LNG cruise ship

With LNG emitting less carbon dioxide during combustion than marine fuel, the ferry is aiming to be one of the cleanest ships to operate in UK waters.

Christophe Mathieu, CEO of Brittany Ferries said: “The signing of this letter of intent with the Flensburger shipyard is a concrete step towards the construction of a new generation of Brittany Ferries ships.”

“Despite Brexit, we remain confident in our ability to continue to grow and modernise our route network, serving both tourism and trade in the regions of western Europe.”

The new ship will then launch in 2019 on the Portsmouth­-Caen route which offers three daily return sailings. It will operate in tandem with cruise ferry, Mont St Michel, which was launched in 2002.

Over four in five people travelling on the French company’s ships are British and more than 2.4 million passengers were carried in 2016.

Brittany Ferries believes this new project shows its commitment to reducing the environmental impact of its operations by embracing new technologies.

It follows the completion of a £65m investment in emission-reducing ‘scrubber’ systems which have been retrospectively fitted to six cruise ferries in the company’s ten-ship fleet.