Brittany Ferries

This article is about the ferry company. For the historic trimaran, see Brittany Ferries (trimaran).

Brittany Ferries is the trading name of the French shipping company, BAI Bretagne Angleterre Irlande S.A. founded in 1973 by Alexis Gourvennec, that operates a fleet of ferries and cruiseferries between France, England, Ireland, Spain and the Channel Islands.

Brittany Ferries

Pont-Aven arriving in Santander
Company type	Private company
Industry	Passenger transportation Freight transportation Holidays
Founded	1973
Founder	Alexis Gourvennec
Headquarters	Roscoff, France
Area served	France, United Kingdom, Ireland, Spain, Channel Islands
Key people	Jean-Marc Roué Christophe Mathieu Frédéric Pouget Corinne Vintner
Revenue	€444.2 million (2018)
Total assets	€444.2 million (2018)
Owner	BAI Bretagne Angleterre Irlande S.A.
Number of employees	2,787 (2018 average – high and low seasons)[1]
Website	brittany-ferries.co.uk brittany-ferries.fr brittany-ferries.ie

History

Brittany Ferries logo until 1984

BAI (Bretagne Angleterre Irlande) S.A. was founded by Alexis Gourvennec. Working with fellow Breton farmers, Gourvennec lobbied for improvements to Brittany's infrastructure, including better roads, telephone network, education and port access. By 1972 he had successfully secured funding and work to develop a deep-water port at Roscoff. Gourvennec had no desire to run a ferry service, but existing operators showed little appetite for the opportunity.

The company itself began sailings on 2 January 1973 between Roscoff in Brittany and Plymouth in the South West of England, using the freight ferry Kerisnel, a former Israeli tank carrier. The company's primary aim at that time was to exploit opportunities presented by the UK's entry into the European Common Market, forerunner to the European Union, in order to export directly to markets in the United Kingdom.

In 1974, Kerisnel was replaced by Penn-Ar-Bed, which carried both passengers and vehicles, and the BAI company adopted the name Brittany Ferries.^[2]

In late 2009, the new Poole–Santander freight-only service was deemed a success and the frequency was doubled: there would now be two services a week operated by Cotentin. In November 2009, Armorique was laid up for the rest of the winter season. Major changes were announced in December 2009. Barfleur was withdrawn from service at the end of January 2010 after nearly 18 years service on the Poole–Cherbourg route. The service was temporarily served by Armorique, which came back to service earlier than originally planned. The Poole–Santander service reverted to one sailing a week with Cotentin covering freight on the Poole–Cherbourg service in the absence of Barfleur. Condor Vitesse continued to operate one round sailing a day in the summer months between the two ports. Cap Finistère ran between Portsmouth and Santander twice a week and also operated three round trips a week between Portsmouth and Cherbourg. In September 2010, Brittany Ferries announced plans to serve the Portsmouth–Bilbao route recently abandoned by P&O Ferries.^[3] The route started on 27 March 2011.

On 21 September 2012, Brittany Ferries cancelled sailings indefinitely following two days of wildcat strikes caused by crew members who were unhappy with changes in working terms and conditions. Meetings took place between management and unions to negotiate the management proposals. A vote was taken on 30 September by union members to decide if the management proposals would be accepted. The crew members accepted the proposal and services resumed on 2 October after 12 days without services. During this period, Brittany Ferries made special arrangements with P&O Ferries and MyFerryLink to accept tickets on the Dover–Calais route. Unused tickets were refunded.^[4] Services were not affected on the Poole–Cherbourg route which was being operated by Condor Ferries.

Brittany Ferries logo until 2018

In 2018, Brittany Ferries commenced service between Cork, Ireland, and Santander. This was cancelled and effectively replaced in February 2020 by the Rosslare–Bilbao service which runs twice weekly.^[5] A seasonal service between Rosslare and Roscoff is also offered.^[6]

From late March 2020, due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, Brittany Ferries was forced to cancel all passenger sailings until 15 May 2020 after British government advice was issued against all travel.^[7] Initially they had been offering refund vouchers valid for 2 years for affected customers. Many customers were unsatisfied with vouchers and had requested a refund. Brittany Ferries had begun to issue refunds in the last week of April for customers that wished for a refund. Customers were entitled to a refund under EU regulation 1177/2010.^[8]

Normandie passing the Spinnaker Tower

On 23 July 2020, Brittany Ferries announced the launch of a brand new Rosslare–Cherbourg service.

On 19 August 2020, as a consequence of the ongoing COVID-19 crisis, the company confirmed that it was reducing ferry services from the end of August and laying up various ships, beginning with Armorique and Bretagne. Further schedule changes were likely in the months ahead, the company confirmed in March 2021. It also confirmed the launch of a five-year recover plan following the loss of more than half of its revenue, the consequence of restrictions on passenger traffic in all markets in which it operates.^[9]

On 20 July 2021, Brittany Ferries announced at a press conference in Paris that it had secured a charter with Stena RoRo for 2 more E-Flexers. The new vessels are due to replace the MV Normandie on the Portsmouth–Caen route and MV Bretagne on the Portsmouth–St Malo Route. The charter is expected to run for 10 years with the option to purchase after 4 years.^[10]

On 8 August 2024, Brittany Ferries announced its intention to become the majority stakeholder of Condor Ferries, pending approval of regulators in Jersey and Guernsey.^[11] The company received regulatory approval for the move in September 2024,^[12] later signing a new 15-year contract with Guernsey in December 2024. This was announced after Jersey appointed DFDS Seaways as their chosen operator.^[13]

