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Sep 17
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FERRY SHIPPING

By | 2020 Newsletter week 38 | No Comments

The SOS-Signals Sent by Brittany Ferries Reached Paris

EUR 15 million

French Prime Minister Jean Castex has announced on Tuesday 15 September the decision to help the French ferry companies by reimbursing all payroll taxes.

From a budget of EUR 30 million, hard-hit Brittany Ferries will get 15 million.

EUR 85 million

The same day, Presidents of the Bretagne (Brittany) and Normandy regions, Loïg Chesnais-Girard and Hervé Morin, promised another EUR 85 million.

The regions are involved in Brittany Ferries, as co-owners of the vessels.

Brittany Ferries Chairman Jean-Marc Roué thanked the two regional presidents, saying that, “they seem to be the only ones who understand the importance of the cross-Channel ferry traffic. They have been the only ones to effectively help the French seafarer and the few companies that still hire them.”

Source: Twitter messages from abovementioned politicians and Mr Roué.

Sep 03
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FERRY SHIPPING

By | 2020 Newsletter week 36 | No Comments

A Terrible Summer Season Forces Brittany Ferries to Take Further Action

Brittany Ferries announced the closure of some easterly routes. Caen-Portsmouth however remains open.

Westerly routes will see the arrival of a new vessel in December.

Negative

  • Decision by the UK government to impose quarantine restrictions resulted in 65,000 pax cancellations and less bookings for autumn
  • BF was hoping for a summer season with 350,000 pax (instead of the normal 700,000+)
  • BF will only reach 200,000 passengers maximum
  • Passengers = 75% of BF’s income

Positive

  • BF has re-affirmed that its foundations are strong
  • Reservations for the 2021 season are strong (100,000 pax booked for 2021)
  • Newbuilding GALICIA enters service in December, on UK-Spain

Result

  • Five-year recovery plan
  • Closure of Cherbourg-Portsmouth, Le Havre-Portmouth, Saint-Malo-Portsmouth.
  • Cherbourg-Poole will also remain closed for the remainder of the year (closed since March)
  • CONNEMARA laid up as from 7 September
  • BRETAGNE laid up as from 7 September, no further service until 22nd March
  • BARFLEUR not in service for rest of 2020
  • ETRETAT laid up until further notice
  • KERRY no Roscoff-Rosslare service as from 7 September
  • CAP FINISTERE 3-month technical lay-over as from December
  • ARMORIQUE laid up Q1, 2021
Source: Brittany Ferries
Sep 03
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IN THE MEDIA

By | 2020 Newsletter week 36 | No Comments

French Government Vows to Save Brittany Ferries

The French Government is looking at possibilities to help  Brittany Ferries: exemptions from social contributions, increased support for training, the revival of tourism, possible additional authorized Covid-19 aid and eventually adjustment of the terms of the loan guaranteed by the State.

Source: Ouest France (in French)

Port of Piraeus Among the First 100 Ports

According to Lloyd’s List data report, the Port of Piraeus gets the seventh place among the first hundred ports that achieved significant increases in their volumes %.

Furthermore, in 2019 the Port of Piraeus overshadowed the other Mediterranean ports, recording the highest increase (15.1%) and became the largest port in TEU terms in the region.

The Greek port ranked first on the Mediterranean top five ports for 2019, followed by Valencia, Algeciras, Tanger-Med and Barcelona.

Source: Lloyds List eBook
Aug 20
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French Quarantine Plan Is Worst Possible News for Holiday Makers, Says Brittany Ferries

By | 2020 Newsletter week 34 | No Comments

780,000 passengers during a normal summer

240,000 passengers were expected in 2020

???,000 passengers after UK Quarantine restrictions for people coming from France

Quarantine restrictions on those holidaying with Brittany Ferries in Normandy and Brittany will heap more pain on an already terrible summer season for the company and its passengers.

“This announcement is dreadful news for Brittany Ferries,” said Christophe Mathieu CEO Brittany Ferries. “It threatens what little remains of an already disastrous summer season. Our only hope is that holiday makers visiting our French destinations follow the stoicism of those who have travelled with us to Spain over the last fortnight. Despite quarantine restrictions on their return to the UK, only around one in five of those who booked have cancelled or changed their travel plans. Of course, what this will mean for future bookings remains to be seen.”

Press Release
Aug 20
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Brittany Ferries Urges French Government To Drop Reciprocal Quarantine Plans

By | 2020 Newsletter week 34 | No Comments

Brittany Ferries says it is lobbying French government at the highest levels to avoid the implementation of reciprocal quarantine measures. In a normal year the company carries about 2.6 million customers, of which 85 percent are British. Any move that might dissuade more Brits to cancel their travel plans would hurt Brittany Ferries and the regions it serves, particularly the tourism sector in Brittany and Normandy.

Press Release
Jul 30
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FERRY SHIPPING

By | 2020 Newsletter week 31 | No Comments

Brittany Ferries: New Route and More Capacity on Ireland

  • New Rosslare – Cherbourg route to open in March 2021. Irish and French hauliers have asked Brittany Ferries to move the weekly French rotation from Roscoff to the transport hub of Cherbourg.
  • Earlier this year Brittany Ferries started Rosslare – Bilbao (instead of Cork – Santander) and Rosslare – Roscoff (instead of Cork – Roscoff).
  • Additional mid-week sailing added to Cork – Roscoff service (mainly tourist market)
  • The new sailings will also see the utilisation of the CONNEMARA (for Rosslare) and the ARMORIQUE (for Cork). The ARMORIQUE is new to Ireland. The PONT-AVEN will continue to serve the main Cork – Roscoff sailings at the weekend.
Press Release
Jun 25
0

FERRY SHIPPING

By | 2020 Newsletter week 26 | No Comments

Brittany Ferries And Somanor Confirm Termination Of Honfleur Shipbuilding Contract

Somanor SAS (a semi-public company bringing together the Normandy Region, and the Calvados and Manche Departments), and Brittany Ferries have confirmed the termination of the construction contract for Honfleur with the Flensburger Schiffbau-Gesellschaft (FSG) shipyard. (17 June 2020)

The vessel has been under construction in Flensburg, Germany, since 2017. HONFLEUR was originally scheduled to enter service in June 2019, but delivery of the vessel has been postponed several times due to persistent financial problems encountered by the yard’s management.

The change of main shareholder in September 2019, with the arrival of Lars Windhorst and the Tennor group, did not allow the yard to return to growth and competitiveness.

With the surprise announcement that the yard was placed under the protection of the Commercial Court in May 2020, and unsuccessful discussions with the current management of FSG and its main creditors, Somanor and Brittany Ferries, the backers of HONFLEUR, acknowledged that they had lost confidence in the yard’s ability to complete the vessel within a reasonable period of time.