HSC Voyager: Difference between revisions

Condor ferries

Condor Voyager in 2021
History
Name	2000: Incat Tasmania 2000-2003: The Lynx 2005-2021: Normandie Express 2021-2025: Condor Voyager 2025-present Voyager
Owner
Operator
Port of registry	Nassau, Bahamas
Route
Builder	Incat, Tasmania, Australia
Yard number	057
Launched	29 July 2000 as The Lynx
Completed	2000
Identification	IMO number: 9221358
Status	In service
General characteristics
Tonnage	6,581 GT
Length	97.22 m (319.0 ft)
Beam	26.6 m (87.3 ft)
Draught	3.43 m (11.3 ft)
Decks	2
Installed power	4 x Ruston 20RK270 (Each rated at 7080kW, coupled to a Reinjtes VLJ 6831 gearbox)
Propulsion	4 x Lips 120E waterjets
Speed	33 knots (service speed), 46.5 knots maximum
Capacity	850 passengers 267 vehicles
Crew	30

HSC Voyager is a high-speed catamaran ferry operated by Brittany Ferries. Since being built in 2000, the vessel has borne the names Incat Tasmania, The Lynx and Normandie Express & Condor Voyager^[1]

History

Condor Voyager was built as Incat Tasmania at the Incat yards in Tasmania, Australia.^[2] Her first use was on charter to the Australian Trade Commission as a floating conference centre during the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney. Later that year, she was chartered to Tranz Rail for its Interislander service between Picton and Wellington. She was renamed The Lynx for this service and remained on the route until 2003 when she was returned to Incat.

Brittany Ferries

In September 2004, P&O Ferries announced it was to withdraw their services from Portsmouth to France, Brittany Ferries later announced it would run a fastcraft service between Portsmouth and Cherbourg/Caen (Ouistreham) as a replacement and The Lynx was chartered. In January 2005, she was renamed Normandie Express and sailed for France, stopping off in Indonesia to drop off supplies and equipment for the tsunami relief effort.

Also on board for the trip to Europe was the French yacht Sill et Veolia which was being returned to France after being damaged whilst on the Vendée Globe round-the-world yacht race. After calling in at Roscoff to drop off the yacht and being shown off to Brittany Ferries management, she undertook berthing trials in Portsmouth, Cherbourg and Ouistreham before starting service in March 2005.

For her first year in service with Brittany Ferries, Normandie Express had a bridge and engine room crew supplied by Northern Marine and was registered in Nassau but protests from French trade unions meant that from 2006 she would fly the French flag and be registered in Caen with a full French crew.^[2] A further trade union dispute took place in 2015.

Brittany Ferries purchased the Normandie Express from Incat in 2007.

Charter to Condor Ferries

In July 2021, it was announced that Channel Island operator Condor Ferries was to use Normandie Express under charter agreements with Brittany Ferries. The vessel was renamed to Condor Voyager and replaced the Condor Rapide.^[3]

Return to Brittany Ferries

Following a new 15-year contract awarded to Brittany Ferries by the States of Guernsey and Jersey’s decision to appoint DFDS Seaways, Condor Voyager was redeployed for a Guernsey-only operation in 2025, serving Saint-Malo and Poole, as well as a limited weekly service to Jersey.^[4] She was painted in the Brittany Ferries livery in November 2025 and renamed Voyager.^[5]

References

External links