekends as well as
the Prince of Brittany which allowed the company to provide an additional passenger sailing to
Caen during peak weekends in addition to her own sailings to
St Malo.
More Capacity
The following year, 1987, saw the Duc de Normandie and the Purbeck
cover the route
once again. However before the year was over it was
no surprise when Brittany
Ferries announced that a second vessel was to be introduced to Caen
for the 1988 season. The Yugoslavian built Gotland was
then duely chartered. The Gotland was not scheduled to enter
service until May but due to strikes affecting both P&O and Sealink
Ferries she
entered service early along with the the Armorique due
to the exceptionally high demand
for channel crossings. In fact such was the demand the Duc de Normandie, Gotland,
Prince of Brittany and Breizh-Izel all sailed to Caen until
the industrial disputes resolved.
For the 1989 season the Prince of Brittany joined the Duc de
Normandie sailing to Caen having been replaced on the St Malo route by the
newly bought Duchesse Anne. Before coming to Caen the Prince of
Brittany was re-named Reine Mathilde after William the Conquerors
Queen. The Truckline vessel Normandie Shipper was also to sail to
Caen for
the season.
In May 1990 plans were announced for the construction of two new
cruise ferries in addition to the new Bretagne and to expand the
continually expanding
Caen and Cherbourg services. The Masa Yard at Helsinki was awarded the contract
for the new Caen super-ferry which would enter service during May
1992. The Duc de Normandie was to undergo
a £3 million refit prior
to the new ship's arrival which was to be named Normandie. The ports
of Portsmouth and Ouistreham were both to see a new double deck link
span and major dredging work in preparation for the new ship's
arrival.
The newly constructed Normandie entered service on the 16th May 1992
increasing capacity on the Caen route by 40% overnight. She became
the largest ship to operate out
of the two ports, just as the Duc de
Normandie had some years earlier. The two vessels were to operate
together for the next 10 years which saw the route continue to
grow and expand despite the opening of the Channel Tunnel.
A New Challenge
It had long been realised there there was a growing
discrepancy between the mighty Normandie and the smaller Duc de
Normandie both operating to Caen, and it had been Brittany Ferries
intention for some time to build a sister ship to the Normandie but
following financial difficulties, the loss of duty free and increased competition it would
not be until 2002 that the Duc de Normandie would be replaced on the
line. The Van der Giessen shipyard was awarded the order
for the Mont St Michel in 2000 which was to become a larger sister to the
Normandie. Upon her arrival the Duc de Normandie would be
transferred to the Plymouth-Roscoff route in July 2002 replacing the smaller
Quiberon.
The Mont St Michel's delivery date was severely delayed by the
shipyard, however the
Duc
de Normandie moved to Plymouth as planned on the 10th July 2002
following sixteen years service to between Portsmouth and Caen.
Portsmouth said a found farewell to the vessel which had opened
their new continental ferry terminal all those years ago, which has
since grown into Britain's second largest ferry port. The Duc de
Normandie undertook
a one off
passenger carrying sailing between Portsmouth and Roscoff at 0700 -
leaving Portsmouth for the last time. The
Quiberon filled in the gap left by the Duc de Normandie on the Caen
route until the arrival of the Mont St Michel
which was anticipated to be in August. As it turned out it fell to
the Quiberon to cover the summer season along with the
Normandie, and
following further delays the it was not until the 20th
December that she could herself stand down from service following
the Mont's arrival..
The Duc de Normandie has continued to sail between Plymouth and
Roscoff ever since, operating alongside the Val de Loire and more
recently the Pont-Aven. During the winter of 2003 she carried out a
new weekend sailing between Plymouth and Cherbourg during the winter
months.
The Future
During 2004 the Duc de Normandie gained a new partner on the Roscoff
route following the arrival of the mighty Pont-Aven. The summer
season at Plymouth was, however, to experience difficulties
following the breakdown of the Pont which led to the Duc being
diverted to Poole on several occasions before a normal service was
able to resume. In July it was officially announced that the Duc de
Normandie was to be laid up during the winter season, and that the
Bretagne would transfer from Portsmouth to operate to Roscoff.
The Duc de Normandie faces an uncertain future as plans for the 2005
are confirmed. Her final sailing of 2004 (or possibly forever) will
be on Wednesday 29th September at 2300. The Duc de Normandie will
then depart Roscoff at 1400 bound for Caen. On 1st October
she will sail up the canal towards Caen itself and will be laid up
at the 'Calix' berth whilst
she awaits her fate.
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