#FerryNews - Brittany Ferries final Ireland-France seasonal sailing saw a former flagship cover for routine route flagship Pont-Aven, which otherwise was engaged in Route du Rhum duties, writes Jehan Ashmore. 

This year, Cork-Roscoff which achieved the best performing service of the French company's route network (incl. UK, France and Spain) saw the return of former flagship Bretagne to Irish waters. The 1989 built Bretagne first operated on the Irish service until 1992. The ferry normally operates St. Malo-Portsmouth was redeployed to the Roscoff-Cork (Ringaskiddy) last Saturday morning before returning overnight to Brittany arrival on Sunday morning.

On that same day, fleetmate Pont-Aven, given it's flagship status is required as the official Route du Rhum start vessel to depart St. Malo where the race began in the afternoon. Earlier upon completion of Bretagne final end of season from Cork, disembarked passengers and vehicles in Roscoff. From the Breton port is where the cruiseferry carried spectators to the race start further along the 'Granite' coast off St. Malo.

The practice of deploying a different ferry on Cork-Roscoff's final sailing is a routine occurrence every four years as this is to facilite the start of the Route du Rhum. Since its inception in 1978, Brittany Ferries have been an official partner. This year is also significant as it aptly coincides with the 40th anniversary of establishing the Ireland-France link, when the Armorique made the maiden sailing as Afloat reported earlier this year.

Roll on 40 years, as when Bretagne reached the waters off St. Malo for the Route du Rhum, the near 30 year old cruiseferry joined Pont-Aven. In addition, Afloat having tracked ferry activity, noted the specially reactivated, Normandie Express having departed Cherbourg, Normandy, is from where the fast-ferry also ended seasonal service to Portsmouth albeit back in September.

The trio of ferries were all chartered to allow spectators and sponsors of the Route du Rhum watch the start of the race spectacle. The yachts headed off on a transatlantic spectacular as the loan skippers brave the elements in a dash to Guadeloupe, an insular region of France located in the Caribbean Sea.

Following the departure of the main flotilla heading further west into the English Channel, Normandie Express it was noted was the first ferry to leave the sailing scene by returning to Cherbourg, while Pont-Aven proceeded to St. Malo. The flagship then began sailings on the company's cross channel crossing to Portsmouth. This service otherwise operated routinely by Bretagne which returned to Roscoff to disembark race followers.

For the first time the Port of Cork continues with a Brittany Ferries presence year round, as in the summer a newly launched 'direct' Ireland-Spain (Santander) service began. The économie branded service is operated throughout the year. 

As for traffic figures (click here) this is where the Irish-Iberian link's use of chartered-in ropax Connemara has contributed. The next scheduled departure from Cork is this Friday.

#FerryNews- Cork-Roscoff route was the strongest performing Brittany Ferries service of the French company's network, linking the UK, France and Spain, however concerns over Brexit loom on the horizon, writes Jehan Ashmore.

Figures released by Brittany Ferries for passenger and freight figures covering quarter-three period (July-Sept) 2018 show an encouraging season. During the 3-month period, passengers figures on the Ireland-France route for 2017 was 44,744 and this compared to this year with 48,700 (an increase of 9 per cent).

The rise in passengers is reflected through the introduction in May of additional capacity following the debut of the chartered-ropax, Connemara on the Ireland-France route but also on the new first ever 'direct' Ireland-Spain link between Cork and Santander.

On the UK, Spain and Ireland routes, there were 127,434 passengers in 2017 and for this season the figure reached 142,108 a rise of 12% on these long-haul routes, again due to the contribution of Connemara.

Overall passenger numbers on Brittany Ferries routes over the summer season were also up 2pc to 1,078,507 compared to the same period last year.

In terms of freight figures, Brittany Ferries have published an overall total for all routes (and likewise of passengers, it is for the same timeframe). Total freight carried in 2017 was 47,815 while for this season the number was marginally down at 45,649. A difference of -5 per cent. 

Brittany Ferries which uses three UK English Channel ports (Portsmouth, Poole and Plymouth) is where 85 per cent of the ferry firm's passengers are UK holidaymakers visiting key regions in France and northern Spain.

In recent months, Brittany Ferries announced a total €450m investment in three new ships post-Brexit on UK-France-Spain services (firstly next year, LPG fuelled Honfleur followed by a pair of Stena E-Flexers), however they also raised an alarm. This is from a fall in demand for family holidays next summer, which Brittany Ferries has warned of serious consequences for international tourism and the regions it serves if a Brexit deal does not bring certainty and the free movement across borders enjoyed by customers today.

Roll back to more than four decades when the origins of Brittany Ferries arose from Breton farmers wanting to export vegatables to new markets in the UK, which would lead to the formation of the largest ferry operator currently on the English Channel. The company, Bretagne-Angleterre-Irlande (B.A.I) otherwise as we know as Brittany Ferries was founded by Alexis Gourvennec who strove to enrich Brittany for the benefit of its citizens.

Since Brittany Ferries first sailing took place in 2 February 1973, the day after the UK (along with Ireland and Denmark) joined the European Economic Community (forerunner to the EU), the French operator has grown into a multi-national operation whose biggest export region is British tourists.

The launch earlier this year of the new Ireland-Spain service has opened up opportunities not just for tourists but also freight-hauliers. In addition to increasing cultural Celtic connections with the Iberian peninsula.

#FerryNews - Brittany Ferries resumed seasonal Cork-Roscoff service this Easter Bank Holiday, the sailings also celebrated the 40th anniversary of the route, writes Jehan Ashmore.

The 41,700 gross tonnage flagship, Pont-Aven launched the Ireland-France season having arrived in Roscoff yesterday morning. The 14 hours crossing marked the completion of the first round trip of the season that began on Friday night.

