A new Normandy ferry to cross the Channel by canoe

A view of Brittany Ferry's new hybrid vessel.
A view of Brittany Ferry’s new hybrid vessel. (© Brittany Wharf).)

Tuesday 20 July 2021, Brittany Wharf Announced the charter of two new hybrid vessels powered by liquefied natural gas (LNG) and equipped with electric batteries: Bretagne II and Normandy II.

from 2024

Scheduled for 2024 and 2025, these two new boats will operate on the Saint-Malo – Portsmouth lines and Ken-Oistreham – Portsmouth. “The choice of their size and their mode of propulsion was made specifically and in an optimized manner according to their two home ports”, the shipping company specifies.

Current Normandy is 30 years old

The new Normandy will replace the current one that has provided Caen – Portsmouth since its arrival 30 years ago.

more cabins

Each of these two vessels has been specifically designed by integrating prospective studies in terms of passenger and freight traffic.

Currently, Brittany and Normandy have a high potential passenger capacity, which may nevertheless be limited in night crossings due to the number of cabins. The ships of tomorrow will overcome these limitations with the optimization of garage capacity, a greater number of beds with a greater number of cabin types to adapt to the demand.

New Normandy in figures

The new Normandy – Caen-Oistreham line at Portsmouth (the first for Brittany Ferry passenger traffic) will be 194.7 meters long (43.5 meters longer than the current one) and 27.8 meters wide. A size and facilities that, in terms of capacity, should bring an additional 15,000 passengers per year, 5,000 more heavy goods vehicles and a profit of 3.5 million euros in turnover per year.

duty free returns

Both ships will once again be equipped with a duty-free, “source of additional income” since the United Kingdom’s exit from the European Union.

220 crore cost

While the investment amounted to 400 million euros (380 million euros for new vessels), the option of a charter (from Swedish shipowner Stena Roro) over four years with the possibility of exercising the purchase option after four years brings the total cost of operation. of about 220 million euros.
The choice of Brittany Ferry is based on a dual requirement:

Continue to upgrade the fleet, which is essential given the aging of the fleet, but also reduces its COVID debt.

A significant “saving” for the French company. In addition to Brexit and Honfleur not delivering, Brittany Ferries has been battling a health crisis for a year and a half.

In 2020, it had a turnover of €202.4 million (€469 million in 2019). Another example, the number of passengers has declined. It was 752,102 in 2020 as against 2,498,354 in 2019.

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