Sailing to Santander cancelled!

[Tia Valeria]

Thank you Lord!
But for a variety of reasons we should have been on the Pont Aven from Plymouth to Santander yesterday. This morning we are very thankful that, way back in January, we had cancelled as she suffered an engine fire in the Bay of Biscay at 4.00am.
The fire was put out but she has turned back and is now heading for Brest at half speed.
So while we give thanks we pray for any pilgrims who might have been heading for Santander on this sailing, as well as the holiday makers whose travel has been disrupted.

 

[David Hobson]

Wow! and i have always wanted to do that ferry crossing. My flight arrives Santander tomorrow.

 

[Devon Mike]

Such bad news which has been on the local tv news here in Devon. I am booked to be on that ferry journey on the 12th of May.

 

[gerip]

Was supposed to be sailing Brittany Ferries from Portsmouth to Santander tomorrow to begin the next stage of the Camino from Burgos on Wednesday. Due to "an earlier technical incident" that sailing has been cancelled. Now I have only a few hours to find a way to save the current plans or wait until next week to go. Anyone have any ideas? I figure by this date it will be way too expensive to fly to Spain.

 

[VNwalking]

Bummer @gerip ! I hope you got reimbursed....
Try looking for an airline ticket anyway. kayak.com is a good place to start - it can't hurt to check.
Close to the date of travel the seats may go down in price rather than up, if the airline has not yet sold out.
Or you could try go standby.
Good luck, peregrino!

 

[Former member 49149]

Sorry, I have no idea of the nearest airport for you to hit Spain. I am just very sorry for your disappointment and hope you will solve it asap.

 

[Tia Valeria]

Was supposed to be sailing Brittany Ferries from Portsmouth to Santander tomorrow to begin the next stage of the Camino from Burgos on Wednesday. Due to "an earlier technical incident" that sailing has been cancelled. Now I have only a few hours to find a way to save the current plans or wait until next week to go. Anyone have any ideas? I figure by this date it will be way too expensive to fly to Spain.

There was a fire in the engine room - Brittany Ferries might be able to change your arrangements to sail to Bilbao on their other ferry. I suggest you contact them before trying any other route
Buen (delayed) Camino

 

[Tia Valeria]

Wow! and i have always wanted to do that ferry crossing. My flight arrives Santander tomorrow.

Apart from this incident and the occasional rough crossing it is a great way to get to Santander. We have travelled that way 9 times in the last 10 years, but just thankful that we were not on last night's crossing (as I said in the first post)
Brittany Ferries have updated their news to say that Pont Aven is shortly to arrive in Brest for a thorough check before going back to sea. Arrangements are being made for those on board to continue their journey or return to Plymouth. (Any further updates can be found by clicking the 'News' arrow at the top of that page)
Thankfully no one was hurt and all are safe.

 

[Tia Valeria]

Anyone expecting to travel on the Pont Aven in the next few days should check the 'Sailing updates' where the cancellations and contact phone numbers are listed.

 

[Tia Valeria]

Such bad news which has been on the local tv news here in Devon. I am booked to be on that ferry journey on the 12th of May.

Hopefully Pont Aven will be back in service by then. However anyone hoping to travel on her in the next few days should check the 'Sailing updates' where cancellations and contact phone numbers are given.
Buen Camino Mike - might we see you at the Camigos get-together tomorrow? (See posts #9 onwards)

[Edit - Latest from Brittany Ferries - Investigators are checking to see why there was the fire on one of the 4 engines to ensure that 'it never happens again'. No news about how long she will be out of service yet.]

 

[gerip]

I was wondering if anything had happened while it was out at sea. Feeling the pain of those passengers who were on board at the time. Thankfully, it seems all are safe.

 

[gerip]

There was a fire in the engine room - Brittany Ferries might be able to change your arrangements to sail to Bilbao on their other ferry. I suggest you contact them before trying any other route
Buen (delayed) Camino

Thanks for the info. The agent said nothing over the phone. And there are no more sailing available to any port in Spain until next week. Have tentatively book for next Tuesday, but am now looking up flights and see that it would be cheaper to fly to Madrid than to sail! I have until this evening to solidify alternative plans and cancel the sailing for a complete refund.

 

[Maxy]

Extracted from Brittany Ferries website

29/04/19 Santander to Portsmouth 15:15 - We are sorry to advise that as a result of a technical incident on board Pont-Aven, this sailing has been CANCELLED. Please call 0044 1752 648637 for advice and alternatives. Please accept our apologies for the inconvenience.

