HSC Condor 10

The HSC "Condor 10" is a 74m fast catamaran ferry operated by Condor Ferries.

History

"Condor 10" was built in 1992 at the Incat Yards in Tasmania, Australia as "Condor Ten" but was renamed Condor 10 shortly after. She entered service with Condor Ferries between Weymouth and the Channel Islands in April 1993 replacing the smaller passenger only Condor 9. With Condor 10 Condor Ferries captured a significant share of the Channel Island passenger market which resulted in the closure and sale of British Channel Island Ferries which operated from Poole in 1994. Condor 10 continued to operate for Condor Ferries until October 1994. In December of that year she arrived in New Zealand on charter to Tranz Rail for the Interisland Line service. For this service the ship carried the marketing name "The Lynx" but her official name remained as Condor 10. After completing her first successful summer season in New Zealand, Condor 10 returned to the Northern Hemisphere to operate for Viking Line under the marketing name of "Viking Express 1". This began a pattern of the ship operating under charter in both hemispheres for their respective summer seasons which lasted until 1999. Condor 10 returned to New Zealand again for the 1995/1996 summer season before heading north once again this time on charter to Stena Line for their Fishguard-Rosslare service. After further service in New Zealand Condor 10 was expected to return to Condor Ferries in 1997 for a new service between Weymouth and St Malo via Guernsey but Holyman required the ship for their new Holyman Sally service between Ramsgate and Dunkirk. This service was not successful and only lasted until October 1997. After yet another season of operating in New Zealand in late 1997 early 1998 the ship returned to Weymouth where she was laid up until being required by Tranz Rail one final time. After 1999 Condor 10's place on the Lynx service was taken by Condor Vitesse. After her service on the Interisland Line she was briefly chartered by TT-Line (Australia) for service between Devonport and Melbourne after the M/S Spirit of Tasmania was forced to be laid up for repairs due to fuel contamination after which Condor 10 was laid up at the Incat Yards in Hobart in 1999.

After years of lay up Condor 10 was refurbished in 2002 for use once again by Condor Ferries, she was delivered to them in Poole where she was prepared for service. She was placed on the St Malo-Channel Islands run replacing the Condor 9 once again. Condor's use of the Condor 10 on the St Malo-Channel Islands route and their aggressive marketing and fare structure for the service was one of the reasons for the decline of Emeraude Ferries which eventually closed down.

Condor 10 remains on the St Malo-Channel Islands service to this day but can occasionally be seen in Weymouth when she is laid up for the winter, her place taken by one of the larger Condor fastcraft.

Regular Routes

* "Weymouth-Guernsey-Jersey-Guernsey-Weymouth" April 1993 - October 1994.
* "Wellington - Picton" December 1994 - April 1995.
* "Helsinki-Tallinn" June - September 1995.
* "Wellington - Picton" November 1995 - April 1996.
* "Fishguard - Rosslare" May - October 1996.
* "Wellington - Picton" December 1996 - April 1997.
* "Ramsgate - Dunkirk" May - October 1997.
* "Wellington - Picton" December 1997 - March 1998, December 1998 - July 1999.
* "Melbourne - Devonport September 1999.
* St Malo-Jersey-Guernsey March 2002 - "present".

Onboard facilities

Bars and Restaurants
* Café - Main Deck.

Shop
* Duty Free Shop

Other Facilities
* Club Lounge - Upper Deck.

ister ships

* "Emeraude France"
* "Speedrunner 1"
* "Snaefell"
* "Pescara Jet"
* "Al Huna I" (originally Seacat Scotland)
* "Mandarin" (originally Stena Sea Lynx 1)

There are also two other 74m hulls built by Incat but show clear differences to the standard 74m design ships above. These are:-
* "Patricia Olivia" - Modified passenger accommodation and forward windows.
* "Atlantic III" - Has the appearance of an Incat 78m design.

Trivia

Condor 10 was planned to be one of two 74m catamarans to operate for Condor Ferries. The second, to be named Condor 11, was not ordered. Another Condor 11 entered service with Condor in 1995.

External links

* [http://www.condorferries.co.uk Condor Ferries official site]