New Look for Western Channel Operator

On 20th November Brittany Ferries revealed that it is adding a splash of colour to its ships, with a bright new logo in shades of blue, orange and green. The new design, which comes with a more modaern, warm and lyrical typeface, will be applied to each ship during their respective refits, and will eventually be emblazoned on the side of every vessel’s hull and funnel. The logo is the result of extensive customer research and is designed to reflect travel by sea, the welcome ashore and on board, and the spirit of discovery. The new visual identity comes as part of a multi-million-Euro investment to make Brittany Ferries fit for the future. Three brand new ships are currently under construction and due to join the fleet in 2019, 2021 and 2022. A wide-ranging digital transformation programme is also underway, aimed at enhancing every aspect of the customer experience from researching to booking, checking-in, sailing, holidaying and returning home. The new design was first glimpsed by eagle-eyed photographers at the shipyards where the 29,468gt/2009 built Armorique and 40,859gt/2004 built Pont-Aven (above) were undergoing winter refits in November. Throughout 2019 the new look will be rolled out across all Brittany Ferries sites, marketing and operations including everything from signs, brochures, uniforms, to advertising and websites.

Third E-Flexer Underway

On 27th November Stena Line confirmed that the first three E-Flexer Ro-Pax ferries ordered for service on the Irish Sea are all now under construction following the steel cutting ceremony for the third vessel. The trio of ships is scheduled to enter service in 2020 and 2021 and each ferry is being built at the Avic Weihai Shipyard in China. The first of the 215m long and 3,100 lanemetre/120 car/1,000 passenger capacity newbuilds will commence operation on the Holyhead-Dublin route in early 2020, with the remaining two ships to be introduced on the Liverpool-Belfast route in 2020 and 2021. In addition, Stena Line has also ordered a further two E-Flexers with larger dimensions (240m long/3,600 lanemetre/1,200 passenger capacity) to be deployed within Stena Line’s network in 2022. The first E-Flexer is due to be floated out on 16th January. The fourth ship in the series will reportedly be destined to become Brittany Ferries’ Galicia. The ferry operator chartered Seatruck’s 7,606gt/1998 built Clipper Ranger from 18th November for a week as a short-term solution to cover for the 13,017gt/1996 built Stena Hibernia on the Belfast-Heysham route. The ‘Ranger used to serve this route for Seatruck and the ‘Hibernia had been suffering from mechanical issues for a few days prior. Meanwhile, sold out of the fleet have been the two Swedish-flagged Stena 4-Runner Mk II Class Ro-Ro ships, namely the 24,688gt/2001 built Stena Foreteller and the 24,688gt/2003 built Stena Forecaster, to undisclosed Buyers. As from 26th December 26th, Stena Line’s 64,039gt/2010 built Stena Britannica and Stena Hollandica will switch schedules on the Hoek van Holland-Harwich route for 2019 with the ‘Britannica operating the daytime sailing from Hook van Holland and the ‘Hollandica likewise from Harwich. The 24,206gt/2000 built Stena Nordica will return to the Irish Sea in early 2019 to cover for refits on the Cairnryan, Birkenhead and Fishguard services.

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