Brittany Ferries has today signed a letter of intent for the construction of a new ship powered by LNG (liquefied natural gas).
The 1,680-passenger and 257 cabin vessel ship is expected to launch in 2019 on the Portsmouth-Caen route.
The route carries around 70% of the company’s passengers and offers three daily return sailings.
It will operate alongside Mont St Michel, which was launched in 2002.
The deal, signed with the Flensburger Schiffbau shipyard in Germany, will give the ferry operator one of the cleanest, most environmentally-friendly ships to operate in UK waters.
LNG emits less carbon dioxide during combustion than marine fuel oil and burns with no smoke. It’s also free of sulphur and is very low in nitrogen oxide emissions.
"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," said CEO Christophe Mathieu.
More than four in five people travelling on the French company’s ships are British and more than 2.4 million passengers were carried in 2016.
