Wikipedia

Sally Line

Sally Line UK (sometimes referred to as Sally Ferries UK) was a British ferry operator on the English Channel and North Sea.

Sally Line
IndustryPassenger transportation
Founded1981
Defunct1998
FateClosure
HeadquartersRamsgate, United Kingdom
Area served
English Channel
ParentRederi Ab Sally

History

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Background

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Whilst historically, the port of Ramsgate had boasted a ferry service to France, these had ceased in 1966.[1] In December 1979 a new ferry route between Dunkerque and Ramsgate was announced.[2] This was to be operated by Dunkerque Ramsgate Ferries (DRF) and was run by Olau Line-founder; Ole Lauritzen and funded by the sale of his remaining 50% share in Olau Line to TT-Line. The service had originally been expected to utilise the Olau Line vessel; Olau Kent (for which the new facilities at Ramsgate had been designed), but actually was served by the much older ship Nuits St Georges, which commenced sailings in May 1980.[3][4]

By the beginning of September 1980 a series of problems and the arrest of Nuits St Georges saw the collapse of DRF, which left the terminal at Ramsgate having to be mothballed.[4][3][1]

Later in 1980, discussions commenced about a replacement service for Dunkerque Ramsgate Ferries, capitalising on the £6.25 million invested by Thanet District Council to create the ferry facilities at Ramsgate. These discussions involved the Finnish shipping company Rederi Ab Sally, who were looking to expand their routes to the UK and had already discounted a North Sea route, and shipping consultant Michael Kingshott who had already assisted with development of new ferry facilities at Sheerness.[1]

Early Years

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Sally Line was officially founded in April 1981[5] and led by Michael Kingshott[6] as a subsidiary of the Rederi Ab Sally,[5] and initially marketed as Sally Viking Line, with a livery that was nearly identical with that of Viking Line, a Baltic Sea ferry consortium of which Sally was a member. The naming scheme of Sally's Viking Line ships was also carried over to the UK operations, with ships named either The Viking or Viking [number].[7]

Takeover and Expansion Attempts

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In 1987 Rederi Ab Sally, including the Sally Line UK operations, was sold to Effoa and Johnson Line,[8] Sally's Baltic Sea rivals and owners of Silja Line. As a result of the change of ownership, a new Sally Line UK livery was adopted in 1988 and the company's ships were renamed with a Sally-prefix.[7]

In 1989, Sally led a consortium with Globe Investment Trust, 3i and merchant bank; Tranwood Earl, who attempted a hostile takeover of The Southampton, Isle of Wight and South of England Royal Mail Steam Packet Co. Limited, trading as Red Funnel.[9] The opening offer of 205p was swiftly rejected[10] and despite threats by Sally of a competing cross-Solent service[11], or a purchase of Sealink's Isle of Wight operations[12], a revised offer of 236p per share was made.[13] Associated British Ports Holdings emerged as a White Knight in battle, firstly taking a 1% stake in Red Funnel and then extending this to a 264p per share full takeover offer.[14] Sally withdrew[15] and ABP's takeover of Red Funnel was given the go ahead in October 1989.[16]

Final Years

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Sally Line UK operated the Holyman Sally Line service from Port of Ramsgate to Ostend from 1993 to 1998, but this became no longer viable Holyman became partners with Hoverspeed and moved the service to Dover.[citation needed] In the mid-90s Sally Line adapted a new livery and a logo similar to that of Silja Line,[7] but this proved short-lived as the company ceased operations in 1998.[5]

