UK-based freight-only ferry company
Seatruck Ferries
was a UK-based freight-only
ferry
company which commenced services in 1996. It became a subsidiary of CLdN and was absorbed into the Luxembourg-based parent's overall brand as CLdN RoRo in February 2024. It operated out of four ports on the
Irish Sea
, including
Heysham
and
Liverpool
.
History
[
edit
]
Riverdance
, Seatruck's first vessel
Seatruck was established in 1996, operating one ship,
Riverdance
, between
Heysham
,
Lancashire
, England and
Warrenpoint
,
County Down
,
Northern Ireland
. She was joined in April 1997 by sister ship
Moondance
, which was also operated on the Heysham to Warrenpoint service, a service which continues today as a two-ship service.
In 2002, the company was acquired by the
Clipper Group
. Also in 2002,
European Mariner
was chartered for two months, before moving on to Color Line.
In 2005, Seatruck Ferries ordered its first new ships, five "P Series" ro-ro freight ferries,
[1]
however only four were built. These vessels were named
Clipper Point
,
Clipper Panorama
,
Clipper Pace
and
Clipper Pennant
. All four vessels were built by Spanish shipyard Astilleros de Huelva.
The first of the RoRo 2200 ferries -
Seatruck Progress
Between late 2005 and late 2009, Seatruck acquired four sister ships,
Challenge
(
Clipper Ranger
),
Triumph
(
Helliar
),
Shield
(
Hildasay
) and
Arrow
. These are now deployed on charters to
Caledonian MacBrayne
,
NorthLink Ferries
and the
Isle of Man Steam Packet Company
respectively.
In 2007, Seatruck chartered the
Celtic Star
, which was deployed on the Liverpool to Dublin route.
In January 2008, the company's pioneering ship,
Riverdance
, ran aground in Blackpool.
[2]
Seatruck chartered
Phocine
to cover
Riverdance
'
s services until
Clipper Point
entered service. Attempts to refloat the vessel failed, and she was broken up in situ in the summer of 2008.
[3]
In March 2008,
Clipper Point
became the company's first new ferry, entering service on the Heysham to Warrenpoint route.
Panorama
followed in January 2009,
Pace
in March 2009 and
Pennant
in October 2009.
In March 2008, the same month that
Clipper Point
entered service, Seatruck Ferries placed an order for four RoRo 2200 ferries to be built by
Flensburger Schiffbau-Gesellschaft
in Germany.
[4]
The first two of these vessels launched in late 2011, named
Seatruck Progress
and
Seatruck Power
, whilst the third,
Seatruck Performance
, launched in January 2012. The final ship of the class,
Seatruck Precision
, launched in March 2012.
Progress
entered service in December 2011,
Power
joined the fleet in February 2012,
[5]
Performance
joined the fleet in April 2012
[6]
and lastly
Precision
will join the fleet before mid-2012.
In late 2011, one of the earlier "P Series" vessels,
Clipper Panorama
, was renamed
Seatruck Panorama
whilst
Clipper Pace
was renamed
Seatruck Pace
in February 2012.
In 2015, Ole Frie stepped down as chairman of the board. Kristian Morch was appointed as Frie's replacement. Alistair Eagles was also appointed CEO of Seatruck.
In May 2015,
Clipper Ranger
finished her long-term charter with
Caledonian MacBrayne
. The
Clipper Point
also finished her charter with DFDS. She was then chartered to Inter Shipping (Spain) to operate on the company's Algeciras?Tanger Med II route.
In March 2019, both
Helliar
and
Hildasay
were sold to
Caledonian Maritime Assets Limited
for continued use on the Serco NorthLink freight route Aberdeen - Kirkwall - Lerwick.
[7]
In December 2019, MV
Clipper Ranger
was sold to Cooperative de Transport Maritime et Aerien (CTMA) for $11.5 million. This was after being on charter to them since July 2019.
[8]
In September 2022,
MV
Arrow
, was sold to
Isle of Man Steam packet Company
, after being on charter to them for many years.
