Miles Cowsill

British Channel Island Ferries

With only one ship the company required two additional vessels to run a full service to the Channel Islands. They chartered the Brittany Ferries freight ferry Briezh-Izel to run alongside the Corbière from Portsmouth and the Portelet to run a new service from Weymouth which was to last until 1 October 1988. The service from Portsmouth was maintained until the end of 1988 when BCIF moved to Poole which allowed the company to reduce crossing times to the Islands by up to two hours. Corbière was replaced by the Rozel on the new service in February 1989. The Rozel was the largest ship ever used on the Channel Island service and became a popular addition to the fleet. The Briezh-Izel was initially replaced by the Corbière running freight only until the arrival of the Havelet, formerly the Cornouailles, from Brittany Ferries' Truckline service. The Corbière then left the fleet for further service with Brittany Ferries on their Truckline passenger service between Poole and Cherbourg. The move to Poole and the introduction of the Rozel was a successful one for the company but growth in the freight market from the port was slow, this led to the establishment of a rival service from Portsmouth by Commodore Shipping and MMD. BCIF was also facing growing competition from air travel and Condor Ferries passenger-only services from Weymouth.

Downfall

In late summer 1991 it was announced that the company had not renewed the charter of the Rozel and that she would be replaced by the Reine Mathilde from Brittany Ferries which was renamed Beauport. This ship was smaller and not as popular with passengers as the Rozel and was one of the contributing factors to the downfall of the company. In 1993 Condor Ferries introduced a high speed catamaran service from Weymouth to the Channel Island for passengers and vehicles. This was to have a significant effect on BCIF who operated a reduced passenger service for that season and were involved in a price war with Condor. Passenger numbers fell significantly and the charter of the Beauport was not renewed at the end of 1993. The company planned that the Havelet would be their main passenger ship for the 1994 season with the Truckline vessel Purbeck being brought as freight ship. In January 1994 it was announced that British Channel Island Ferries had been bought by Commodore Shipping, freight services were transferred to Commodore Ferries at Portsmouth and passenger operations moved to Condor at Weymouth where the Havelet would run a conventional service alongside the Condor 10.… (more)