Brittany Ferries Confirms Order For Second Stena E-Flexer
Brittany Ferries has confirmed it is going to have a second Stena E-Flex ro-pax, in order to meet increasing demand for travel on services from Britain to Spain (Santander and Bilbao).
The first ro-pax one is now expected in 2021.
Based in Portsmouth, they will follow the launch of Flensburg-built HONFLEUR in 2019, the first cross-channel ferry to be powered by LNG.
In the last ten years, the number of passengers travelling by ferry to Spain has grown by around 80%, to more than 331,000 (and 150,000 cars). By adding more freight capacity, the company is confident that it can also grow the 40,000 freight units it carries annually.
The interior design for the Brittany Ferries ships will be done in cooperation with an unconfirmed Spanish design office, with a “Green Spain” theme, linked to the destination.
The first vessel will be LNG-ready, the second LNG-powered.
Brittany Ferries explicitly confirmed the vessels will be flying the French flag, and will be manned by French crew. Recently the company was blamed for chartering a Cyprus-flagged vessel.
Stena did it again
The vessels are being chartered from Stena RoRo, with an option to buy after five years.
The investment is a typical Stena investment. In the past the Swedish shipping company has built several very successful series of ferries, which have been chartered out to other operators. A typical example is the series of ro-paxes built by Hyundai in the seventies.
Stena RoRo was able to secure building slots at the Avic Weihai shipyard in China, when the time was right to order.
Overview
Stena ordered four units, with an option for another four.
First 4:
3 units for Stena Line (Stena press release 5 April 2016)
1st unit for Brittany Ferries, 5-year bareboat charter with purchase option (Source: Brittany Ferries press release)
Two declared options:
DFDS, 10-year bareboat charter (Source: press release Stena)
2nd unit for Brittany Ferries, 5-year bareboat charter with purchase option (press release by email).
Two more options:
- Some data for the Brittany Ferries units
- Length 214.5m
- Gross tonnage 42,400
- Passengers 1,000
- Cabins 300 for passengers and 36 for truck drivers
- Lane meters 3,100