30/04/19 Portsmouth to Santander 17:15 - We are sorry to advise that as a result of an earlier technical incident on board Pont-Aven, this sailing has been CANCELLED. Please call 01752 648637 for advice and alternatives. Please accept our apologies for the inconvenience.
Plymouth to Santander / Santander to Plymouth

01/05/19 Santander to Plymouth 21:15 - We are sorry to advise that as a result of a technical incident on board Pont-Aven, this sailing has been CANCELLED. Please call 0044 1752 648637 for advice and alternatives. Please accept our apologies for the inconvenience.

No other updates as yet

 

[Tia Valeria]

The passengers affected by the ferry going to Brest are being offered travel back to the UK or help/transport to continue to Spain. Refunds, extra travel costs offered etc.. Brittany Ferries is obviously doing all they can to help them all.
Still feeling so thankful that we were not on board, that no one who was on board was injured and praying for those whose journeys have been disrupted.

 

[Bella2017]

Flight tomorrow Bristol to Bilbao with easyjet 42 pounds then get bus or train to burgos

 

[NorthernLight]

So, disaster averted, but inconvenience results. Once it's clear nobody was hurt, and danger is passed, I figure such events are part of the adventure and the stuff of which great stories are told.

Back in ancient days, the pilgrims onboard such a sailing vessel would have perished and nobody would have known their fate. Life in 2019 is good.

 

[Bella2017]

What is your closest airport?

 

[Moorwalker]

Flight tomorrow Bristol to Bilbao with easyjet 42 pounds then get bus or train to burgos

I'm in Bristol, depending on the timing, I could probably pick a pilgrim up from the station or bus station and go out to the airport.

 

[Tia Valeria]

So, disaster averted, but inconvenience results. Once it's clear nobody was hurt, and danger is passed, I figure such events are part of the adventure and the stuff of which great stories are told.

Back in ancient days, the pilgrims onboard such a sailing vessel would have perished and nobody would have known their fate. Life in 2019 is good.

My great uncle was on a ship as a crew member near where the Titanic sank. Too far away to see the rockets. They heard the news when they reached New York. He said that he always wondered if they could have saved lives if they had gone to her aid - but they did not hear her Mayday because they had no radio!
This would have been the same with many other ships too at the time.

We are indeed fortunate in these modern days and the Pont Aven was able to call up help, and then give out further information.
However it is an experience we are thankful to have missed.

 

[FLEUR]

We are regular travellers on Brittany Ferries. They always feel incredibly safe and staff are well trained. I guess nothing is perfect and occasionally incidents such as this will occur.
Once we were sailing back from Spain and an injured crew member had to be airlifted off the ship.

 

[Davey Boyd]

I have been on her many times, these ferries are my usual way to Spain. So glad no one was hurt. And I'm sure it will be back in operation soon.

Can't wait to be back on board her on the way to my next camino!

 

[gerip]

Flying Easyjet into & out of Madrid now, cheaper than the ferry! But I really don't like airports, and now there's the issue of fitting my poles into my pack, and not being able to carry my pocket knife (hoping they'll let the surgical scissors through).

 

[Tia Valeria]

Buen Camino @gerip - hope all goes well now.

 

[Tia Valeria]

We have found this report on Maritime news on the ferry fire with a couple of photos. Current Brittany Ferries site gives tonight's sailing from Santander cancelled but there is no further update for later sailings yet.
Anyone expecting to travel on the Pont Aven might be well advised to check for updates nearer their sailing date. So far no news has been posted by Brittany Ferries as to when Pont Aven will resume sailing, only the cancellations for this week.

 

[Paul C]

I was on that ferry. It was pretty scary when at about 3.00am they asked us all to put on warm clothing, leave our cabins, go to the upper decks, put our life jackets on and prepare for evacuation! But everyone was calm and the crew were very good indeed. There was no smoke or visible sign of the fire above decks. Eventually we were told that the danger had passed, and the boat limped into Brest.
I was hoping to walk the Norte from Santander. They offered us foot passengers either a bus to Santander (10hrs ish), or the Roscoff ferry home. Those pilgrims who had enough time opted for the bus, but as I only had time for about a weeks walk decided to go home instead. We are being refunded the fare, and Brittany Ferries treated us very well.
I’ve taken that ferry many times, and it doesn’t put me off doing so in the future. It was just one of those things.
I’ve since decided to fly out to A Coruna today and walk the Ingles from Ferroll again, which means at least I get to do a Camino!

 

[FLEUR]

@Paul C that must have been really scary.

I'm sure a lot of passengers had their cars on-board, so a long drive for them to reach wherever they were going to in Spain or beyond.