[9]
This meant the last of the R Class freight ferries were sold out of Seatruck.
In September 2022, the business was purchased by CLdN of Belgium with eight vessels.
[10]
[11]
In August 2023,
MV
Seatruck Pennant
was sold to
Arab Bridge Maritime
and renamed
UR
.
At noon on 19 February 2024, the name Seatruck was discontinued and replaced with the CLdN RoRo brand of the company's new owners.
[12]
Routes
[
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]
Seatruck operated three routes on the Irish Sea, serving four ports.
Fleet
[
edit
]
Current fleet
[
edit
]
At the time of the rebranding to CLdN RoRo, Seatruck owned and operated seven vessels, most of which are in service for Seatruck, with one in service for the parent company, CLdN.
The newest vessel in the Seatruck fleet is
Seatruck Precision
, which entered service in June 2012.
Image
|
Ship
|
Built
(Commissioned)
|
Route
|
Truck
Capacity
|
Notes
|
![](//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/b/be/Clipper_Point_at_Heysham.jpg/100px-Clipper_Point_at_Heysham.jpg) |
Seatruck Point
|
March 2008
(March 2008)
|
Dublin - Liverpool
|
120
|
Formerly named Clipper Point
|
![](//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/9/93/Clipper_Panorama.jpg/100px-Clipper_Panorama.jpg) |
Seatruck Panorama
|
November 2008
(January 2009)
|
Dublin - Heysham
|
120
|
Formerly named
Clipper Panorama
|
![](//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/0/05/Clipper_Pace_in_Dublin.jpg/100px-Clipper_Pace_in_Dublin.jpg) |
Seatruck Pace
|
February 2009
(March 2009)
|
Liverpool - Dublin - Santander (for CLdN)
|
120
|
Formerly named
Clipper Pace
|
![](//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/a/a9/SEATRUCK_PROGRESS.JPG/100px-SEATRUCK_PROGRESS.JPG) |
Seatruck Progress
|
November 2011
(December 2011)
|
Dublin - Liverpool
|
151
|
|
![](//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/d/d8/Seatruck_Power_Maiden_Voyage.jpg/100px-Seatruck_Power_Maiden_Voyage.jpg) |
Seatruck Power
|
February 2012
(February 2012)
|
Dublin - Liverpool
|
151
|
|
![](//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/2/2b/Seatruck_Performance.JPG/100px-Seatruck_Performance.JPG) |
Seatruck Performance
|
April 2012
(April 2012)
|
Heysham - Warrenpoint
|
151
|
Formerly named
Stena Performer
when on long-term charter to Stena Line
|
![](//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/9/9f/MS_SEATRUCK_PRECISION_sailing_from_Dublin_Ireland_19th_July_2012.jpg/100px-MS_SEATRUCK_PRECISION_sailing_from_Dublin_Ireland_19th_July_2012.jpg) |
Seatruck Precision
|
June 2012
(June 2012)
|
Heysham - Warrenpoint
|
151
|
Formerly named
Stena Precision
when on long-term charter to Stena Line
|
Former fleet
[
edit
]
These are vessels that have previously been operated or chartered by Seatruck.
Image
|
Ship
|
Built
(Commissioned)
(Out of Service)
|
Route
|
Truck
Capacity
|
Notes
|
![](//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/a/a8/Anglia_seaways.jpg/100px-Anglia_seaways.jpg) |
Anglia Seaways
|
August 2000
(Feb 2011, May 2012)
(Jan 2012, Mar 2014)
|
Heysham - Dublin
Heysham - Belfast
Heysham - Warrenpoint
|
120
|
Chartered from DFDS
|
![](//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/f/f0/Clipper_Pennant.jpg/100px-Clipper_Pennant.jpg) |
Seatruck Pennant
|
August 2009
(October 2009)
(August 2023)
|
Liverpool - Dublin
Heysham - Dublin
Heysham - Warrenpoint
|
120
|
Sold in 2023, renamed
UR.
