After being replaced on the Truckline passenger service Cornouailles entered a new period in her career, albeit one littered with controversy, making a debut on the Channel Islands routes. Chartered to another of Brittany Ferries' associate companies, British Channel Island Ferries (BCIF), she was renamed Havelet. Operating with the Rozel (formerly British Rail's St Edmund), the ship was later purchased, receiving a £2m refit in April 1990 which included the extension of the main passenger deck aft, providing a larger sun deck.
One notable event occurred when the ship was chartered back to Brittany Ferries for relief duty in early 1992. Operating on the Cork to Roscoff route, Havelet was hit by what was described as "a freak wave" not long after leaving Cork, causing cargo to shift on her main deck, the ship assuming a 30 degree list. Although she managed to limp safely back to port, Havelet became embroiled in more controversy as she sailed for Roscoff a day later - the Irish Department of the Marine claiming that they had not released the ship from an inspection after the incident.
After the summer season of 1992, Havelet was offered for sale as BCIF intended to replace her with a larger dedicated ro-ro vessel to operate with their then main passenger ship Beauport (ex-Prince of Brittany/Reine Mathilde). In addition, Havelet's local crew were laid off and replaced by cheaper Polish seamen, BCIF narrowly avoiding strike action in protest. No replacement ship was forthcoming and Havelet continued, albeit in a freight-only role. A new Channel Islands ferry war was in progress by this stage and, in response to the success of Condor with their wave-piercing catamaran Condor 10, BCIF were to unexpectedly reactivate Havelet as a passenger ship in the summer of 1993. At the same time she regained some British crew.
This would not reverse BCIF's fortunes however. Ironically the company which had driven the long-established operations of Sealink out of the Channel Islands after first appearing as an upstart in 1985, were now themselves usurped by Condor. The final sailings were on 20 January 1994, after which time Condor and its parent Commodore Shipping took over BCIF's operations. Havelet though was set to continue however, now operating under charter to Condor Ferries. A post-takeover refit saw the addition of sponsons aft on the waterline and the ship returned to service in March 1994.
For the 1994 season, Condor operated Havelet as the only conventional passenger ship - passenger traffic being mainly directed towards fast ferries. There was criticism in the Channel Islands press of this move, of Havelet's suitability for the role and of the internal standards on board; the ship was hardly helped by being 'named and shamed' by the then UK Transport secretary Brian Mawhinney as the ferry most in need of safety modifications of all the ships operating around the British Isles. Nonetheless, Havelet continued in her role, receiving a further refurbishment in the winter of 1994/95.
Finally, Condor announced that the ship would be withdrawn from service in October 1996, with no replacement - passengers would all be routed onto Condor's fast ferries instead. This left no back-up for occasions when, due to bad weather, the fast craft could not operate.
Havelet had her Condor markings painted out, and was sent Portland Harbour to lay-up, remaining there for 22 months. When, finally, she found a purchaser it was in the most unlikely form of Condor. Having survived a tortuous tendering process to retain the rights to serve the islands, they were in quick need of a passenger ship to back up their fast ferries, as promised in their tender document. Havelet was based at Weymouth from October 1998 on standby should she be needed. Condor/Commodore meanwhile ordered a new ro-pax which would ultimately replace her. The new ship, Commodore Clipper, entered service in 1999 and Havelet was once again redundant.
It wasn't until late in 2000 that the ship was finally freed from the politicking of the Channel Islands - sold to Montenegro Lines, she was renamed Sveti Stefan for operations between Bar in Montenegro and Bari (Italy). |
