French ferry operator restarts limited freight service to Alderney
FRENCH ferry operator Benjamin Bon is to restart a freight service to and from the Cotentin – and hopes to offer a passenger service next summer.
Mr Bon, managing director of the Vedettes du Cotentin, made an inaugural crossing from Cherbourg on his new vessel, the VDC Mammut, carrying French groceries for Le Cocqs.
The company will continue to use the vessel to transport freight to the island on neap tides.
The boat can also carry up to six passengers. Mr Bon, who formerly operated a 12-seater Vedettes de Cotentin passenger service from Alderney to France, said he would look into the possibility of taking passengers back on the empty
return leg to France.
The vessel has 45ft of deck space and the capacity to carry 14 tonnes of cargo – which compares favourably with the landing craft which he operated previously, which could carry just seven tonnes.
Its larger size means it comfortably made the inaugural crossing despite a two-metre swell and high tide.
Mr Bon said the trip would have had to have been cancelled if they had been using a smaller vessel and that the success of their first trip 'opened up new possibilities to operate a reliable Alderney service'.
