Hoverspeed

Hoverspeed was a ferry company that operated on the English Channel from 1981¹ until 2005. It was formed in 1981 by the merger of Seaspeed and Hoverlloyd. Its last owners were Sea Containers; the company ran a small fleet of two high-speed SeaCat catamaran ferries in its final year. Hoverspeed played a part in developing the hovercraft, and ran six SR.N4 Mountbatten class hovercraft and one SEDAM N500 Naviplane. Hoverspeed last operated hovercraft on its Dover to Calais service. They were withdrawn on 1 October 2000 and Hoverspeed continued to use Seacat catamarans built by Incat.

Hoverspeed was a ferry company that operated on the English Channel from 1981 until 2005. It was formed in 1981 by the merger of Seaspeed and Hoverlloyd. Its last owners were Sea Containers; the company ran a small fleet of two high-speed SeaCat catamaran ferries in its final year. Hoverspeed played a part in developing the hovercraft, and ran six SR.N4 Mountbatten class hovercraft and one SEDAM N500 Naviplane. Hoverspeed last operated hovercraft on its Dover to Calais service. They were withdrawn on 1 October 2000 and Hoverspeed continued to use Seacat catamarans built by Incat. ==History== ===Purchase by British Ferries=== Ripe for sale, in February 1986, Hoverspeed was sold by the management consortium to British Ferries (Sealink UK's holding company) owned by Sea Containers, a transport group engaged in marine container leasing, manufacturing, depot and logistics operations, railways operator, ferry operator and leisure industry investor for a sum of £5 million, each syndicate making a profit of £600,000. Large financial gains made by former managers of British Rail was to become a feature of rail privatisation. In 1987, Hoverspeed returned a profit of £1.6 million with a turnover of £42.3 million per year and £4.7 million in 1988 and a turnover of £44 million per year. Being part of a larger shipping company allowed fresh re-capitalization, cheaper fuel as well as access to legal services. With the reduced fleet of hovercraft aging, it also permitted capital investment into more fuel efficient vessels with the first SeaCat catamaran services introduced in 1991 and larger Super SeaCats in 1997, the latter to achieve economies of scale in the face of stiff competition from the Channel Tunnel and the ferry companies. ===Final Years=== After ten months of operation, it was reported that the Ramsgate-based high speed operations of Holyman Sally Ferries would cease due to the route not being financially viable. Majority shareholder Holyman announced that they would close the route and instead form a joint venture with Hoverspeed, moving their two vessels; Diamant and Rapide to operate from Dover to Ostend from March 1998 as Holyman Hoverspeed. Holyman sold its 50% stake in Holyman Hoverspeed to Sea Containers in August 1999, bringing the route and vessels under full Hoverspeed control. ==Routes== ===Hovercraft=== Dover Hoverport - Calais Hoverport 1981 to 2000 Dover Hoverport - Boulogne (Le Portel) Hoverport 1981 to 1993 Ramsgate (Pegwell Bay) Hoverport - Calais Hoverport 1982 ===High Speed Craft=== Portsmouth - Cherbourg 1990 to 1991 Dover - Calais 1991 to 2005 Dover - Boulogne 1991 to 1993 Folkestone - Boulogne 1993 to 2000 Dover - Ostend 1998 to 2003 Newhaven - Dieppe 1999 to 2004 ==Former Hoverspeed routes today== Since the closure of Hoverspeed, there have been no other high speed ferry services between Dover and Calais, and Dover and Ostende. SpeedFerries launched a high speed Dover-Boulogne service in 2004, and this continued after the closure of Hoverspeed in 2005. In February 2007, SpeedFerries signed a lease on the former Dover Hoverport, though not the terminal building, moving there from the Eastern Docks. SpeedFerries went into administration in November 2008, which saw the cessation of services to Boulogne. The hoverport site was redeveloped in 2009. After withdrawal by Hoverspeed from Folkestone in September 2000, the only remaining ferry service using Folkestone Harbour was operated by Falcon Seafreight, but this too closed in June 2001 and the port at Folkestone closed to all ferry traffic. The route between Newhaven and Dieppe, continues to be served by a conventional ferry service by Transmanche Ferries, who commenced operations in 2001, after the failure of Hoverspeed to reach an agreement with Transmanche to charter Superseacat One for a service proposed to recommence in April 2005. A high speed ferry service between Portsmouth and Cherbourg was launched, after a gap of nearly seven years, in 1998 by P&O Portsmouth using the chartered high speed ferry Superstar Express. This was replaced by the Portsmouth Express service in 2000 which operated until P&O Ferries withdrew from the Western Channel in 2005. Brittany Ferries launched a replacement high speed service in March 2005 using Normandie Express, which operated on the route until 2019 when it ceased. Ramsgate Hoverport saw no further passenger services, but remained as an operational and maintenance base, with administration taking place on site until October 1985, and engineering (particularly hovercraft overhauls) continuing until December 1987. The buildings were demolished in August 1995. ==References==

Text derived from https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?oldid=1369831165 under CC BY-SA 4.0; modifications have been made.