|
![](//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/e/e8/Hildasay.jpg/100px-Hildasay.jpg) |
Hildasay
|
November 1999
(October 2008)
(March 2019)
|
Liverpool - Dublin
Cuxhaven - Immingham
Aberdeen - Kirkwall - Lerwick
|
65
|
Sold to
Caledonian Maritime Assets
2019
[7]
Formerly named
Shield
|
|
Arrow
|
August 1998
(October 2007)
(September 2022)
|
Heysham - Douglas
|
65
|
Sold to
Isle of Man Steampacket Company
in September 2022
[9]
|
![](//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/3/3f/Fale_-_Barcellona_-_28.jpg/100px-Fale_-_Barcellona_-_28.jpg) |
Helliar
|
October 1997
(October 2007)
(March 2019)
|
Portsmouth - Jersey - Guernsey
Douglas - Heysham
Dublin - Liverpool
Naples - Palermo
Aberdeen - Kirkwall - Lerwick
|
65
|
Sold to
Caledonian Maritime Assets
2019
[7]
Formerly named
Triumph
and
Clipper Racer
|
N/A
|
West Express
|
November 1998
(May 2008)
(January 2009)
|
Heysham - Warrenpoint
Liverpool - Dublin
|
80
|
Charter from West Express Shipping
|
N/A
|
Lygra
|
February 1979
(April 2008)
(June 2008)
|
Heysham - Warrenpoint
|
N/A
|
Short-term charter in 2008
|
N/A
|
Phocine
|
December 1984
(February 2008)
(March 2008)
|
Heysham - Warrenpoint
|
94
|
Short-term charter in 2008
|
![](//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/55/Merchant_Brilliant.jpg/100px-Merchant_Brilliant.jpg) |
Merchant Brilliant
|
July 1979
(January 2008)
(April 2008)
|
Heysham - Warrenpoint
|
80
|
Short term charter in 2008. Sistership to
West Express.
|
![](//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/9/99/MS_CELTIC_STAR_entering_Dublin_25th_January_2008.jpg/100px-MS_CELTIC_STAR_entering_Dublin_25th_January_2008.jpg) |
Celtic Star
|
August 1991
(September 2007)
(May 2008)
|
Liverpool - Dublin
|
70
|
Chartered 2007, to
P&O Irish Sea
in 2008 for the same route.
|
|
Clipper Ranger
|
April 1998
(2005, February 2008)
(2005, December 2019)
|
Heysham - Warrenpoint
Liverpool - Dublin
Belfast - Heysham
Ullapool - Stornoway
|
65
|
Chartered in 2005.
[13]
[14]
Sold to
CTMA
in December 2019
[8]
|
![](//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/6/6c/The_%22Merchant_Valiant%22_off_Greenore.jpg/100px-The_%22Merchant_Valiant%22_off_Greenore.jpg) |
European Mariner
|
January 1978
(April 2002)
(May 2002)
|
Heysham - Warrenpoint
|
53
|
Short-term charter in 2002.
[15]
|
![](//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/e/e7/Seatruck_Moondance.jpg/100px-Seatruck_Moondance.jpg) |
Moondance
|
July 1978
(April 1997)
(November 2009)
|
Heysham - Warrenpoint
|
55
|
Sold in 2009. On charter from April 1997 before being bought in November 1998.
|
![](//upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/6/63/MS_Riverdance.jpg/100px-MS_Riverdance.jpg) |
Riverdance
|
April 1977
(July 1996)
(January 2008)
|
Heysham - Warrenpoint
|
55
|
Beached at Cleveleys in Jan 2008, later cut up on site.
|
N/A
|
Bolero
|
April 1985
(April 1996)
(May 1997)
|
Heysham - Warrenpoint
|
N/A
|
Sold and converted to cable layer in 2001.
|
References
[
edit
]
External links
[
edit
]
Media related to
Seatruck Ferries
at Wikimedia Commons
Ferries of the Irish Sea
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Current ships
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Ferry ports
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Present ships
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Out on charter
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Past ships
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Former names - 1
Clipper Pace
; 2
Clipper Panorama
|