Manxman2000 Posted June 25, 2008 Share Posted June 25, 2008 Fuel costs continue to ascend faster than the space shuttle and some ferry company’s are starting to feel the pressure. CalMac has converted Isle of Lewis, Clansman and Hebrides to run on intermediate fuel oil to make savings and according to a Dutch news site Stena Line is to slow down several of its ships in order to save on fuel. Customers traveling to Killingholm must expect to take 15 to 30 minutes longer. The HSS fastcraft sailing out of Holyhead will take an extra 14 minutes to cross the pond. All this to save money on fuel. It is also rumored that the HSS fastcrafts may be withdrawn and replaced with conventional tonnage if fuel costs continue to rise. Around 20 years ago fast ferries were being seen as the future of ferry travel, but it looks now as if they are anything but due to their high fuel consumption. Reliability is also very poor as we know here on the Isle of Man with the Superseacat and incat twin hull. Condor Express is currently running on 3 engines and HD1 has been on three engines for months now. So isn’t it fitting that the Steam Packet should find the next craft to serve our shores will have so many of the attributes dearly needed today, high volume diesel burning and possibly unreliable fast craft. Just as the rest of the world ( lets leave the Americans out of this) wakes up to fast is too expensive and conventional is reliable and less costly to run The Steam Packet spend £24 Million on a mill stone. No problem though, with the user agreement they can justify grand fuel surcharges with large fare increases and so isolate the island even further from the visitors pound. Could somebody please wake up a sleeping MHK and ask if he is in the least interested ? It seems that the Jersey Government has told Condor to shape up or go, Condor seem quite good to me, at least in comparison to the Steam Packet. Condor is up for sale by Royal Bank of Scotland, The packet owners are rumored to be possibly in the frame, god help the Jersey and Guernsey people but at least their government has teeth and not old broken dentures. Rant over!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pongo Posted June 25, 2008 Share Posted June 25, 2008 with the user agreement etc I understood (though I might not be accurate) that the user agreement requires them to operate fast craft if possible. No? What a pity Mrs Thatcher shut down the coal mines. Coal and sails is the future. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lonan3 Posted June 25, 2008 Share Posted June 25, 2008 Its clear that fastcraft are going to be uneconomic and a waste of precious resources. Naturally there will be a public outcry - especially from drivers of SUVs. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
When Skies Are Grey Posted June 25, 2008 Share Posted June 25, 2008 What a pity Mrs Thatcher shut down the coal mines. Coal and sails is the future. Ahhh where's Rog when you need an old fashioned pro/anti Thatcher debate!! Those were the days. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lost Login Posted June 25, 2008 Share Posted June 25, 2008 So isn’t it fitting that the Steam Packet should find the next craft to serve our shores will have so many of the attributes dearly needed today, high volume diesel burning and possibly unreliable fast craft. Just as the rest of the world ( lets leave the Americans out of this) wakes up to fast is too expensive and conventional is reliable and less costly to run Condor is up for sale by Royal Bank of Scotland, The packet owners are rumored to be possibly in the frame, god help the Jersey and Guernsey people but at least their government has teeth and not old broken dentures. Rant over!!! And if the Steam Packet announced it was scrapping all fast craft and going back to slower conventional ferries there even louder complaints about crossing times, not providing what the IoM needs, backward steps etc. Yes bash the steam packet when they deserve it but I happily pay a little bit more for a fast craft crossing to Liverpool rather than a slow boat to Heysham , god help the Jersey and Guernsey people but at least their government has teeth and not old broken dentures. Rant over!!! Considering what has been in the news in respect of Jersey recently and allegations of cover ups I am not sure they are an example I would choose to use. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jimbms Posted June 25, 2008 Share Posted June 25, 2008 I couldn't agree more we should now be looking at efficiency over speed Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mission Posted June 25, 2008 Share Posted June 25, 2008 #Steam Packet thread 19,059 FTW... