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How the Dazzle Ferry became an iconic part of Liverpools waterfront

The Dazzle Ferry is one of Liverpools most eye-catching attractions on the citys waterfront

[The Dazzle ship sails on the river with Liverpools famous skyline as a backdrop]

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The Dazzle ship sails on the river with Liverpools famous skyline as a backdrop(Image: Liverpool ECHO)

Whether youre from Liverpool or just visiting, theres no denying that The Dazzle Ferry is one of Liverpools most eye-catching attractions on the citys waterfront. In January 2015, Mersey Ferry Snowdrop was selected as a dazzle ship", where she was given a new colourful livery inspired by WWI dazzle camouflage.

The artwork entitled "Everybody Razzle Dazzle" was designed by Sir Peter Blake and was commissioned by Liverpool Biennial 14-18 NOW, the First World War Centenary Art, and Tate Liverpool in partnership with Merseytravel and National Museums Liverpool.

Sir Peter, who was in the city to officially launch the ferry in her new livery, told the ECHO at the time: It looks terrific.

Its pretty exceptional, the opportunity to do something that large and that iconic. And as you know, I have got quite strong links with the city Ive become an adopted son of Liverpool, so I was excited to do it.

[Sir Peter Blake launched the Dazzle Ferry Snowdrop at the Pier Head]

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Sir Peter Blake launched the Dazzle Ferry Snowdrop at the Pier Head(Image: Liverpool ECHO)

Ive previously designed a bus, and in the 60s I did a big mural, which was 45ft long. But nothing like this. The scale is what makes an enormous difference. From the scale of cutting out a tiny figure for a collage to that size is an enormous contrast.

The striking design is a painting technique that was introduced to camouflage ships during WWI. They worked by confusing enemy submarines by using contrasting colours and patchwork design to create an optical illusion to break up the ship's shape and obscure its movement in the water.

Each ships pattern featured unique colour and monochrome designs to avoid enemy U-boats and aircraft from recognising specific classes of vessels. The inventor of dazzle painting, Norman Wilkinson, was influenced by avant-garde British painters such as Wyndham Lewis and David Bomberg.

Liverpools Dazzle Ferry was meant to be a temporary two-year art commission to mark the WWI centenary, originally intended to be painted over by December 2016. Due to immense public popularity, the Liverpool Biennial and Mersey Ferries extended the project until 2019. However, due to popular demand, it was decided that the vibrant paintwork would be retained indefinitely, until the vessel retired.

[The Dazzle Ferry Snowdrop]

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The Dazzle Ferry Snowdrop(Image: Liverpool ECHO)

Snowdrop was one of three vessels commissioned to carry a dazzle livery, including Induction Chromatique Double Frquence pour l'Edmund Gardner Ship / Liverpool. Paris, 2014 by Carlos Cruz-Diez on the museum ship Edmund Gardner located in the Canning graving dock adjacent to the Pier Head in Liverpool, and Tobias Rehberger's Dazzle Ship London on HMS President in the River Thames.

Snowdrop, which launched in 2004, is the only one of these three vessels to be a working vessel.

However, the Dazzle Ferry has faced issues this week as the commuter and river explorer cruises were suspended for five consecutive days, causing ongoing problems for commuters.

The commuter ferries take people between the Pier Head in Liverpool and the Seacombe Ferry Terminal in Wirral directly. Meanwhile, the 50 minute river explorer cruises are popular with tourists, with recorded commentary telling stories about the history of the Mersey Ferries and Merseyside as a whole.

[The Snowdrop in dry dock at Cammell Lairds shipbuilders]

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The Snowdrop in dry dock at Cammell Lairds shipbuilders(Image: Liverpool ECHO)

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Why Mersey Ferries were suspended for so many days

Mersey Ferries announced the suspension of services every day since Thursday, June 25, citing a "technical issue" each time. The ferries are operated by Merseytravel for the Liverpool City Region Combined Authority.

The ECHO approached the authority yesterday (Monday, June 29) about what this technical issue is and when services were expected to resume as normal.

[Sir Peter Blake onboard the Dazzle Ferry]

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Sir Peter Blake onboard the Dazzle Ferry(Image: Liverpool ECHO)

In response, a Mersey Ferries spokesperson said: Due to a technical issue, we are unfortunately currently unable to run our commuter and River Explorer services until further notice.

A replacement bus service is in place for both the AM and PM commuter services which is operating between Seacombe Ferry Terminal and Hamilton Square railway station, with ticket acceptance on Merseyrail services.

We have engineers working on site and hope to have this issue resolved as soon as possible. We apologise for any inconvenience that this has caused.

However, in an update today (Tuesday, June 30) the Combined Authority confirmed to the ECHO the ferry service would resume later in the day.

[Liverpool Biennial WW1 Centenary art commissions and Tate Liverpool co-commissioned Sir Peter Blake to Dazzle the Mersey Ferry]

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Liverpool Biennial WW1 Centenary art commissions and Tate Liverpool co-commissioned Sir Peter Blake to Dazzle the Mersey Ferry(Image: Liverpool ECHO)

A spokesperson said: "After maintenance work carried out on the engine and a series of tests, were pleased to confirm that the Snowdrop will resume service later on today.

We would like to thank our passengers for their patience while this issue was resolved.

The technical issue related to the Dazzle, which is currently the only ferry in operation on the Mersey. It is currently alone on the river after the Royal Iris ferry was retired and decommissioned earlier this year.

Whereas previously, if one ferry had suffered a fault it would be replaced by the second vessel, currently a fault means the whole service is suspended.

But this will not be the case for long, a new 26m ferry, The Royal Daffodil, which was built at Birkenhead's Cammell Laird, has been completing sea tests and is due to enter passenger service within weeks.

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