P&O Ferries Decarbonisation of its Fleet as Second ‘Fusion’ Class Double-Ender Due to Debut on Dover-Calais

8th March 2024

P&O Liberté, the company’s newest hybrid ferry custom-built for the Dover-Calais route, which was due to debut in November but was delayed, has finally completed its delivery voyage from China. The new build, AFLOAT, tracked off Dover on sea trials in recent days and is back in port, is the second of twin ‘Fusion’ class ferries that is to enter service soon on the UK-France route and join last year’s leadship, P&O Pioneer, as the world’s largest double-ended hybrid ferries. The Fusion ships, costing £230m, use hybrid capacity to reduce carbon emissions by up to 40%, with capacity for more reductions when greater shore power is available. Credit: P&O Ferries-facebook

Dover-Calais operator, P&O Ferries has shared promising results from its new fuel and energy efficiency initiative following significant measures to reduce carbon emissions in 2023.

The introduction of P&O Ferries’ new dedicated Fleet Support Centre for Fuel and Energy Efficiency, alongside the introduction of the first of twin 'Fusion' class new hybrid ferries, P&O Pioneer in 2023, has contributed to a reduction of almost 50,000 tons of carbon emissions from the fleet during last year.

A second 'Fusion' class newbuild, P&O Liberté, which this month is to enter Dover-Calais service, Afloat adds, replaces the route’s oldest generation of 'Darwin' class twins, leaving the UK-France link to be run by yet more twins, the 'Spirit' class Spirit of Britain and Spirit of France.

• P&O Ferries cut almost 50,000 tons of carbon emissions from its operation in 2023 with the introduction of a new hybrid ferry in June and its new dedicated initiative to reduce fuel consumption – the Fleet Support Centre for Fuel and Energy Efficiency.

• This follows a reduction of over 85,000 tons in 2022, achieved through partnerships with other operators to enable the company to sail less frequently - and other measures to improve the technical efficiency of its vessels.

P&O’s Fleet Support Centre for Fuel and Energy Efficiency

P&O’s Fleet Support Centre, based at the company’s Dover headquarters, uses the latest SmartShip technology and fuel meters onboard each ferry. This gives the company a wealth of new data that can be used to track and reduce fuel and energy consumption. The ability to see granular data on fuel consumption for each route and vessel allows P&O Ferries to investigate any changes in consumption and see the result of efficiency efforts straight away.

The data also gives deep insight into the impact of different variables such as: the weather, operating system, method of operating the vessel and its schedule. Close collaboration with the ship teams and other stakeholders is critical to the success of fuel reduction in using the data to optimise vessel performance.

Since the rollout across the P&O Ferries’ fleet in recent months, the Fleet Support Centre’s new approach has reduced fuel consumption and related emissions on key routes during 2023, with further fuel reductions of 5% expected for 2024.

Examples of the initiative’s results so far include:

On the Larne-Cairnryan route: the two vessels were showing different fuel consumption despite operating the same route. Deeper analysis of their operating systems and the route showed a 7% decrease in fuel consumption in 2023.

On the Hull-Rotterdam route: a change in speed and consumption was noted as the vessels adjusted to keep on schedule. A slight adjustment to the schedule allowed the vessels to keep to a consistent speed and resulted in a fuel reduction of 3.6% ton per leg.

On the Dover-Calais route: the new system allowed P&O Ferries to find the most effective way to operate its new hybrid ferry P&O Pioneer, which uses a technologically advanced system with battery packs that optimises efficiency and significantly reduces emissions. This new approach ensures the vessel consumes the least fuel necessary for effective operations.

P&O Pioneer’s impact on emissions

With the introduction of P&O Pioneer on the Dover-Calais route last summer, the vessel’s hybrid technology and innovative double-ended design (meaning that the ferry does not need to turn around to leave the port) also sees the ship uses up to 40% less fuel per crossing compared to our other vessels on the Dover-Calais route. This reduces carbon emissions by 6.49 tons per crossing – this is broadly equivalent to driving an average diesel car for 23,500 miles.

The second P&O Ferries’ newbuild hybrid ferry, P&O Liberté will come into service this month, completing the replacement of the oldest generation of vessels in the company’s cross-Channel fleet - Afloat notes, the Darwin class twins, Pride of Canterbury and Pride of Kent.

Owen Barry, Director of Maritime Operations at P&O Ferries, said: “P&O Ferries is committed to decarbonising its operation and our two new hybrid ferries, P&O Pioneer and P&O Liberté have shown that we are a step ahead in reducing our fuel consumption and related emissions. But for us to continue to drive down our emissions we have taken steps to digitalise our entire fleet so we have useful and reliable data on how our vessels are performing.

“We believe that our approach is leading the sector by combining the latest technology with a dedicated, experienced in-house team who work in close collaboration with our crew to get the best performance from every vessel in our fleet. We have already seen a solid reduction of fuel compared to 2022 and we expect another 5% decrease during 2024.”

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About The Author

Jehan Ashmore

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Jehan Ashmore is a marine correspondent, researcher and photographer, specialising in Irish ports, shipping and the ferry sector serving the UK and directly to mainland Europe. Jehan also occasionally writes a column, 'Maritime' Dalkey for the (Dalkey Community Council Newsletter) in addition to contributing to UK marine periodicals.

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