The seacat 'Danmark' tied up at the Prince of Wales
Pier on 1 October 2000, ready to replace the hovercraft
on the service to Calais the following day.
Hoverspeed started operating fast catamarans,
known as seacats from Dover in July 1991. The craft
initially operated from the Eastern
Docks until June 1993, when a special berth was
constructed for them alongside the Prince
of Wales Pier at the Hoverport.
In late 1993 the Dover based seacats
were withdrawn and transferred to the Folkestone - Boulogne
route but returned to the Dover Calais service the following
summer. In March 1998 seacat services between Dover
and Ostend were introduced.
In October 2000 Hoverspeed withdrew
its ageing hovercraft,
replacing them on the Dover - Calais route with seacats.
It is planned to develop a further seacat berth at the
Hoverport site, where the terminal building will remain
in use for seacat passengers.
In late 2002 Hoverspeed announced that
the summer only service to Ostend would not be reintroduced
for the Summer 2003 timetables.
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