HHV Ferry: What Lies Beneath

What Lies Beneath...

To ordinary passengers, a ferry is purely there to get them from A to B. The vast majority care little about the vessel, many just find the bar / restaurant / sun deck and don't move for the rest of the crossing. For operators, the public spaces are what the passengers see - and hence this is where the all-important image must be preserved. Once an area is closed off to the public, there is no need to put on the pretence. Today, it is common for former public areas beneath the vehicle decks to be closed off. However, for the more adventurous amongst us, when onboard a ferry, all spaces need to be investigated. When venturing beyond the main public areas, we have often found that the companies' images rapidly slip - and the true extent of their maintenance and standards can be seen. The selection of photos which follow are taken on vessels where we have accessed former public areas now closed off. They are taken all around Europe - including in ferries serving the UK. What we found is certainly revealing - and in many cases rather
worrying. Also included below are a number of images taken on board vessels now out of service - which also shows the deterioration on board.

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e-mail: matt@hhvferry.com

1 & 2. Carmen del Mar. August 2003.
With two new ro-paxes on order, it is clear that Iscomar Ferries' older tonnage is simply biding its time until withdrawal. Whilst one might expect standards to drop on a condemned vessel, what we found on the Carmen Del Mar was still quite shocking. The first image is of her former sauna - carefully removed. The second is one of her below-vehicle decks cabins - now used for storage. Water damage was clearly visible in the corridors. Elsewhere onboard, facilities were closed off, dusty and in poor state of repair. One of the most incredible sights was upholstered lounge chairs being used as deckchairs - and the company seemingly was not bothered by this!

3 & 4. Moby Baby. September 2004.
Beneath the car-deck cabins are very commonly closed off. Their removal from use is understandable - but their complete destruction is less so. These are two pictures from the otherwise well maintained Moby
Baby - ex Earl Godwin. For unknown reasons, all her cabins beneath the car deck have been ripped out, leaving just the empty shells. Doors, beds, basins - all torn out. The area is now virtually derelict, and
littered with rubbish, as these images show. Quite why Moby have felt the need to destroy the area is
unknown. A similar scene can be found on several Mediterranean vessels, notably Azzurra Line's Azzurra,
where worryingly everything has been stripped away down to the ribs of the hull. I wonder what's in those
bags?

5. Primrose. November 2004.
An attractive lower saloon on TransEuropa's Primrose. Darkened, dusty, dank - this saloon was described on the onboard deckplans as a cinema, but its actual use today is unknown.

6 & 7. Moby Drea. November 2004.
Deterioration onboard ferries can happen surprisingly quickly. These two views are of the former cinema and sauna complex on Deck 2 of the Moby Drea. Clearly unwanted by Moby, this space has been given over to storage for spare chairs, beds, doors etc. However, it is completely disorganised and the facilities have
been destroyed in the process - basins hung off the walls, mirrors were smashed, roof panels broken. It is shocking to think this space was in full public use on the North Sea only a year ago.

8. Francesco di Paola. December 2003.
In December 2003, we were granted a full tour of the laid-up train ferry Francesco di Paola in Ostend. Brought to the Belgian port for conversion into a cruise ship, the project rapidly ran into trouble and she had lain desolate for several years before sale for scrap. We visited her two weeks before her final
departure, and this is the scene in her former restaurant, which was clearly abandoned in the midst of conversion when the finances ran out.

9 & 10. Ryde. January 2003.
The paddle steamer Ryde has lain abandoned near Newport, IOW of many years following a failed nightclub venture. She is effectively land-locked, and is currently in an extremely poor condition as these pictures show. The internal image is of her forward saloon - clearly she has little future.

11. Southsea. December 2004.
An old Solent favourite - this is the former third-class lounge on the Southsea in October 2004.
Clearly, restoration plans have a long way to go! It is believed the vessel is now being actively marketed
for scrap.

12. Media V. July 2004.
When the Viking I entered service on the new Thoresen services out of Southampton in 1964, her entire upper superstructure was painted light green, but most was soon repainted white. Here, over 40 years later, the original colour can be seen peeking through dozens of later layers of white paint and accumulated rust: a literal interpretation of what lies beneath.