Fleet

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Name Built In service Tonnage History
The Viking 1981–1983 5,286 GRT Scrapped 2015 at Aliağa, Turkey.
Viking 6
Sun Express		 1982, 1985–1986
1985		 5,073 GRT Scrapped 2001 at Aliağa, Turkey.
Prinsessan Désirée 1982 Branded externally as Sally Viking 2 but not renamed[1]
Viking 3 1983–1984 4,299 GRT Since 2016 MS ST. DAMIAN for Seamed Trading Shipping.
The Viking
Wasa Prince		 1983–1989
1989–1990		 4,655 GRT Since 2000 MS Moby Lally for Moby Lines. Renamed in 2017 to Moby Baby Two.
Njegos 1984 3,999 GT [1]
Le Mans 1984-1985 [1]
Viking 2
Sally Sky
Eurotraveller		 1986–1988
1988–1996
1997–1998		 4,998 GRT (until 1990)
14,558 GRT (1990 onwards)		 Scrapped 2016 at Aliağa, Turkey.
Sally Star 1988–1997 9,120 GRT Since 2012 MS Wasa Express for Wasa Line.
Botnia Express 1989 4,152 GRT Scrapped at Alang, India in 2021
Schiaffino 1990
Bazias 3
Sally Euroroute		 1991–1993
1993–1996		 9,000 GRT Since 2012 MS Bursa N for Istanbul Lines.
Bazias 4
Sally Eurolink		 1991–1993
1993–1997		 9,082 GRT Since 2011 MS Adelta.
Sally Sun 1992–1995 6,643 GRT Since 1998 MS Gute for Rederi AB Gotland.
Sally Eurobridge 1994 6,041 GRT Grounded 2008 as MS Riverdance, subsequently scrapped.
Sally Euroway
Euroway		 1995–1997
1997–1998		 9,079 GRT Since 2007 MS Ammari for Ustica Lines.
Purbeck 1995-1997 [17][1]
Eurostar
Eurocruiser		 1995-1997 [1]
Condor 10 1997 [1]
Holyman Diamant 1997-1998 [1]
Holyman Rapide 1997-1998 [1]
Eurovoyager 1998 [1]

Routes

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Former Sally Line routes today

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Services between Ramsgate and Ostend were taken up by TransEuropa Ferries, a subsidiary of TransEuropa Shipping Lines d.o.o. (TSL) of Koper, Slovenia on 21 November 1998, the day after closure of Sally Line services.[21]

TransEuropa Ferries ceased operations on 18th April 2013 and filed for bankruptcy on 25 April 2013.[22] Since 2013, there have been no ferry services from Ramsgate.[23]

In October 2017, it was announced that Seaborne Freight would operate an Ostend - Ramsgate ro-ro freight ferry service from March using three ships, including the MS Nord Pas-de-Calais.[24][25] On 22 December 2018, the company was awarded a £13.8 million contract to run ferry services between Ramsgate and Ostend to lessen the consequences of probable capacity constraints on the Dover - Calais route after 29 March 2019 in the case of a no-deal Brexit. The contract was cancelled by the Department for Transport on 9 February 2019 after Arklow Shipping, reported to be Seaborne's backer, pulled out.[26][27][28]

Following the end the joint venture between Sally Line and Holyman in 1998, the Ramsgate - Ostend service was jointly operated by Holyman with Hoverspeed and relocated to Dover.[29] This service ceased upon closure of Hoverspeed in 2005.[30]

The Dartford - Vlissingen route was taken over by Jacobs Holdings subsidiary; Dart Line in January 1996.[20] Jacobs was owned by former Sally Line executive; Michael Kingshott.[31] Dart Line moved the service to Shell Haven in 2000.[32]

