by Martin Jefferies

A fledgling ferry firm has ended months of speculation by starting to sell tickets for its high-speed Ramsgate to Boulogne service.

Euroferries will welcome its first passengers on Saturday, November 14, with a new catamaran, the Bonanza Express, completing the cross channel sailing in a rapid 75 minutes.

According to the company's online booking system, day return tickets for the opening week will cost between £49 and £66.50.

Bonanza Express, a 96-metre Incat-type vessel that can carry more than 700 passengers, will leave the Port of Ramsgate at 8.35am, 12.45pm, 4.55pm and 9.05pm daily. Journies in the opposite direction will leave at 7.30am, 11.40am, 3.50pm, 8pm.

Confirmation of Euroferries' timetable comes more than six months after the operator was due to launch the service. It has been moored in the Canary Islands for some time.

The business had previously said it expects to carry up to two million passengers a year.

It also has ambitious plans to launch a second high-speed ferry within months of launching the Bonanza Express.