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Latest Ferry NewsThe latest ferry news for November 2007 is below:
Largest and Faster Freight Ship for Brittany FerriesDate: 28 Nov 2007Source: Brittany Ferries The largest and fastest freight ship on the Channel has started operating out of Poole Harbour. Brittany Ferries' £50 million vessel Cotentin will sail to Cherbourg during the week and from Poole to Santander in northern Spain every weekend. Poole Harbour Commissioners dredged the main entrance and channels to the port to be able to take larger vessels such as the Cotentin. At 165 metres long and 26.8m wide, with a cruising speed of 23 knots, she has 120 cabins and will be able to take 120 freight units. This is 2.5 times the capacity of the Coutances, the old freight ferry which she replaces. The route to Spain will allow the rapidly growing market to be served and permit transporters to avoid the weekend driving ban in France. PHC chief executive Jim Stewart said he was very pleased the port had managed to secure the freight ferry over its rival Portsmouth. "We were delighted with this news. It was critical to the future financial health of the port," he said. "It helps to maintain links between Poole and Cherbourg we feel are important with a number of different links, commercial, social, tourism and educational." Brittany Ferries says its new ship, built by the Aker shipyard in Helsinki, sets new standards in comfort for drivers. Its air-conditioned en suite cabins allow single occupancy for those travelling alone, with an additional berth for a companion. Truck drivers will also have the luxury of a self-service restaurant, bar, games area, TV lounges and fitness area. For more information or to book a crossing, please visit our Freight Ferry site. Stena Line in £5m Seatrader upgradeDate: 21 Nov 2007Source: Stena Line Irish Sea ferry company Stena Line is to invest more than £5m on board one of its ships sailing regularly out of Holyhead port. Since its introduction a year ago, the Stena Seatrader, which operates between the Welsh port and Dublin, has exceeded the company's expectations on the route and the company said it was confident that would continue. The RoPax ship, which was built in Denmark, has a gross tonnage of 17,991 tonnes and can carry 221 passengers and 210 cars. It has 2,100 lane metres of freight capacity. The new investment in the vessel underlines the fact that Stena Line has enjoyed a boom in freight traffic on its Irish Sea routes from Holyhead, although passenger levels have been hit in part by competition from cheap fares offered by no-frills airlines. Vic Goodwin, Stena Line's route director for Central Corridor services from Holyhead to Dublin and Dun Laoghaire, said: "In recent years, we have seen Holyhead Port grow in importance to freight customers who now see Holyhead as the main gateway for transport to and from Ireland. "The Stena Seatrader, which joined the Central Corridor in October 2006, has provided us with greater frequency of sailing times and much greater capacity for our freight customers, in addition to the alternative services we offer on our high speed service, the HSS Stena Explorer, and our superferry, the Stena Adventurer. "During the first 12 months of operation the Stena Seatrader has met our expectations and while there is some way to go towards meeting our business plan, we have been encouraged with progress and we therefore feel that the investment is justified." He added: "This new sailing schedule has proved to be very attractive for our customers who want to arrive in Dublin and get underway before the morning rush hour and return early, thereby improving vehicle turnaround time. "Due to the popularity of the Stena Seatrader, we have decided to make further investments to our facilities on board and improve the vessel's technical performance and subsequent turnaround times in both ports." The work will be undertaken during the vessel's annual refit, which is planned for the end of the year and will include improvements to the ship's vehicle decks and the installation of two new bow thrusters to significantly enhance the vessels manoeuvrability in port. In addition, the refit will include a complete refurbishment of the cabin accommodation area. For more information or to book a crossing, please visit our Stena Line page. SeaFrance considers new ferry optionsDate: 13 Nov 2007Source: SeaFrance SeaFrance plans to increase capacity with a new ferry on the Dover Calais ferry route. The move follows a 13% year on year increase in car traffic from January until the end of September, compared with market growth of 5.6%, according to the company. The firm, which runs 30 crossings a day, achieved 5.5% growth in passenger traffic over the same nine month period, compared with an overall market increase of 3%. The performance has enabled SeaFrance to continue with its fleet investment. The French operator is investigating shipyard availability in Europe for the construction of a new vessel with significantly increased garage space. Managing director Robin Wilkins said: "The overall short sea route has done very well indeed this year, and I am very pleased to confirm that SeaFrance has consistently outperformed the market for both cars and passengers." The figures emerged less than 24 hours before Channel Tunnel high speed passenger operator Eurostar switches services from Waterloo to St Pancras tonight (Tuesday) to cut journey times to France and Belgium. For more information or to book a crossing, please visit our Seafrance page. SpeedFerries Voted 'Best Ferry Company'Date: 1 Nov 2007Source: SpeedFerries SpeedFerries has been voted Best Ferry Company’ by the readers of The Guardian, The Observer and Guardian Unlimited in their 21st Travel Awards. A spokesman for SpeedFerries said: 'The scoring of these awards is designed to reward quality, rather than quantity, so it is not surprising that SpeedFerries, a small family run company, has outstripped the stiffest competition from long-established rivals in the industry throughout the UK.' Since its launch in 2004, the company has won this award twice and also picked up the Best European Crossing Operator award at the Telegraph Travel Awards in 2005. The company has pledged to continue its commitment to offer cross-Channel prices at an acceptable level and provide a high quality, low cost ferry service for its customers as well as push the limits for traditional ferry operation. For more information or to book a crossing, please visit our SpeedFerries page. |
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