A few years ago we were delayed with our car in Spain during the BF strike. BF were very helpful, they stayed in touch and offered passengers refunds, re-bookings when finally available and compensation.

 

[Tia Valeria]

@Paul C - pleased that all is well for you after a scary night. Brittany Ferries are good when there are problems (our experience many years ago with a stormy crossing from France which was seriously delayed).
Have a safe flight and Buen Camino

 

[StephenChad]

I was on the Pont Aven out of Santander on April 15 heading for Portsmouth. About half way across one of the engines died, emitting an enormous amount of black smoke and we continued at a reduced speed of 10 kts. After a few hours they restarted the second engine but the ship was diverted to Plymouth

 

[Tia Valeria]

I have just checked the Brittany Ferries website and The Pont Aven has no scheduled crossing now until 19th May, returning 22nd May (Plymouth-Santander timetable). This means there is no ferry on this route until then.
Sailing Santander/Portsmouth starts again 20th May on the Pont Aven, the other two ferries on this route are running as normal.
Plymouth/Roscoff has only one ferry running (Armorique) until 23rd May.
I have put the timetable links in so that anyone needing to check if the dates hold can do so for their own specific journey.
[Edit - Portsmouth/Bilbao is unaffected.]

 

[Devon Mike]

We have found this report on Maritime news on the ferry fire with a couple of photos. Current Brittany Ferries site gives tonight's sailing from Santander cancelled but there is no further update for later sailings yet.
Anyone expecting to travel on the Pont Aven might be well advised to check for updates nearer their sailing date. So far no news has been posted by Brittany Ferries as to when Pont Aven will resume sailing, only the cancellations for this week.

Tomorrow night's sailing from Plymouth to Roscoff has now also been cancelled, so further sailings are likely to get cancelled as well. The timetables for Pont Aven have had all sailings removed until May 19th, so maybe my May 12th sailing will not be going, but I have not yet had any contact regarding that.

 

[Tia Valeria]

Tomorrow night's sailing from Plymouth to Roscoff has now also been cancelled, so further sailings are likely to get cancelled as well. The timetables for Pont Aven have had all sailings removed until May 19th, so maybe my May 12th sailing will not be going, but I have not yet had any contact regarding that.

I saw that @Devon Mike , which is why I then checked the actual timetables (see post #29 above for links) - so yes, sad to say, your ferry looks like it is cancelled too.
Ever more thankful we cancelled as the first sailing shown would have been our return date, which might still be delayed.
Once again 'Thank you Lord ' from two relieved pilgrims.

 

[Lynda t]

Thank you Lord!
But for a variety of reasons we should have been on the Pont Aven from Plymouth to Santander yesterday. This morning we are very thankful that, way back in January, we had cancelled as she suffered an engine fire in the Bay of Biscay at 4.00am.
The fire was put out but she has turned back and is now heading for Brest at half speed.
So while we give thanks we pray for any pilgrims who might have been heading for Santander on this sailing, as well as the holiday makers whose travel has been disrupted.

Hope you got an alternative route later.

 

[Tia Valeria]

Hope you got an alternative route later.

Thank you. No, we will not be going to Spain this year at all. As I said, we had cancelled in January as things were not working out, it felt wrong and we had an invite elsewhere for that specific Sunday. Hence our saying 'Thank you Lord that we were not on board'. God moves in mysterious ways !
Those who have travelled were offered alternatives and some have posted that they travelled out by air etc. The disruption is ongoing, but personally we are happy to be going elsewhere shortly to walk.

 

[Devon Mike]

The Pont Aven is still stuck in Brest and so Sunday's sailing from Plymouth to Santander has also now been cancelled. I have been refunded from my booking and have now booked to get to Bayonne by coach via London and Paris and will arrive in Bayonne at almost the same time as planned by the ferry then a bus from Santander.

 

[NorthernLight]

The Pont Aven is still stuck in Brest and so Sunday's sailing from Plymouth to Santander has also now been cancelled. I have been refunded from my booking and have now booked to get to Bayonne by coach via London and Paris and will arrive in Bayonne at almost the same time as planned by the ferry then a bus from Santander.

Does the bus/coach go in the train under the Channel or do you walk on and another coach meets you?

 

[Devon Mike]

Does the bus/coach go in the train under the Channel or do you walk on and another coach meets you?

The Eurolines coach goes on the Dover/Calais ferry on its journey from London Victoria to Paris. I will be off the coach on the ferry and back on the same coach when we get to Calais. Then a change at Paris for the run to Bayonne.