Menu

Ireland's sailing, boating & maritime magazine

Displaying items by tag: RoPax BenMyChree

#ISLE OF MAN FERRY – This weekend will see the final round-trip of seasonal Douglas-Dublin sailings operated by the Isle of Man Steam Packet Company.

The ro-pax ferry Ben-My-Chree is scheduled to depart Douglas tomorrow evening at 19.30hrs with an arrival in Dublin Port on (Sunday30 December) just after midnight at 00.15hrs.

The ferry will make her return departure to the Isle of Man, departing Dublin Ferryport at 01.00hrs with an arrival at the Manx capital scheduled for 05.45hrs.

For sailing schedules including Manx-UK routes, click HERE.

Published in Ferry

#MANX FERRY- In preparation for the busy festive season, the Isle of Man Steam Packet Co. (IOMSPCo) are to deploy Ben-My-Chree to operate two round-trip Douglas-Dublin Port crossings, writes Jehan Ashmore.

The ro-pax (90-freight trailer/630 passenger) ferry is scheduled to depart Douglas on Saturday 22 December at 19.30hrs with an arrival in Dublin Port at 00.15hrs on the morning of Sunday 23 December. The return sailing departs the Irish capital at 01.00hrs.

On the following weekend, Ben-My-Chree heads for the 4 hour 45 minute Irish route again on Saturday 29 December, departing Douglas at 19.30hrs and arriving in Dublin just after mid-night at 00.15hrs. The return crossing on Sunday 30 December to the Manx capital departs 01.00hrs.

For updates on sailing schedules to include Manx-UK routes between Douglas-Heysham and the winter only operated Douglas-Liverpool (Birkenhead) route visit: www.steam-packet.com/en/LatestSailings

Published in Ferry

#FERRY NEWS- This weekend's round-trip Douglas-Dublin sailings are to be served by fast-ferry Manannan (1998/5,743grt) instead of conventional ferry, writes Jehan Ashmore.

Usually these winter sailings are operated by Ben-My-Chree (1998/12,504grt), as the Dutch built ro-pax is in dry-dock at Cammell Laird, Birkenhead for repairs to her bow-thruster.

The InCAT built Manannan will cover these sailings with an arrival in Dublin Port this evening at 22.00hrs. She spends a short-around in port lasting only 45 minutes, before returning to the Manx capital.

Published in Ferry

About Brittany Ferries

In 1967 a farmer from Finistère in Brittany, Alexis Gourvennec, succeeded in bringing together a variety of organisations from the region to embark on an ambitious project: the aim was to open up the region, to improve its infrastructure and to enrich its people by turning to traditional partners such as Ireland and the UK. In 1972 BAI (Brittany-England-Ireland) was born.

The first cross-Channel link was inaugurated in January 1973, when a converted Israeli tank-carrier called Kerisnel left the port of Roscoff for Plymouth carrying trucks loaded with Breton vegetables such as cauliflowers and artichokes. The story, therefore, begins on 2 January 1973, 24 hours after Great Britain's entry into the Common Market (EEC).

From these humble beginnings however, Brittany Ferries as the company was re-named quickly opened up to passenger transport, then became a tour operator.

Today, Brittany Ferries has established itself as the national leader in French maritime transport: an atypical leader, under private ownership, still owned by a Breton agricultural cooperative.

Eighty five percent of the company’s passengers are British.

Key Brittany Ferries figures:

  • Turnover: €202.4 million (compared with €469m in 2019)
  • Investment in three new ships, Galicia plus two new vessels powered by cleaner LNG (liquefied natural gas) arriving in 2022 and 2023
  • Employment: 2,474 seafarers and shore staff (average high/low season)
  • Passengers: 752,102 in 2020 (compared with 2,498,354 in 2019)
  • Freight: 160,377 in 2020 (compared with 201,554 in 2019)
  • Twelve ships operating services that connect France, the United Kingdom, Ireland and Spain (non-Covid year) across 14 routes
  • Twelve ports in total: Bilbao, Santander, Portsmouth, Poole, Plymouth, Cork, Rosslare, Caen, Cherbourg, Le Havre, Saint-Malo, Roscoff
  • Tourism in Europe: 231,000 unique visitors, staying 2.6 million bed-nights in France in 2020 (compared with 857,000 unique visitors, staying 8,7 million bed-nights in 2019).