References

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  1. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o Breeze, Geoffrey, Cowshill, Miles and, Hendy, John (2001). Sally Line - The Complete Story. Ramsey, Isle of Man: Ferry Publications. ISBN 1-871947-64-2.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  2. ^ "New Channel Firm". The Daily Telegraph. 19 December 1979. p. 3.
  3. ^ a b "Ferry Ship Arrested". East Kent Times and Mail. 12 September 1980. pp. 1, 16.
  4. ^ a b "M/S FRED SCAMARONI". Fakta om Fartyg. Retrieved 22 August 2025.
  5. ^ a b c Asklander, Micke. "Sally Line". Fakta om Fartyg (in Swedish). Retrieved 15 March 2008.
  6. ^ Hunt, Jonathan (14 June 1981). "The Dire Straits of Dover". The Observer. p. 18.
  7. ^ a b c Boyle, Ian. "Sally Line UK". Simplon Postcards. Retrieved 15 March 2008.
  8. ^ Asklander, Micke. "Rederi Ab Sally". Fakta om Fartyg (in Swedish). Archived from the original on 3 August 2012. Retrieved 15 March 2008.
  9. ^ "Sally Sails in With a Bid". Evening Standard. 23 June 1989. p. 19.
  10. ^ Durman, Paul (24 June 1989). "Red Funnel Rejects Sally's £20.87m Offer". The Independent. p. 21.
  11. ^ Rood, Phil (26 June 1989). "Sally Line Issues Warning to Rivals". Southern Evening Echo. p. 3.
  12. ^ Petty, John (17 August 1989). "Sea Containers Signs Up Sachs". The Daily Telegraph. p. 20.
  13. ^ "Sally Sails in With a New Offer". Evening Standard. 22 August 1989. p. 20.
  14. ^ John, Daniel (2 September 1989). "ABP to the Rescue of Red Funnel with Launch of £27m Agreed Bid". The Guardian. p. 11.
  15. ^ Durman, Paul (8 September 1989). "Sally Drops Offer for Red Funnel". The Independent. p. 26.
  16. ^ "Green Light for Red Funnel Take-over". Southern Evening Echo. 12 October 1989. p. 3.
  17. ^ "Truckline (France) Ltd" (PDF). Black Jack - Quarterly Magazine Southampton Branch World Ship Society: 10. Autumn 1979. Retrieved 29 July 2025.
  18. ^ a b c "Sally Lines - Past and Present". Dover Ferry Photos. Ray Goodfellow and Nigel Thornton. Retrieved 28 July 2025.
  19. ^ "Sally Moves Ramsgate Freight Routes". Isle of Thanet Gazette. 30 September 1994. p. 1.
  20. ^ a b "Jacobs Takes Over Sally Ferry Route". The Independent. 4 January 1996. p. 20.
  21. ^ "ShiipingData.com: Transeuropa Shipping Lines". Retrieved 19 December 2012.
  22. ^ "Ramsgate staff told to go home as TransEuropa Ferries plunged into administration". Kent Online. 26 April 2013. Archived from the original on 30 April 2013.
  23. ^ "Thanet Gazette". Archived from the original on 10 June 2015. Retrieved 15 November 2013.
  24. ^ "Category: 2017 Newsletter week 41". Ferry Shipping News. Retrieved 23 March 2019.
  25. ^ "No-deal Brexit ferry company owns no ships and has never run Channel service". The Guardian. 30 December 2018. Retrieved 31 December 2018.
  26. ^ "Brexit: Seaborne Freight no-deal ferry contract scrapped". BBC News. 9 February 2019. Retrieved 9 February 2019.
  27. ^ "'Off the Richter scale of incompetence': Chris Grayling rejects calls to resign over ferry contract". The Independent. 11 February 2019. Retrieved 11 February 2019.
  28. ^ O'Carroll, Lisa (11 February 2019). "Supposed backer of no-ships Brexit ferry firm denies having a stake". The Guardian. Retrieved 12 February 2019.
  29. ^ "Hoverspeed Restarts Ferry Route in Holyman Deal". 5 March 1998. Retrieved 28 July 2025.
  30. ^ Forston, Danny and, Webb, Tim (7 May 2006). "It's Murder, Everywhere but the Orient Express". The Independent on Sunday. p. 7.{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  31. ^ Tickel, Ra (4 January 1996). "Kingshott Returns to Ferry Operations". The Daily Telegraph. p. 23.
  32. ^ "Dart Line to Cross Thames in Bid to Release Property Cash". The Daily Telegraph. 3 November 2000. p. 40.

Further reading

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  • Breeze, Geoffrey (1990). Sally Ferries. Kilgetty, Pembrokeshire: Ferry Publications. ISBN 1871947022.
  • Breeze, Geoffrey; Cowsill, Miles; Hendy, John (2001). Sally Line: the complete story. Ramsey, Isle of Man: Ferry Publications. ISBN 1871947642.
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