Is Celtic Link’s new Portsmouth-Cherbourg ferry service just Scotch Mist?

Low cost Irish ferry operator Celtic Link Ferries says that it is about to start a new cross-channel service linking the south coast UK port of Portsmouth with Cherbourg in northern France. Good news for travellers and both ports, but only if its actually happens! This is not the first time that the Irish operator has announced the start-up of this new service. Back in October 2006 it bought a former Baltic train ferry and carried out a quick ‘conversion’ in Greece to ready the 1987-built vessel former her new service. However, following the arrival of the ferry in Portsmouth and inspection by the UK’s MCA the vessel was not allowed to sail with passengers until ‘a large number of deficiencies’ had been put right. They weren’t and the new service failed to start. In fact one surveyor said that the vessel ‘was a death trap – one of the worst ships I’ve ever seen.’ It will be interesting to see what is the history of Celtic Link’s newly acquired vessel for the service – something that they quietly forgot to elaborate on in their announcement about the start-up of the new service!  Sphere: Related Content