Cruise ferry from Lisbon to Southampton

The port of Lisbon was served by cruise ferries on a regular basis between June 1966 and October 1975, four differenr passenger ships with ro-ro facilities being used on services from Southampton to Lisbon, Gibraltar, Algecicas, Tangiers and Casablanca. In 1964 and 1965 two ships were ordered for a passenger cruise ferry service from Southampton to Lisbon in cross trade: Somerfin Lines of Israel ordered the NILI but when delivered she was chartered to Finnlines and never run to Lisbon excpet on positioning cruises around Europe. 

Then Sunward Kloster Ferries operated briefly 19 round voyages with the magnificent SUNWARD, between June and November 1966, when it was decided to movethe ship to Miami originating the following December 19 the start of NCL - Norwegian Caribbean Lines. In 1968 Normandy Ferries started to operate between Southampton and Lisbon with the DRAGON and her French registeed sister LEOPARD and this must have been a positive move because it led to the formation of another company on the P&O Group universe (managed at first by the General Steam Ship Company), the Southern Ferries that placed an order in France for the superb cruise ferry EAGLE. Introduced in My 1971 she served Lisbon until her surprise demise in October 1975 when Paquet Cruises moved in and made an offer for the ship. Soon she joinned the Paquet fleet then comprising the RENAISSANCE, the MERMOZ, the MASSALIA and now the former EAGLE as AZUR.
Two Portuguese shipowners also saw an interest in cruise ferry service Lisbon to UK: Insulana Cruises m.s. FUNCHAL catered for this tourist trade between June 1973 and August 1974 with the an option for passengers to take their cars on a Lo-Lo loading basis and sail onboard FUNCHAL from Zeebregge and Dover to Lisbon leaving everyother Saturday and arriving Lisbon the following Monday reterning North on Thursdays to arrive back in Zeegregge early morning on Saturday and Dover later tat afternoon. Another Portuguese important shipping concern, the Sociedade Geral developed plans for a new cruise ferry servce from Amsterdam to Lisbon and at some point they were very close to purchase a cruise ferry, but n the end this never materialized and by 1974-75 the revolution in Portugal killed all cruise ferry tourist traffic and almost all cruise traffic to Portugal for several years.

Texto e imagens /Text and images copyright L.M.Correia. Favor não piratear. Respeite o meu trabalho / No piracy, please. For other posts and images, check our archive at the right column of the main page. Click on the photos to see them enlarged. Thanks for your visit and comments. Luís Miguel Correia 

EAGLE saindo de Lisboa

Paquete inglês EAGLE largando de Lisboa em Setembro de 1971.
A introdução do EAGLE em 1971 foi um sucesso imediato e era um prazer assistir ao autentico vai-vem do navio que marcava presença em Lisboa diversas vezes por semana.
Esta fotografia de Michael Sutcliffe foi tirada do Bom Sucesso e mostra o vapor CTE. PEDRO RODRIGUES dos Pilotos de Lisboa, fundeado em frente à estação a montante da Torre de Belém.
Eagle leaving Lisbon in September 1971 photographed from Bom Sucesso, near the Lisbon Pilots' station. Their steamer CTE PEDRO RODRIGUES can also be seen at anchor.
Texto e imagens /Text and images copyright L.M.Correia. For other posts and images, check our archive at the right column of the main page. Click on the photos to see them enlarged. Thanks for your visit and comments. Luís Miguel Correia

EAGLE fitting out March 1971

Two views of the then brand new cruise ferry EAGLE undergoing final fitting out at St. Nazaire in March 1971.
EAGLE was Michael Sutcliffe's final ship and she was purpose built for a Southampton - Lisbon regular service which she did well between May 1971 and October 1975.
Texto e imagens /Text and images copyright L.M.Correia. For other posts and images, check our archive at the right column of the main page. Click on the photos to see them enlarged. Thanks for your visit and comments. Luís Miguel Correia

SOUTHERN FERRIES' EAGLE

Following the first spell of ferry services between Southampton and Lisbon in 1966 by SUNWARD, the service was later resumed by Normandy Ferries sisters LEOPARD and DRAGON and in May 1971 both ships were replaced by a purpose-built cruise ferry, the EAGLE.

She was operated by a new company owned by General Steam Navigation Company, Southern Ferries, both P&O Group companies. The naming system was the same used by GSNC: names of animals.

