Today's topic is construction of the SPIRIT-class. The ferries SPIRIT OF FREE ENTERPRISE, PRIDE OF FREE ENTERPRISE, and HERALD OF FREE ENTERPRISE.
Text: Carsten Watsack
Voice Over: Corinne Lepage
The shipyard Schichau Unterweser AG in Bremerhaven was commissioned by European Ferries Limited with a given basic design and the associated specification, to develop a type of ship differing from other ferries in its external and other superficial features. In addition to a high degree of automation, service life of 20 years was required, consisting of 50 weeks per year and 24 hours per day.
In the 1970s, most British short-sea routes were dominated by the Sealink fleet, owned by British Rail. Townsend Thoresen was an aggressive competitor. When Townsend Thoresen learned that Sealink was planning to build ferries with two car decks for the Dover-Calais route, the company immediately reacted. In-house naval architect, James Ayers, was asked to design faster and more spacious vessels to outdo the Sealink fleet between Dover and Calais. James Ayers presented a highly original and imaginative design solution. These ferries looked so very different from the previous ones. Ayers wanted the Townsend Thoresen ferries to be as different as possible in shape and appearance from those of Sealink - and he succeeded. He cared little for the "traditional" aesthetic conventions of naval architecture.
More in the podcast.
Many thanks to:
Matt Murtland, HHV Ferry: [ Ссылка ]
Christian Eckardt
Nigel Thornton
OpenStreetMap (CC-BY-SA 2.0)
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