Decarbonising ferries

The hybrid ferries will join Brittany Ferries’ fleet in 2024/2025 to serve routes connecting Portsmouth International Port in Southern England with the St Malo and Caen ferry ports in France.

“Fleet renewal is not a choice for Brittany Ferries; it is an imperative to secure our future,” said Christophe Mathieu, CEO of Brittany Ferries. “Our customers rightly demand cleaner, greener vessels and our port partners expect us to be good neighbours. Furthermore, we will certainly face tighter regulation in the years ahead.”

Cleaner, greener operations

At sea, the ferries will be powered by cleaner LNG fuel. But in what is believed to be a first on the English Channel, they will also operate partially or completely on battery power– for example when arriving and departing ports.

They will also be ready to plug in to shoreside power when this is available in ports. This will allow the recharging of onboard batteries and power for systems like air conditioning, heating and lighting while at berth, cutting funnel emissions to zero.

The ships will be chartered from Stena RoRo on a ten-year agreement, with a purchase option after four. They will take the place of Normandie and Bretagne.

As well as cutting emissions, the hybrid ferries will produce less noise and less vibration for passengers.

In-voyage charging will be available for electric car drivers.

Brittany Ferries will deploy LNG ferries Salamanca in 2022 and Santoña in 2023, to serve UK-Spain routes.