Top photo shows the EAGLE as built with blue band on the hull, and the lower photo shows the DRAGON. Both were sailing under the British flag while LEOPARD was registered in France.

More post on the EAGLE here.

Texto e imagens /Text and images copyright L.M.Correia. For other posts and images, check our archive at the right column of the main page. Click on the photos to see them enlarged. Thanks for your visit and comments. Luís Miguel Correia

MISSING the EAGLE

The introduction in May 1971 of the cruise ferry EAGLE in Southampton -Lisbon service was the highlight of that year in terms of Lisbon Shipping. She was a brand new ship tailor made for this service and became very popular.

However she also proved not to be revolution proof designed and following the 1974 revolution in Portugal and the hot summer of 1975 with the country on the verge of civil war P&O - Southern Ferries must have been very happy with Paquet's French cruises offer to buy her in October 1975. She was sold at once and renamed AZUR. More about the EAGLE here...

Thanks to M. Sutcliffe for sharing his memorabilia on the EAGLE.

Texto e imagens /Text and images copyright L.M.Correia. For other posts and images, check our archive at the right column of the main page. Click on the photos to see them enlarged. Thanks for your visit and comments. Luís Miguel Correia

Missing the EAGLE

Front cover of a Southern Ferries brochure promoting the EAGLE voyages to Portugal and Tangiers. The EAGLE was a beautiful cruise ferry purpose built in France for the Southampton - Lisbon regular service she operated between May 1971 and October 1975, when she was sold to Paquet Cruises in a surprise move by the P&O Group.
For more than four years the EAGLE was a regular constant presence in Lisbon waters. Image kindly sent by Michael Sutcliffe
Texto e imagens /Text and images copyright L.M.Correia. For other posts and images, check our archive at the right column of the main page. Click on the photos to see them enlarged. Thanks for your visit and comments. Luís Miguel Correia

Recordando o EAGLE em Lisboa

Esta fotografia do ferry inglês EAGLE atracado em Alcântara em Julho de 1975 faz-nos recordar a época dos ferries de cruzeiros em Lisboa, de 1966 a 1975.
Junto à Estação Marítima de Alcântara existiu até há poucos anos um pontão Ro-Ro de descarga de viaturas, concebido em 1966 por ocasião do serviço inaugurado em Junho desse ano pelo navio norueguês SUNWARD, que se propunha manter a ligação regular entre Southampton e a Peninsula. Depois do SUNWARD, efectuaram esta linha os ferries DRAGON e LEOPARD, da Normandy Ferries. O pontão dos "car ferries" original foi substituído por um mais amplo e em Maio de 1971 entrou ao serviço o EAGLE, de 11.609 GRT, com lotação para 740 passageiros e 200 viaturas, construído no estaleiro Dubigeon Normandie, em Nantes.
Concebido propositadamente para fazer esta carreira, o EAGLE passou a ser um ex-líbris do Tejo, transportando de e para Portugal inúmeros passageiros. Eram também muito populares em Lisboa os mini-cruzeiros a Tanger que incluíam duas noites a bordo e custavam 600 escudos.
Infelizmente o serviço foi afectado negativamente pelo 25 de Abril que criou um período de instabilidade política em Lisboa e levou à diminuição do número de passageiros, pelo que quando em Outubro de 1975 a companhia francesa Paquet fez à Southern Ferries (Grupo P&O) uma proposta de compra do EAGLE, o serviço foi terminado de repente e o navio passou a ser o AZUR. Curiosamente, voltaria ao Tejo em 1986 para um longo período de imobilização, sendo vendido e entregue em Lisboa em 1987 à companhia grega Chandris, quando se passou a chamar THE AZUR. Em 1995 este navio seria o primeiro paquete operado pela Festival Cruises. Quando da falência deste armador em 2004, o antigo EAGLE foi vendido e com o nome ROYAL IRIS opera desde então para o mercado de cruzeiros israelita, a partir de Haifa, ao serviço da companhia Mano Cruises.
Um projecto da Sociedade Geral para construir um navio de características semelhantes para uma carreira Amesterdão - Lisboa nunca chegou a ter concretização e desde 1975 Portugal nunca mais foi servido regularmente por navios de passageiros do tipo "car ferry", apesar de estes serem os mais indicados para ligar o Continente aos Açores e à Madeira. Texto e fotografia de Luís Miguel Correia - direitos reservados - 25 Janeiro 2007