Gastines Posted May 22, 2006 Share Posted May 22, 2006 I see on the BBC news page that the Pont Aven had serious problems on it's trip to Santander. It hit a force 9 gale, had windows smashed,cabins flooded and a general panic on board with 6 people injured. It had to put in at Roscoff where engineers are looking at the problems. With the fast-draft off and now a ship down, I should imagine a serious problem may be arising for people travelling, or booking trips, over the next few weeks. Having seen all the weather forecasts, I'm amazed it sailed at all.Over the last few evenings I have noticed that B.F. were advertising quite a lot on the TV.and had a thought that perhaps bookings may be down for the summer? I wonder how much this latest problem will affect travellers and property owners at tis end relying on UK trade?Regards. B&B St. Malo ourinns.org Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Will Posted May 22, 2006 Share Posted May 22, 2006 I am sure bookings are down, this is part of a general trend throughout the ferry industry, thanks mainly to low-cost airlines and a change in people's holiday patterns. In the case of BF, although it has managed to hold its own to a large extent, some of the routes - particularly the important Portsmouth-Caen one - are subject to serious competition.As far as this particular ship is concerned, it was of course designed and built for the route so should be able to handle the Bay of Biscay, which is notoriously rough. However - two caveats. First, there have been concerns (unofficially) that the ship doesn't perform as well as it should in bad weather, I have heard reports of excessive roll. Second, the reports about smashed windows are worrying. These are well known to be the weakest points of any ship, and the classification societies (in BF's case Bureau Veritas) who oversee the design and build pay particular attention to this aspect - rules do not allow large areas of glass in vulnerable areas. So this would indicate either freak conditions or a problem with handling the ship.Brittany Ferries proved itself to be somewhat below par when dealing with an incident on the Normandie a few weeks ago, so it is hoped they cope with this problem rather better. Force 9 is not severe in terms of storms, although the fast craft would not be allowed out in such conditions they should not present problems for a conventional ship, certainly not one of Pont Aven's size. I have been on the bridge of a freight ferry going to Zeebrugge in up to Force 12 - that really was bad weather, but the ship coped admirably. So this would point again to freak conditions. Such freak waves do occur. Only the other day I was watching some Norwegian TV footage, a TV crew was on board a Hurtigruten (Norwegian Coastal Voyage) ship which was hit by a freak wave, as TV crews are, they were in the bar, and the carnage was incredible - bottles, glasses and furniture, not to mention crew, flying around everywhere for a brief time. So these things do happen, even to vessels built for the conditions.In terms of the rest of the fleet, Mrs Will travelled to Caen yesterday afternoon, and although it was a bit windy there were no difficulties. I am doing the same trip overnight this evening and returning tomorrow, and have no qualms. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alcazar Posted May 22, 2006 Share Posted May 22, 2006 Bookings are down because prices went up too far. P&O and Seafrance are "in the same boat". They thought that we were a) all stupid, and b) a captive market, about five years back when they put prices up by between 50% and 100% every year for three years, with the excuse of losing money now the duty frees were gone! Full stop, end of story.Alcazar Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Val_2 Posted May 22, 2006 Share Posted May 22, 2006 Don't forget the costs of fuel this year as the highest ever both sides of the channel and many folks may ditch the idea of a car-powered trip for a cheap no frills-flight and car hire to the sun instead, I know I would think seriously if I lived over there now. France is not a cheap holiday destination even for those with holiday homes to come to and ferries do not sail for nothing,staff have to be paid and fuel bought. The economic climate too in France isn't exactly welcoming either with costs in just about everything you can think of going up and up and plenty of unrest inthe working sector resulting in grêves every five minutes. There was a holiday programme on BBC1 the other night and you could get some great bargains in the sun including airfare and hotels for under £250 when it costs best part of £500 to just get across the channel. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Albert the infopikey Posted May 22, 2006 Share Posted May 22, 2006 [quote user="Will "]... reports about smashed windows are worrying. These are well known to be the weakest points of any ship, and the classification societies (in BF's case Bureau Veritas) who oversee the design and build pay particular attention to this aspect - rules do not allow large areas of glass in vulnerable areas. So this would indicate either freak conditions or a problem with handling the ship.[/quote]I've been travelling on BF for a helluva long time, and I can remember 4 Jan 1979 (the night half of Torcross got washed into the sea). We were in our cabin when all of a sudden the ship's motion eased. I looked outside and there were crew in bare feet trying to clear sea water from the corridors. Turns out that a wave had stove in a restaurant window and they had to turn downwind to effect repairs. One poor bloke was looking out of the window when it happened and he nearly got washed overboard! I remember seeing him leaving at Portsmouth with glass cuts on his face.On another occasion my wife was returning from France and they diverted into Cherbourg. That night the France dragged her moorings.Anyone else here remember the old Armorique? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Deimos Posted May 22, 2006 Share Posted May 22, 2006 The current “incident” seems to have been on the radio news every time I heard one today (i.e. every hour). Cannot be helping BF. Ian Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eslier Posted May 22, 2006 Share Posted May 22, 2006 A report from todays Plymouth Evening Herald can be read HERE. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kitty Posted May 22, 2006 Share Posted May 22, 2006 You're making me into a nervous traveller...[+o(] Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Val_2 Posted May 23, 2006 Share Posted May 23, 2006 Anyone else here remember the old Armorique?Yes with fond memories. She used to do the St.Malo/Portsmouth run in less time than all the others have ever done and just cut through the storms like a knife through butter. I was sad to see her go,twin funnels and all. There was a large freak wave between Roscoff and Plymouth about six or seven years back when the ferry was hit sideways on. Two clients of ours were on it returning and both ended up in Derryford hospital with injuries and several cars got badly damaged from larger vehicles coming loose and falling on them. I am really glad I don't have to make those journeys after years of them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gastines Posted May 23, 2006 Author Share Posted May 23, 2006 Pictures of the damage to the Pont-Aven in today's France Ouest. Aparently it was hit by a 14mtr wave ,150 cabins were flooded and the water was running down the stairs. Looking at the damage I would have said that it would be out of service for some time but they say it will be in service by FRIDAY? I hope they will put more than a bit of clingfilm over the front!I think I'll stick to the Barfleur.Regards. B&B St.Malo. ourinns.org Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Val_2 Posted May 23, 2006 Share Posted May 23, 2006 Amazing number of guestimates at the size of the wave, some reports have said 30m,some 20 and now this report at 14m. Do I hear an advance on that!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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