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Discover Ferries outlines major sector investment
The ferry industry is set to invest more than £1billion in new ships, port improvements and services in the next four years.
The statistics were announced today by Discover Ferries, the industry body for ferries.
Director Emma Batchelor said the figures reflected the sustained popularity of ferry travel.
"More than 39 million passenger journeys are made by ferry to UK islands, the Isle of Man and Ireland, France, Spain and Holland and those sustained numbers are enabling ferry operators to invest with confidence in new ships and new routes," she said.
"Ferry travel today is transformed compared to a decade ago and enjoys a loyal following of travellers who value comfort and space. In the next four years the scale of this investment will see another step change in service for travellers."
Developments include Irish Ferries’ £128 million cruise ferry W.B. Yeats which will sail between Holyhead and Dublin from mid-September, delivering additional capacity for 1,885 passengers and crew and 1,200 cars per crossing.
Red Funnel Isle of Wight Ferries is investing £7 million in a new high speed catamaran Red Jet 7, coming into service between Southampton and West Cowes in early July as a sister ship to Red Jet 6.
New for summer 2018 is Wightlink’s Victoria of Wight, a new hybrid car ferry operating between Portsmouth and Fishbourne.
In March 2019, work will begin on Brittany Ferries’ new £175 million state-of-the-art new ship, the Honfleur, on the Portsmouth-Caen route. It has also today announced a new route between Cork and Santander.
Stena Line is building four new 1,000-passenger ships to be be delivered during 2019 and 2020 with Stena having an option on a further four vessels as part of the overall contract. The vessels will be 50% larger than today’s standard RoPax vessels.
Longer term, Irish Ferries has ordered a second new cruise ferry which will start sailing between the UK and Ireland in 2020. When built, it will be the largest cruise ferry in the world, with space for up to 1,500 cars or up to 330 freight trucks.
Bev
Editor in chief Bev Fearis has been a travel journalist for 25 years. She started her career at Travel Weekly, where she became deputy news editor, before joining Business Traveller as deputy editor and launching the magazine’s website. She has also written travel features, news and expert comment for the Guardian, Observer, Times, Telegraph, Boundless and other consumer titles and was named one of the top 50 UK travel journalists by the Press Gazette.
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