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lost Login Posted June 25, 2008 Share Posted June 25, 2008 I couldn't agree more we should now be looking at efficiency over speed There is a balance and I am happy to pay a premium for speed of crossing up to a point. I am sure you way up both as well or would you advocate say all Steam Packet Sailings having an hour added to their time for the sake of efficiency. That is if you use the Steam Packet. As ever it is a balance and nothing is as simple as a choice between A or B as I am sure if the boat was to slow many might fly. Longer crossings may produce fuel savings, but will that be offset by increased wages. Would there be fewer sailings per day, and potentially less passengers at revenue at busy times etc. Finally if efficiencies are the priority then we just need to have as big as boat as will fit chugging back and forth to Heysham. Cancel many of the sailings to Liverpool mid week as they could be easily accomodated elsewhere. Maybe in the winter also reduce the frequency of sailings. I doubt though that is what we all want. My priority is a good frequent fast service. Others may have efficiency or price as their priority. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lonan3 Posted June 25, 2008 Share Posted June 25, 2008 #Steam Packet thread 19,059 FTW... ...And you probably posted on all of them! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
triskelion Posted June 25, 2008 Share Posted June 25, 2008 The Isle of Man gets a better ferry service than Jersey or Guernsey anyway, except during the summer perhaps, but then the Channel Islands seem to do better out of tourism. In real terms fares have fallen under the Steam Packet, and fuel surcharges have risen slower than fuel prices have. In fact, the User Agreement gives us a kind of protection, in that it guarantees a minimum number of services, and certainly in the case of the Ben ensures substantially more sailings than would actually be needed for cargo. If we had the free and open competition so many people desire, the Island would actually face much bigger cuts, especially in terms of passenger sailings. Where are these German skysails? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
monasqueen Posted June 25, 2008 Share Posted June 25, 2008 We don't, yet, know what the reliability of this vessel will be. It is fairly certain, though that it will burn loads of gas, and cost a fortune to keep running. It will therefore need to be kept running, as full as possible, to pay its way. Stena are slowing down their big fast craft to save fuel, and this is an option the Packet may wish to consider, however it has already been noted somewhere that the slow running brings ferry times back to what a conventional ship could do the crossing in a lot of the time, a lot cheaper - wasn't it said that the Lady of Mann burned half the fuel that the seacat did, and took twice the passengers (though with double the crew)? Incidentally, wonder what the fuel savings are at present with Viking on only 3 engines? That old chestnut, the User Agreement, does seem to require a fast craft to be operated. If fuel costs are to rise much further, this will need to be seriously reviewed. There is not much point in saving an hour on passage if that passage is going to cost an extra arm and a leg. As it is, it will have to be laid up in winter, when the weather is too rough for it - but loadings would probably not be big enough to make it profitable to run then anyway. Well just have to wait and see what solutions they come up with. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Snaefell050 Posted June 25, 2008 Share Posted June 25, 2008 I think that as it is, fuel prices are ridiculously high. Considering the high amount of fuel, I think the fuel surcharge is quite reasonable. Considering that Stena's HSS craft use aviation fuel, which I believe is more expensive, it's no wonder they're going to slow down crossings and reduce one route to a return trip a day. I believe the new INCAT 050 is more economical than the VIKING as it stands, so the idea of increased sailing times may be one to keep on the "drawing boards" for a while where the Steam Packet Company's fastcraft are concerned. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
molly Posted June 25, 2008 Share Posted June 25, 2008 I think that as it is, fuel prices are ridiculously high. Considering the high amount of fuel, I think the fuel surcharge is quite reasonable. Considering that Stena's HSS craft use aviation fuel, which I believe is more expensive, it's no wonder they're going to slow down crossings and reduce one route to a return trip a day. I believe the new INCAT 050 is more economical than the VIKING as it stands, so the idea of increased sailing times may be one to keep on the "drawing boards" for a while where the Steam Packet Company's fastcraft are concerned. You may need to check your facts there on aviation fuel, by that i assume you mean 28sec kerosene? even on the island domestic rates for 28sec fuel is about 6ppl cheaper than 35 sec gas oil that the sea cats use. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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