HSC Condor Voyager

HSC Condor Voyager is a high-speed catamaran ferry, owned by Brittany Ferries and chartered to Condor Ferries. Since being built in 2000, the vessel has borne the names Incat Tasmania, The Lynx and Normandie Express. She is designed to travel at speeds of up to 46-and-a-half knots, giving a journey time between Portsmouth and the Normandy ports of three hours per crossing.

Condor Voyager in 2021
History
Name
  • 2000: Incat Tasmania
  • 2000-2003: The Lynx
  • 2005-2021: Normandie Express
  • 2021-present: Condor Voyager
Owner
Operator
Port of registryNassau,  Bahamas
RoutePoole - Guernsey - Jersey - St Malo
BuilderIncat, Tasmania, Australia
Yard number057
Launched29 July 2000 as The Lynx
Completed2000
IdentificationIMO number: 9221358
StatusIn service with Condor Ferries
General characteristics
Tonnage6,581 tonnes
Length97.22 m (319.0 ft)
Beam26.6 m (87.3 ft)
Draught3.43 m (11.3 ft)
Decks2
Installed power4 x Ruston 20RK270 (Each rated at 7080kW, coupled to a Reinjtes VLJ 6831 gearbox)
Propulsion4 x Lips 120E waterjets
Speed33 knots (service speed), 46.5 knots maximum
Capacity
  • 850 passengers
  • 267 vehicles
Crew30

History

Brittany Ferries purchased the Normandie Express from Incat in 2007, having been on charter from them since 2005. She was built as Incat Tasmania at the Incat yards in Tasmania, Australia.[1] Her first use was on charter to the Australian Trade Commission as a floating conference centre during the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney. Later that year, she was chartered to Tranz Rail for its Interislander service between Picton and Wellington. She was renamed The Lynx for this service and remained on the route until 2003 when she was returned to Incat.

Brittany Ferries

In September 2004, P&O Ferries announced it was to withdraw their services from Portsmouth to France, Brittany Ferries later announced it would run a fastcraft service between Portsmouth and Cherbourg/Caen (Ouistreham) as a replacement and The Lynx was chartered. In January 2005, she was renamed Normandie Express and sailed for France, stopping off in Indonesia to drop off supplies and equipment for the tsunami relief effort.

Also on board for the trip to Europe was the French yacht Sill et Veolia which was being returned to France after being damaged whilst on the Vendée Globe round-the-world yacht race. After calling in at Roscoff to drop off the yacht and being shown off to Brittany Ferries management, she undertook berthing trials in Portsmouth, Cherbourg and Ouistreham before starting service in March 2005.

For her first year in service with Brittany Ferries, Normandie Express had a bridge and engine room crew supplied by Northern Marine and was registered in Nassau but protests from French trade unions meant that from 2006 she would fly the French flag and be registered in Caen with a full French crew.[1] A further trade union dispute took place in 2015.

Condor Ferries

In July 2021, it was announced that the Channel Island-based ferry operator Condor Ferries was to operate Normandie Express under charter agreements from Brittany Ferries. The vessel was renamed to Condor Voyager and replaced HSC Condor Rapide.[2] The ferry remains under Brittany Ferries's ownership.

Routes

In mid 2012, Brittany Ferries announced that Normandie Express would no longer operate the Portsmouth to Caen Route in 2013. Instead, a brand new route was officially introduced, sailing from Portsmouth to Le Havre from May until September, but only on Thursdays and Fridays.[3]

From 2021, Condor Ferries announced that Condor Voyager would operate the Channel Islands to St Malo service with a further commute to Poole[4]

References
  1. "HSC Normandie Express". Retrieved 7 August 2023.
  2. https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-guernsey-57758251
  3. "Our history 2010-2019". Retrieved 7 August 2023.
  4. Condor Newcomer makes her debut Ships Monthly August 2021 page 8
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