CLdN brought their brand fully to their Irish Sea operations at lunchtime on 19 February, when Seatruck Ferries Ltd became CLdN RoRo.
Seatruck was acquired by the Luxembourg headquartered CLdN group in 2022. Since then the company has been working behind the scenes to integrate various aspects of their operations and systems.
The Seatruck Ferries website has now been replaced by the CLdN website and the Seatruck social media pages discontinued.
The Seatruck name will gradually disappear from the CLdN Irish Sea vessels with SEATRUCK PRECISION already having lost her Seatruck branding from the hull. The Clipper Group funnel colours had already been replaced with those of CLdN after the takeover was complete.
Farewell to iconic Seatruck brand
The Seatruck Ferries story began properly on 28 April 1996 when the new-start company launched a one roundtrip per day Warrenpoint to Heysham service using the chartered BOLERO. The fledging company was formed by a group of private investors and shipping interests following Merchant Ferries moving their previous Warrenpoint to Heysham service to Dublin. The largest single initial private investor was Hutch Wright of London based ferry broker London & Wessex. A second ship followed that summer.
Seatruck became owned by Crescent Shipping in 1998, a company controlled jointly by Hutch Wright’s London and Wessex and Denmark’s Clipper. Crescent Shipping was fully acquired by the Clipper Group in June 2002. Seatruck was to remain part of Clipper for over 20 years.
During that period, eight newbuild RoRo ferries were launched. Meanwhile, Celtic Link Ferries’ Dublin to Liverpool route was acquired in September 2007. This was followed by Seatruck Ferries replacing the closed DFDS Dublin to Heysham route in February 2011. The Heysham to Warrenpoint and Dublin and Liverpool to Dublin routes will now form an integrated part of the CLdN network.
Other routes were also tried over the years such as Larne and Belfast to Heysham and a very brief attempt at Fredericia, Denmark to Moss, Norway.
Following a decision to exit the ferry business, the Clipper Group conducted a sales process throughout 2022. Despite interest from variety of major players such as DFDS, it was announced on 22 September 2022 that CLdN had entered into an agreement to acquire all shares in Seatruck Ferries Holding Ltd. from Clipper Group. The deal was completed on 14 November 2022.
At the time of the takeover, Florent Maes CEO of CLdN) said:
“We are excited to welcome the Seatruck colleagues into the CLdN family. By combining and leveraging on each other’s strengths, we will continue to improve the service for both Seatruck and CLdN customers. Through Seatruck’s long term presence in the ports of Heysham and Warrenpoint as well as in CLdN’s key hubs of Dublin and Liverpool, we expand the group’s network and we are determined to invest and add capacity to our shipping lanes which serve these ports. Seatruck’s imminent move to a terminal adjacent to CLdN in Dublin will offer our customers seamless transhipment opportunities from the start of 2023, allowing direct access to the group’s Iberian, Irish, UK and continental European markets.”
CLdN Press Release 20 September 2022
Change follows
As was inevitable with the takeover of a “great fit” subsidiary. CLdN’s influence over Seatruck has gradually been seen since the takeover.
The Clipper funnel colours were replaced by those of CLdN within months of the takeover. The remaining Clipper-named vessels CLIPPER POINT and CLIPPER PENNANT soon became SEATRUCK POINT and SEATRUCK PENNANT respectively.
CLdN capacity has seen use on Seatruck’s busy Liverpool to Dublin route. Meanwhile, SEATRUCK PACE spent time on CLdN services from Dublin and Zeebrugge to Santander.
Two of the smaller Spanish-built P-Class Seatruck vessels have been sold since Seatruck was acquired by CLdN. There is less need for the smaller vessels as only three are needed for the port of Heysham routes and larger CLdN tonnage can be used on the Liverpool to Dublin route. That said, two of the P-Class vessels, SEATRUCK POINT and SEATRUCK PACE and all four of the FSG-Class vessels, SEATRUCK PROGRESS. SEATRUCK PRECISION, SEATRUCK POWER and SEATRUCK PERFORMANCE, remain with the company.
SEATRUCK PENNANT from 2009 was sold to Jordanian ferry company Arab Bridge Maritime in August 2023 and is now named UR. She now operates between Aqaba, Jordan and Nuweiba, Egypt.
Meanwhile SEATRUCK PANORAMA, built in 2008, exited the Seatruck fleet when sold to TMC (Transportacion Maritima de California) on 12 February 2024. The vessel departed the Mersey for the final time on 1 March as SANTA RITA bound for Mexican waters. The RoRo will join some other former UK vessels on their Sea of Cortez routes on the La Paz – Topolobampo – La Paz and La Paz – Mazatlán – La Paz routes. These ships are SANTA MARCELA (ex-SAGA MOON) and SAN JORGE (ex-MAERSK FLANDERS/FLANDRIA SEAWAYS).
