54 • Summer 2018 • http://www.shipsmonthly.com
richard Webber profiles the alderney Shipping Company
and goes on board some of their coasters, which keep the
small Channel island stocked.
ALDERNEY
LIFELINE
A
lderney, just
3.5 miles long
by 1.5 miles
wide, is the
most northerly
of the inhabited islands which
make up the Channel Islands.
While small passenger planes
link the island with mainland
Britain, transporting cargo
to and from this tranquil and
relatively uncommercialised
island is the work of two
hardworking coasters, which
have to ply their trade through
the busy shipping lanes of the
English Channel.
Chartered by Alderney
Shipping Company, which also
trades as Channel Seaways,
Valiant and sistership Shetland
Isis, the fi rst ship he was
involved in buying. He recalls:
‘We picked her up from
Birkenhead and with her came
a new era for the company.’
While the German-built
coasters Isis and Burhou,
which date from 1978, now
ship timber, aggregates and
bulk cargoes along the UK’s
west coast for Great Glen
Shipping Company, the
60m Mungo, which once ran
aground across the entrance ofTrader, a back-up vessel,
provide a vital lifeline for the
1,900 or so residents who
rely on the vessels for carrying
supplies, which include
anything from food to cars.
Formed in 1969, Alderney
Shipping began operating
freight services between
Alderney and Guernsey, but
have since branched out to
run a regular route taking in
Jersey and Poole, Dorset.
‘My father was a lawyer
who, together with a friend,
bought an old coaster from
a scrapyard, did her up and
launched the company. Later,
I graduated in maritime
studies from Liverpool Poly
and got involved in the fi rm,and 30 years later, I’m now
running it,’ says 49-year-old
Bruno Kay-Mouat.
Alderney Shipping used to
own their vessels, including
Isis, Burhou and Mungo, which
were sold fi ve years ago. ‘The
way current legislation is, plus
the back-up needed, makes
it diffi cult running just one
vessel. In the good old days,
the captain could complete
any paperwork while he was
on the ship, but now it’s much
more stringent and a back
offi ce team is required. As a
result, there are less singleton
operators and more companies
chartering,’ explains Bruno,
who has fond memories of his
previous vessels, particularlyValiant entering St peter port for
the first time in 2011. TONY RIVEVALIANT
Built 1992 at Rosslauer Shipyard,
Germany as the Lass Neptun
Flag Barbados
Draught Summer 4.352; winter 4.20
EnginES Two Cummins KT38
rated at 748kw driving Schottel
Rudder propellers
ConSumption Four metric tonnes
of gas oil over 24 hours
auxiliariES Three Cummins 74kwa Valiant enduring Storm Frank as
she departs St peter port harbour.
(C) SEAN SARRE, GUERNSEY PRESS