Brittany Ferries To Offer Year-round Service Out Of Ireland
Building on the launch of its new Cork to Santander route in 2018, Brittany Ferries has introduced a new winter sailing schedule designed to facilitate its Ireland to Spain freight traffic.
This new winter service will allow hauliers to bypass UK over Brexit fears
Rebranding Of Brittany Ferries
Brittany Ferries is adding a splash of colour to its ships, with a bright new logo in striking shades of blue, orange and green. The new design, which comes with a more modern, warm and lyrical typeface, will be applied to each ship during refit, and will eventually be emblazoned on the side of every vessel’s hull and funnel.
The design reflects the “fullness of the Brittany Ferries experience”: the richness of travel by sea, the warmth of the welcome ashore and on board, and the spirit of discovery for some of Western Europe’s most beautiful holiday destinations.
The new visual identity comes as part of a multi-million euro investment to make Brittany Ferries fit for the future. Three brand new ships are currently under construction and due to join the fleet in 2019, 2021 and 2022.
A wide-ranging digital transformation programme is also underway, aimed at enhancing every aspect of the customer experience from researching to booking, checking-in, sailing, holidaying and returning home.
Logo: from oldest logo to newest (on top)
Brittany Ferries can look back on an encouraging summer season. However the company has also raised the alarm. Noting a fall in demand for family holidays next summer, it has warned of serious consequences for international tourism and the regions it serves if a Brexit deal does not bring certainty and the free movement across borders enjoyed by customers today.
The figures:
On August 7, the traditional coin ceremony took place at FSG shipyard in Flensburg.
For Brittany Ferries and the shipyard it was an occasion to highlight the design process of the hull design, something for which FSG is well respected.
“Passengers will never see Honfleur’s hull, but they will certainly feel its benefit,” said Brice Robinson, Brittany Ferries naval architect, speaking from the keel laying ceremony.
After assembly, HONFLEUR’s hull will be launched in December.
Photo: HONFLEUR’s first mate Fleur Le Derff and FSG head of building berth Michel Bollman at the keel laying ceremony
On its HONFLEUR newbuilding blog, Brittany Ferries explains the importance of the hull design.
GALICIA and SALAMANCA will be the names for the two new, chartered ferries, which are expected in 2021 and 2022. The names have been chosen by the staff, and are the result of a mini contest.
Both ships will be based in Portsmouth, and will operate between the UK and Spain. They will fly the French flag, and have French crew.
French media Le Courier / Le Progrès (in French) reports about the Brittany Ferries plan to open the route Cork – Santander with the chartered ro-pax CONNEMARA, and more particularly about the concerns from the different unions. Not flying the French flag is an issue in France. It is a European flag (Cyprus), but some see it as a flag of convenience.
Brittany Ferries promised to have the CONNEMARA flying the French flag in three years.
“Quotidien du Tourisme” writes that Brittany Ferries has strengthened its offer as a tour operator specialised in the UK and Ireland, with some new packages for French customers
Photo: Mike Louagie
Although Flensburger Schiffbau-Gesellschaft (FSG) did not send an official press release yet, we read in the local media that the yard has secured an order for an extra two ro-ro ships.
The ships are the 5th and 6th unit of 4K lane meter ships to be ordered by FSG’s parent company Siem Group, with the intention to put them on the charter market.
The regional State of Schleswig-Holstein is still involved in the shipbuilding with bank guarantees, after the yard went into a difficult period.
With the orders of Irish Ferries (1 ro-pax), Brittany Ferries (1 ro-pax) and Siem (six ro-ro ships, 2 for DFDS, 2 for EKOL and 2 unknown) the yard can continue to build upon its reputation of ferry and ro-ro specialist.
When Brittany Ferries takes delivery of HONFLEUR in 2019, she will be the first passenger ship in the world to be equipped with on board cranes that allow standard-size 40 feet LNG containers to be lifted into a fixed position.
These containers will be transported by truck to Ouistreham from an LNG terminal at Dunkerque. Driven on board, they will be hoisted into position alongside a fixed LNG storage tank located at the rear of the superstructure. Upon the next call at port, empty containers will be returned to waiting trucks by crane and replenished with full units.
“Refuelling infrastructure is key to the uptake of cleaner fuels like LNG, throughout the transport sector,” said Christophe Mathieu, Brittany Ferries CEO. “But we cannot wait for widespread storage in ports to deliver the next generation of cleaner vessels. Our team has addressed this problem in an innovative way.”
HONFLEUR will operate alongside Brittany Ferries’ MONT ST MICHEL on three daily return sailings, between Ouistreham and Portsmouth.
