http://www.shipsmonthly.com • Summer 2018 • 57
CARGO VESSELS
passengers, although Alderney
Shipping try and restrict this
to summer months. Being
a cargo vessel rather than
a cruise ship, facilities for
passengers are basic, but for
anyone who fears flying or
cannot fly due to medical
reasons, it provides another
lifeline for travelling to the
mainland or other islands in
the archipelago.INTo THE fuTuRE
The future of Valiant and
Shetland Trader will be
discussed in the near future
by their owners, Faversham
Ships and Alderney Shipping
Co, who have enjoyed a
good working relationship
for nearly a decade. ‘We’re
almost maxed out as far as
our current carrying capacity
is concerned,’ admits Bruno
Kay-Mouat, ‘so we’d like a
slightly larger vessel, but one
which can still incorporate
Alderney’s port limitations.
It’s a lovely port, but limited
in size and exposed at times,
so around 85m is the limit in
terms of the ship you want to
put in there. But we need to
look at ships which are more
container-friendly, giving us
greater carrying capacity.’
Nick Sice, of Faversham
Ships, admits he has keptValiant and Shetland Trader
longer than intended. ‘We’ve
had them more than ten years
but kept them going because
they’re so popular and useful.
The two Cummins engines
are nice and simple and can be
replaced in a day, if necessary.
We’ve had a few problems
with the vessels but they tend
to give plenty of notice and
are relatively easy to work on.’
Finding alternative vessels
with greater cargo capacity
but keeping within the length
needed to dock at Alderney is
a challenge facing Faversham
Ships. ‘We’d have sold them
on a year ago if we could have
found ships to suit Bruno’s
needs,’ says Nick. ‘But our
relationship with Alderney
Shipping is important and
we hope to carry on together
for years, so will continue
with Valiant and Shetland
Trader until we find suitable
replacements. That applies to
all of our ships: Victress was
only sold when we found
a replacement which could
continue to carry malting
barley from the east coast to
the Scottish island of Islay for
our customer, Diageo plc.’
So we can expect to see
these two workhorses clocking
up more sea miles for the
foreseeable future. the two Cummins engines in
Shetland trader and Valiant are
reliable and easy to maintain.
the ships linking alderney with the
uK carry a crew of six, which includes
a chef, seen in the galley. Skipper Dave aylen has clocked up
over three decades of service in the
merchant navy.
the Cummins engines in Valiant
and Shetland trader can be replaced
within a day if need be.Shetland trader at poole,
standing in for Valiant
while she was in dry dock.
Schottel rudder propellers
and bow thrusters make the
ships very manoeuvrable.cargo overboard once, when
a chain, which was keeping a
pile of timber secure, broke
while the ship was mid-
channel. ‘We caught a wave
and, as the ship rolled, a chain
broke and timber went over
the side. There was nothing
I could do, it was just one of
those freak waves.’
The channel presents
other problems: ‘It’s quite
challenging in terms of
currents, especially going
through the Swinge,’ explains
Dave, who often brings the
ship’s speed down to one
knot as he edges her through
the notorious strait between
Alderney and the uninhabited
isle of Burhou, where a
ferocious tidal race is common.
Negotiating other ships
is one of the main hazards
when navigating across the
English Channel. ‘You have
to be on the ball,’ Dave says,
citing Little Roussel, a channel
running between Herm and
Guernsey which contains
many small rocks, and Great
Roussel, running between
Herm on the west and Sark to
the east, as particular hazards.
‘During dead low-water spring
tides, I wouldn’t go down the
Little Roussel into Guernsey;
I’d go through Great Roussel,
because you only need to be
out of position by a ship’s
length and you’re on the rocks
- you haven’t got much room
to play with. Great Roussel is a
bit wider and deeper.’
It takes around seven hours
for Valiant and Shetland
Trader to reach Alderney
from Poole. Both vessels have
unmanned engine rooms. ‘If
you have two small ones like
on these ships, you don’t need
to employ a chief engineer.
But Nick Sice at Faversham
Ships believes in having an
expert in every department, so
employs a chief engineer.’
The ships are licensed
to carry around a dozen