Tag

Brittany Ferries

Sep 03
Love0

FERRY SHIPPING

By 2020 Newsletter week 36

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
Sep 03
Love0

IN THE MEDIA

By 2020 Newsletter week 36

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.

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.

Aug 20
Love0

French Quarantine Plan Is Worst Possible News for Holiday Makers, Says Brittany Ferries

By 2020 Newsletter week 34

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.”

Aug 20
Love0

Brittany Ferries Urges French Government To Drop Reciprocal Quarantine Plans

By 2020 Newsletter week 34

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.

Jul 30
Love0

FERRY SHIPPING

By 2020 Newsletter week 31

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.
Jun 25
Love0

FERRY SHIPPING

By 2020 Newsletter week 26

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.

May 28
Love0

IN THE MEDIA

By 2020 Newsletter week 22

‘Illegal’ £35m State Aid For Ferries Faces Legal Challenge (writes The Telegraph)

CLdN is seeking a judicial review of Transport Secretary Grant Shapps’ decision to hand the £35 million to passenger operators Brittany Ferries, DFDS, Eurotunnel, P&O, Seatruck and Stena.

May 07
Love2

FERRY FINANCE

By 2020 Newsletter week 19

Brittany Ferries Goes on with the Planned Investments, in Spite Of Challenging Year

At its General Assembly on May 5, Brittany Ferries recalled that tourism is part of its DNA and stressed its major economic contribution to the regions it serves. Chairman Jean-Marc Roué recalled that the history of Brittany Ferries is intrinsically linked to that of the regions it has served, since its foundation. He also said that 2020 will be a challenging year. However, investments will go on as planned:

GALICIA (UK – Spain) to be delivered in July, in service in November

HONFLEUR (France – UK) delayed due to problems of yard in Flensburg

SALAMANCA (UK – Spain) keel laid in April 2020

SANTOñA (UK – Spain) 2023

Before the crisis, the company operated 12 ships on 12 routes, linking  France, UK, Ireland and Spain.

Since March 19, BF only transports goods, with 5 ships on Caen-Portsmouth, Cherbourg-Portsmouth, Santander-Portsmouth, Bilbao-Poole and Bilbao-Rosslare.

Key figures for 2019

Revenue EUR 469 million

Passengers 2.49 million (-4.9%)

Cars 866,000 (-5%)

Freight 202,000 (-1.9%)

Brexit with its uncertainty and repeated delays are the main cause for the trend