After a delay of two days due to poor weather conditions, Brittany Ferries Barfleur finally resumed its first return crossing from Rosslare to Cherbourg, Normandy, at the weekend, writes Jehan Ashmore.
The Barfleur previously made its maiden sailing to the Irish port last Tuesday, from where it remained overnight as scheduled. However, Wednesday’s crossing was cancelled due to the weather, so a round trip was missed to France; hence, it was not until Friday that the next scheduled sailing from Rosslare was finally commenced in far more conducive conditions.
Afloat took this opportunity to travel on what was to become Barfleur’s, albeit delayed, first sailing from Ireland to France over the weekend of this 'uninterrupted maiden' round trip crossing completed from Ireland.
These sailings saw a change of captain on the outward and return crossings of the French-flagged and crewed ferry. Among the motorist passengers, including those on foot, were truck drivers; however, their dedicated freight lounge was not open, so they shared facilities in the forward self-service restaurant of the ferry, which became popular for generations of passengers as outlined below.
English Routes Closures & Tonnage to be Sold
Prior to Barfleur’s debut to Rosslare, on Monday, it marked its withdrawal from the Poole-Cherbourg route, which closed that day. The 1992 purpose-built cruise ferry entered service that year and has since almost every year served as the link’s single ship for more than three decades, but the closure is now a blow to tourism in particular at the port and the region of Normandy.
Due to declining traffic, the loss-making Dorset-Normandy link, one of the oldest western English Channel routes dating to 1973 (launched as Truckline Ferries until acquired by Brittany Ferries in 1985), was forced to close in addition to recently Le Havre-Portsmouth, which years ago was operated by Etretat. The one-time Norman Voyager of Celtic Link, whose Rosslare route was acquired by Stena Line for more than a decade until they abandoned it just over a year ago, leaving the French company as the sole operator.
As part of a major restructuring of English Channel operations, both routes have closed, and the ferries are to be sold amid rising costs from environmental, operational, and financial pressures that face Brittany Ferries.
On Afloat's visit to Cherbourg, Brittany Ferries's only direct competitor, Irish Ferries (but from Dublin), whose none-foot passenger ropax Isle of Inisheer berthed at the port's No. 4 linkspan. Its fleetmate, cruiseferry W.B.Yeats offers a complete service including the carriage of livestock.
Barfleur's Brief Debut
To recap, the reason for the redeployment of Barfleur on the Rosslare-Cherbourg connection is due to technical problems of the Commodore Clipper, which has been scheduled to re-enter service; however, due to delays, only Barfleur was available, albeit at the cost of closing the France-UK route earlier than planned.
According to one of the Barfleur captains, the cruise ferry is to remain in service only for weeks, as its career is expected to cease in early November, when the larger capacity Armorique is scheduled to take over along with an E-Flexer series, Galicia. As for the Commodore Clipper, based on the company booking website, it is set to enter in December, but as mentioned in previous coverage, it can change due to operational reasons as to what ferry is actually assigned on the continental connection.
Also last Monday, Cotentin completed its final sailing from Rosslare, and notably with the Breton company, as the Finnish-built ship is also to be sold as part of the company's cost-cutting efforts. The custom-built ropax entered service in 2007, initially serving Poole-Cherbourg/Santander, Spain. There was a charter to Stena Line in Scandinavia before returning on English Channel routes and then transferring to the Ireland route on a more dedicated basis.
The Cotentin, after discharging at Cherbourg 2 linkspan, shifted to the nearby Quai de France, awaiting its fate (reported to be sold), alongside the cruise terminal incorporated into the old Trans-Atlantic 'liner' terminal. The same linkspan is used by Barfleur, as was the case with the Poole route.
Rise of the E Flexers
In addition, the Barfluer (one-time chartered to DFDS / Dover-Calais) and Cotentin are aging and more expensive to repair; ferries also use more harmful fossil fuels. This is among the reasons that led Brittany Ferries to the operation of five ‘greener’ E-Flexer class ships, three of which are chartered from Stena, whilst the other two smaller versions were acquired earlier this year, as Afloat previously highlighted.
Another factor is that Barfleur does not match the larger freight capacity of the E-Flexers, which are of increasing importance to the demands from hauliers on the more successful Brexit Irish routes, though Cork-Roscoff is a seasonal service, as is it to close within the first week of November.
On a related note to Cork, this is where Barfleur made an inaugural appearance in Irish waters, where it carried out a one-off freight-only round trip, which is understood to have taken place in 2009.
In the meantime, aside from Barfleur, maintaining the Rosslare route is E-Flexer Santona and ropax Norbay, chartered from P&O, but only running in a freight-role capacity.
Rosslare's 'Wexford' Spring Debut
However, when the Vizzavona chartered from Corsica Linea is introduced as Wexford (replacing Norbay), it will significantly boost capacity on the Rosslare-Cherbourg route. In addition to serving a Cherbourg-Portsmouth round trip, as part of its Ireland-France-UK rotation, but only once a week to the English port and not commencing until March 2027.
By adding just a single weekly round trip on the Portsmouth-Cherbourg route, it does not give much confidence to customers of Western English Channel operations.
Interestingly, the former Brittany Ferries Normandie of Portsmouth-Caen, which made a brief first to Ireland on the Rosslare-Cherbourg route in 2004 in a relief role, was sold to another French firm, but to Mediterranean-based La Méridionale of Marseilles. This is to also see the Finnish-built cruise ferry Massalia transfer to Corsica Linea and take over the duties of Vizzavona.
Western Channel's Inconvenience
The recent closure of Poole-Cherbourg is compounded as the Plymouth-Roscoff route linking Cornwall and Brittany is to close also in early November (but only for the winter), forcing those on either side of the Channel (La Manche) to make a deviation via Portsmouth-St Malo, which is a longer distance route to the Breton port near the boundary with Normandy.
Or alternatively take the aforementioned Portsmouth-Cherbourg link, albeit shorter; however, it involves a longer drive along the Cotentin Peninsula to reach Brittany.
Despite the closure, Poole continues to maintain a link to France, but with the seasonal service to St. Malo, served by the company's fast-craft, but only until the end of this month.
