SpeedFerries was a low cost

ferry A ferry is a ship, watercraft or amphibious vehicle used to carry passengers, and sometimes vehicles and cargo, across a body of water. A passenger ferry with many stops, such as in Venice, Italy, is sometimes called a water bus or water taxi ...

operator which started in May 2004 and continued in business until November 2008. It operated one route between

Dover Dover () is a town and major ferry port in Kent, South East England. It faces France across the Strait of Dover, the narrowest part of the English Channel at from Cap Gris Nez in France. It lies south-east of Canterbury and east of Maidstone ...

in England and

Boulogne Boulogne-sur-Mer (; pcd, Boulonne-su-Mér; nl, Bonen; la, Gesoriacum or ''Bononia''), often called just Boulogne (, ), is a coastal city in Northern France. It is a sub-prefecture of the department of Pas-de-Calais. Boulogne lies on the ...

in France. It had one high-speed ferry, called SpeedOne. Its founder and

CEO A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a central executive officer (CEO), chief administrator officer (CAO) or just chief executive (CE), is one of a number of corporate executives charged with the management of an organization especially ...

was Curt Stavis, originally from Denmark.

History

SpeedFerries was the first low cost fast ferry operator in the

English Channel The English Channel, "The Sleeve"; nrf, la Maunche, "The Sleeve" (Cotentinais) or ( Jèrriais), (Guernésiais), "The Channel"; br, Mor Breizh, "Sea of Brittany"; cy, Môr Udd, "Lord's Sea"; kw, Mor Bretannek, "British Sea"; nl, Het Kana ...

, and faced considerable opposition from the existing ferry operators, whom SpeedFerries accused of acting unfairly and using illegal practices. These allegations included blocking berths to prevent ferries docking, spying, and hoax bomb scares. In response, SpeedFerries liveried its ship with 'Fight the Pirates' on the side. In January 2005, the company was featured in the

BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board ex ...

's ''

Trouble at the Top ''Trouble at the Top'' was a business-based BBC television fly on the wall documentary broadcast on BBC2. The series focussed on business failings or disputes between business people. Mainly the series depicted half-hour documentaries on large b ...

'' programme: the edition's name was "Fight the Pirates". In the amphibious car redux episode of

Top Gear Top Gear may refer to: * "Top gear", the highest gear available in a vehicle's manual transmission Television * ''Top Gear'' (1977 TV series), a British motoring magazine programme * ''Top Gear'' (2002 TV series), a relaunched version of the or ...

(Season 10, Episode 2) the ferry appears in a staged bit where it appears as though it is going to run over James May and Richard Hammond. Reports in the maritime press indicated that SpeedFerries had secured a second vessel for use in 2007 which was likely to be the ''Mastercat'', a

Incat Incat Tasmania is an Australian manufacturer of high-speed craft (HSC) catamaran ferries. Its greatest success has been with large, sea going passenger and vehicle ferries, but it has also built military transports and since 2015 it has built s ...

catamaran A Formula 16 beachable catamaran Powered catamaran passenger ferry at Salem, Massachusetts, United States A catamaran () (informally, a "cat") is a multi-hulled watercraft featuring two parallel hulls of equal size. It is a geometry-stab ...

which was to be replaced with a larger vessel by its owners, Master Ferries. However, Master Ferries were unable to secure the larger vessel so ''Mastercat'' was no longer available to SpeedFerries. Sailings to be operated by the second vessel were advertised on the SpeedFerries website. In May 2008, SpeedFerries bought SpeedOne from Incat.Incat Media Release 20/5/2008
/ref> In February 2007, SpeedFerries signed a lease on the former Dover Hoverport, though not the terminal building, at Dover's Western Docks, and subsequently moved operations there in March 2007. Once the move was achieved, SpeedFerries was able to provide exclusive facilities in both of its ports as it no longer shared them with other operators.

Arrest

On 6 November 2008, ''SpeedOne'' was arrested in Boulogne in a dispute over unpaid taxes. SpeedFerries issued a statement on its website concerning the situation.

Administration

On 13 November 2008, SpeedFerries went into administration. On 17 November, administrators were appointed and on 26 November the following closure notice was issued:

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Speedferries Defunct shipping companies of the United Kingdom Ferry companies of England Ferry companies of France Transport companies established in 2004 Transport companies disestablished in 2008 Companies that have entered administration in the United Kingdom