British Rail Class 99

When British Rail implemented the TOPS system for managing their operating stock, some of their Sealink shipping fleet was incorporated into the system as Class 99, in order to circumvent some of the restrictions of the application software. This allowed them to be counted as locomotives while carrying railway vehicles to the continent.

Details

There were 14 Class 99s, used for carrying road and rail vehicles from Britain to the continent (road only vehicles did not receive TOPS numbers). They were of various ages and origins, but all carried the BR double arrow logo on their red funnels. This was generally set up to point towards the bow, and so was reversed on the port side of the ship. The hull was painted blue, with "Sealink" written in large grey letters between the waterline and the deck. A grey stripe was painted on some around parts of the top of the hull, with the main body of the ship being grey or white. Unlike other non-steam locomotives with TOPS numbers, no yellow warning panels were provided. Names were painted on the bow and stern but the TOPS numbers were not visibly carried. The table shows what are believed to be the numbers allocated:cite book
author=Roger Harris
title=The Allocation History of BR Diesels and Electrics (Third and Final Edition)
date=2004 ]

{| class="wikitable" border="1"
-!Key!
-
P
Passenger
-
VF
Vehicle Ferry
-
TF
Train Ferry
-
C
Container ship

There were also a number of other Sealink vessels which did not carry rail vehicles and so did not receive TOPS numbers.

While in traffic several vessels were involved in various incidents. "Vortigern" grounded on the approach to Oostende in 1982.cite web
author=Robert Vermaat
publisher=Robert Vermaat
url=http://www.vortigernstudies.org.uk/artgra/ship1.htm
title=Vortigern the Ferry
date=2004
accessdate=2008-08-25 ] "Sealink Vanguard" collided with "European Gateway" on the approach to Harwich, also in 1982, causing serious damage to the latter vessel, which nearly sank altogether.cite web
author=RNLI
publisher=RNLI
url=http://rnli.harwich.org.uk/Stories/EuropeanGateway/EuropeanGateway.htm
title=Harwich Lifeboat Station
accessdate=2008-08-25 ] This was the most serious accident that a Class 99 was involved in while working for Sealink.

Disposal

The mixed origins of the fleet meant that disposal was carried out in a patchy manner, and at no point were all 14 Class 99s in service. Instead, ships were cut up at any time after the 30-year-old mark, and so Sealink disposed of 6 prior to privatisation in 1984. No.99009 "Shepperton Ferry" was withdrawn and broken up in Spain in 1972cite web
author=Nigel Thornton & Ray Goodfellow
url=http://www.doverferryphotos.co.uk/pastandpresent/shep.htm
title=Shepperton Ferry
date=2008
accessdate=2008-08-25 ] while No.99010 "Invicta" was dismantled in the Netherlands in the same year.cite web
author=Nigel Thornton & Ray Goodfellow
url=http://www.doverferryphotos.co.uk/pastandpresent/inv3.htm
title=Invicta
date=2008
accessdate=2008-08-25 ] No.99006 "Twickenham Ferry", the oldest member of the fleet, was withdrawn for scrap in 1974.cite web
author=Nigel Thornton & Ray Goodfellow
url=http://www.doverferryphotos.co.uk/pastandpresent/twick.htm
title=Twickenham Ferry
date=2008
accessdate=2008-08-25 ] No.99001 "Suffolk Ferry", No.99002 "Norfolk Ferry" and No.99003 "Essex Ferry" were all withdrawn around 1980 and broken up shortly afterwards.cite web
author=Ian Boyle
url=http://www.simplonpc.co.uk/BR8_Harwich.html
title=Suffolk Ferry, Norfolk Ferry and Twickenham Ferry
date=2007
accessdate=2008-08-25 ]

The remaining eight members of the fleet (99004/5/7/8/11-14) left British Rail ownership when Sealink was sold in 1984, after which they were invariably renamed (sometimes several times, making them harder to trace). The vessels were scattered across the world, with new homes including Cuba, Greece, Canada and Malta. Subsequently four of the ferries (now all over 30 years old) have been broken up but four appear to still be in service. No.99008 "Anderida" has, since 1988, been owned by Cooperative de Transport Maritime et Aerien in Canada and is the oldest survivor, dating back to 1973.cite web
author=Nigel Thornton & Ray Goodfellow
url=http://www.doverferryphotos.co.uk/pastandpresent/anderida.htm
title=Anderida
date=2008
accessdate=2008-08-25 ] No.99013 "St. Eloi" is now owned by Moby Lines, and is brightly painted as "Moby Love".cite web
author=Nigel Thornton & Ray Goodfellow
url=http://www.doverferryphotos.co.uk/pastandpresent/eloi.htm
title=St. Eloi
date=2008
accessdate=2008-08-25 ] No.99012 "Chartres" was recently chartered by Atlanticoline, but now appears to be back at Gibralter.cite web
author=Nigel Thornton & Ray Goodfellow
url=http://www.doverferryphotos.co.uk/pastandpresent/chart.htm
title=Chartres
date=2008
accessdate=2008-08-25 ] No.99005 "Sealink Vanguard", the lowest-numbered (and possibly most-travelled) survivor, has spent time in Cuba and Panama, but is now registered in Gdansk as the "Birdik I". .cite web
url=http://66.102.9.104/translate_c?hl=en&sl=sv&u=http://www.faktaomfartyg.se/stena_shipper_1973.htm&prev=/search%3Fq%3DSpeedlink%2BVanguard%2BBirlik%2B1%26hl%3Den%26safe%3Doff&usg=ALkJrhiEZZhX93qTIb2hwIL9mMzuTLsuAQ
title=Sealink Vanguard (Google Translation from the original Swedish)
date=2008
accessdate=2008-08-25 ]

Meanwhile, No.99011 "St. Germain" was dismantled in India in 1988.cite web
author=Nigel Thornton & Ray Goodfellow
url=http://www.doverferryphotos.co.uk/pastandpresent/germain.htm
title=St. Germain
date=2008
accessdate=2008-08-25 ] No.99014 "Transcontainer I" was broken up early in 2001, also in India,cite web
author=Nigel Thornton & Ray Goodfellow
url=http://www.doverferryphotos.co.uk/pastandpresent/trans.htm
title=Transcontainer I
date=2008
accessdate=2008-08-25 ] while No.99004 "Cambridge Ferry" met its end in Turkey in 2003 after working off Malta as "Ita Uno" and "Sirio".cite web
author=Nigel Thornton & Ray Goodfellow
url=http://www.doverferryphotos.co.uk/pastandpresent/cbf.htm
title=Cambridge Ferry
date=2008
accessdate=2008-08-25 ] No.99007 "Vortigern" was sold for scrap in India in 2004.

As time goes by the surviving Class 99s (99005/8/12/13) will probably also be broken up. Uniquely for a TOPS fleet which survived into the 1980s, none have been saved for preservation.

References

Further reading

* [http://www.theshipslist.com/ships/lines/feeders.html Details of several railway ships, including some of the 99s]
* [http://www.competition-commission.org.uk/rep_pub/reports/1970_1975/fulltext/075appendices.pdf Report (1973)]
* [http://www.competition-commission.org.uk/rep_pub/reports/1981/fulltext/146appendices.pdf Report (1981)]