Fleet

Current

Ship	Built	Entered service	Gross tonnage	Length	Beam	Service speed	Vessel type	Port of registry	Current status
Armorique	2009	2009	29,468 GT	168.30 m	26.8 m	25 knots	Cruiseferry	Morlaix	In service
Barfleur	1992	1992	20,133 GT	158.7 m	23.3 m	19.5 knots	Cruiseferry	Cherbourg	In service
Commodore Clipper	1999	2025	13,456 GT	129.19 m	23.4 m	18.8 knots	Roll-on/roll-off ferry	Nassau	In service
Condor Voyager	2000	2005	6,581 GT	97.22 m	26.6 m	46.5 knots	High-speed craft ferry	Nassau	In service
Cotentin	2007	2007	22,252 GT	167.00 m	26.80 m	23 knots	Roll-on/roll-off cargo vessel	Cherbourg	In service
Galicia	2020	2020	41,671 GT	214.50 m	27.8 m	22 knots	Cruiseferry	Morlaix	In service
Guillaume de Normandie	2024	2025[14]	38,000 GT	194.00 m	27.8 m	23 knots	Cruiseferry	Morlaix	In service
Islander	2005	2025	13,906 GT	124.9 m	23.4 m	18.8 knots	Roll-on/roll-off ferry	Nassau	In service
MN Pelican	1999	2016	12,076 GT	155.5 m	22.7 m	20 knots	Roll-on/roll-off cargo vessel	Marseille	In service
Mont St Michel	2002	2002	35,586 GT	173.95 m	28.5 m	22 knots	Cruiseferry	Caen	In service
Pont-Aven	2004	2004	40,859 GT	184.3 m	31.0 m	27 knots	Cruiseferry	Morlaix	In service
Saint-Malo	2024	2025	38,000 GT	194.00 m	27.8 m	23 knots	Cruiseferry	Morlaix	In service
Salamanca	2021	2022	41,863 GT	214.50 m	27.8 m	22 knots	Cruiseferry	Morlaix	In service
Santoña	2022	2023	42,400 GT	214.50 m	27.8 m	22 knots	Cruiseferry	Morlaix	In service

Past Fleet

Ship	Built	In service	Tonnage	Current status
Kerisnel	1973	1973	1,983 GT	Sank while under tow to Turkish breakers on 15 May 2014
Bénodet	1970	1983–1985	4,317 GT	Scrapped in Turkey, 2021
Goelo	1967	1980–1982	5,149 GT	Scrapped in Turkey, 2001
Penn-Ar-Bed	1974	1974	6,399 GT	Scrapped in India, 2004
Armorique	1972	1976–1993	8,181 GT	Sunk in The Java Sea, 2011
Cornouailles	1977	1977	6,918 GT	Scrapped in Turkey, 2013
Reine Mathilde	1970	1978–1992	7,747 GT	Scrapped in India, 2005
Breizh Izel	1970	1980	6,576 GT	Scrapped in Turkey, 2014
Tregastel	1971	1985	8,696 GT	Sold to Baaboud Shipping as MS Noor. Sold for scrap in 2022
Coutances	1970	1985–2008	6,507 GT	Sank in Puerto la Cruz, 2018
Purbeck	1978	1985	6,507 GT	Sank in Puerto la Cruz, 2018
Quiberon	1975	1982–2002	11,813 GT	Renamed D'Abundo and sent to Alang for scrapping
Duc de Normandie	1978	1986–2005	13,505 GT	Scrapped in Aliaga in 2021 as the Damla
Duchesse Anne	1979	1988–1996	9,795 GT	Since 1996, with Jadrolinija as Dubrovnik
Val de Loire	1986	1993–2006	31,564 GT	Since 2006, with DFDS Seaways as King Seaways
Pont L'Abbe	1978	2006–2009	17,564 GT	Since 2009, with Moby Lines as Moby Corse
Baie de Seine	2001	2015–2020	22,382 GT	Returned to DFDS Seaways in March 2020 as Sirena Seaways
Kerry	2001	2019–2020	24,418 GT	Returned to Stena Line in November 2020
Etretat	2008	2014–2021	26,904 GT	Returned to Stena Line in April 2021, as Stena Livia
Cap Finistère	2001	2010–2022	32,728 GT	Sold to Grandi Navi Veloci in January 2022 as GNV Spirit
Connemara	2007	2018–2022	27,414 GT	Sold to StraitNZ in December 2022 as Connemara
Bretagne	1989	1989–2024	24,534 GT	Sold to Baleària in March 2025 as Rosalind Franklin
Normandie	1992	1992-2025	27,451 GT	Sold to La Méridionale in April 2025 as Massalia

Routes

Route	Vessel
Portsmouth ⇄ Caen	Guillaume de Normandie and Mont St Michel
Portsmouth ⇄ Le Havre	Commodore Clipper
Portsmouth ⇄ Cherbourg	Commodore Clipper, Galicia and Santoña
Portsmouth ⇄ Saint Malo	Saint-Malo
Portsmouth ⇄ Santander	Santoña
Portsmouth ⇄ Bilbao	Galicia
Portsmouth ⇄ Guernsey	Islander
Portsmouth – Guernsey – Saint Malo	Islander
Poole ⇄ Cherbourg	Barfleur
Poole ⇄ Bilbao	MN Pelican (Freight only)
Plymouth ⇄ Roscoff	Armorique and Pont-Aven
Plymouth ⇄ Santander	Pont-Aven
Cork ⇄ Roscoff	Armorique and Pont-Aven
Rosslare ⇄ Cherbourg	Commodore Clipper, Cotentin and Galicia
Rosslare ⇄ Le Havre	Cotentin
Rosslare ⇄ Bilbao	Salamanca
Saint Malo – Guernsey – Poole	Condor Voyager
Saint Malo – Guernsey – Jersey	Condor Voyager