 | |
| Industry | Passenger transportation |
|---|---|
| Founded | 1965 |
| Defunct | 1981 |
| Fate | Merged with Hoverlloyd 1981 |
| Successor | Hoverspeed |
| Headquarters | Dover, Portsmouth, United Kingdom |
Area served | English Channel, Solent |
Key people | John Lefeaux, Managing Director |
Number of employees | 475 (Permanent); 225 (Seasonal); 1980 |
| Parent | British Rail |
Seaspeed was a British hovercraft operator which ran services in the Solent and English Channel between 1965 and 1981, when it merged with a rival to form Hoverspeed.
Seaspeed was a jointly owned subsidiary of railway companies British Rail (under British Rail Hovercraft Limited) and France's SNCF, and was established in 1965. Seaspeed operated several services; its first route, running between Cowes and Southampton, was launched on 6 July 1966. Initially operating a fleet of SR.N6s for these short-distance services, it opted to procure larger SR.N4s for its cross-Channel ferry service; the first of these hoverferries was introduced in 1968. On this route, Seaspeed competed against traditional ferries and rival SR.N4 operator Hoverlloyd.
In 1976, after concluding that it could not attain suitable profitability from its smaller SR.N6 services, Seaspeed sold these to rival hovercraft company Hovertravel. Focusing upon its cross-Channel service, it opted to repeatedly upgrade the SR.N4 fleet. During the late 1970s, Seaspeed introduced the stretched SR.N4 Mk.III, greatly increasing its capacity; it also introduced a single French-built SEDAM N500 hovercraft, although the latter's performance was found lacking and it was returned to SNCF after a few years.
In 1981, in response to intensifying competition and rising costs, Seaspeed merged with its historic rival Hoverlloyd to create the combined Hoverspeed. This new entity continued to operate the SR.N4 fleet until finally withdrawing hovercraft services in 2000.