The 2,400 passenger/650 car capacity cruiseferry operates on what continues to be the shortest fastest route to France which has proved popular with Irish holiday-makers.

In 2017, Brittany Ferries carried more than 87,000 passengers, which was an increase of 4% on the previous season and contributing to the national economy. While France continues to be a popular travel destination for Irish travellers, the number of French people visiting Ireland showed no signs of waning as nearly 45,000 availed of the route, representing 52% of all passengers carried.

The service which asides providing a convenient direct route to the continent has also developed strong cultural ties between Ireland and France. This year sees the launch by Brittany Ferries économie no-frills Mondays sailings from Cork (from 30 April) in tandem to the flagship's routine Saturday service.

Brittany Ferries as previously reported are to launch the first ever direct Ireland-Spain route, Cork-Santander service starting on 2 May. A chartered in ropax, Connemara will operate the Bay of Biscay route and based on an économie no-frills service.

Rolling back the years and prior to the launch of the Cork-Roscoff route in May, 1978, a special promotional visit to Cork City centre quays took place on St. Patrick's Day. This involved the arrival of the 5,372 tonnes flagship Armorique.

The sleek profile of this 1972 French built ferry, the former Terje Vigen, was acquired three years later by the operator and renamed Armorique. The ship named after the Armorique Natural Park stretches from the Altantic Ocean to inland countryside. As for the ships' stylish lines combined with the French novely factor drew large crowds of curious Corkonians along the South Custom Quay, opposite Cork City Hall. On board were representatives from Brittany that travelled over and took part in the annual festival parade. 

In addition a fleetmate, albeit even smaller, Penn-Ar-Bed made a special trip too that month to Cork and again to the same quay. The maiden commercial voyage was performed by Armorique on 27 May and proved an instant success with holidaymakers and freight. The venture paid off and had defied the critics at the time as to its viability.

The Armorique with a 700 passenger capacity and space for 170 vehicle decks, carried the vast majority of traffic as the end of season sailings were operated by Penn-Ar-Bed. This custom-built ferry of a mere 2,981 tonnes could only handle 420 passengers and 160 cars.

At the end of the first season, the Breton based operator announced that carryings were so encouraging and that they would in 1979 charter a freight-only ferry, Normandia. This allowed all freight to be carried separately and free-up space for passengers and holiday-based motorists on Armorique.

Services then used the former ferryport terminal in Cork at Tivoli downriver of the city, before operations transferred to the current Ringaskiddy Terminal in lower Cork Harbour. In the four decades of the Roscoff service, there have been 14 ferries, some appearing under different names. Also the role of three freight ro-ro ships operating the route.

Some ships it should be added made a once-off call to Cork (see Duc de Normandie) due to providing relief cover for routine ships going for dry-dock. This ferry for example had been deployed from the operators France-UK network which includes direct UK-Spain services.

The network in 1978 comprised of 5 routes, this included the launch of a new direct UK-Spain route, Plymouth-Santander. Over the past four decades the network has expanded to more than double the number of routes linking the four nations. 

#ferrynews - Cruiseferry Pont-Aven has made its final Ireland-France voyage of the year, marking the end of the Brittany Ferries 2017 sailing season.

Building on the success of 2016 when numbers were up by 3%, 2017 showed a further 4% increase on the number of people travelling on the Cork-Roscoff route. The cruise-ferry operator carried more than 87,000 passengers in the year and ended the season strongly with 4,100 passengers and 1,157 cars on the last two sailings of the season.

While France continues to be a popular travel destination for Irish travellers, equally the number of French people visiting Ireland with Brittany Ferries show no signs of waning as the number of French passengers travelling with the cruise-ferry operator continued to grow. 2017 saw nearly 45,000 French passengers avail of the route, representing 52% of all passengers carried on the Cork-Roscoff crossings.

Commenting on the 2017 season, General Manager Hugh Bruton said, "2017 was another successful season for Brittany Ferries. We have experienced strong passenger growth over the last few years and we are delighted to report that this trend has continued again this year. France has so much to offer holidaymakers, from family fun, to those searching for adventure activities, to golfing getaways. We’re also delighted to see that our French passenger numbers remain strong, as Brittany Ferries continues to make a valuable contribution to the Irish economy. We look forward to building on the success of 2017 and welcoming new and returning passengers in 2018, in what will be the 40th anniversary of our Cork-Roscoff route.”

Earlier this year, Afloat reported on Brittany Ferries £175m order of a new LNG-powered ferry,Honfleur to operate the Portsmouth-Caen route. Due to be delivered in 2019, she will come with an innovative fuel delivery and storage system to help navigate a way around the absence of LNG storage in ports.

Although the 2017 season has concluded, holidaymakers planning their next escape can book now for 2018 and avail of a 15% early booking discount. Passengers will also have the added benefit of being able to secure their preferred travel dates and accommodation.

The Pont-Aven continues to offer the fastest direct ferry crossing from Ireland to France, taking just 14 hours and operating to a convenient weekend schedule. The state-of-the-art ship is the newest and most modern ship to be found on any direct crossing between Ireland and France. Afloat adds that the first outbound sailing from Cork to Roscoff resumes on 31st March.

Passengers can enjoy an authentic French on board experience, unmatched cruise style standards and award-winning service and cuisine. Facilities include pool and bar areas with panoramic sea views, two cinemas, shopping malls, luxurious spa treatments and a wide range of restaurants as well as complimentary Wi-Fi in all public areas of the ship.

#ferrydisruption - Today's Brittany Ferries sailing from Cork to Roscoff is among routes that have seen crossings cancelled due to the adverse weather conditions arising from Storm Brian.

The company is currently contacting all passengers to offer assistance due to the cancelled scheduled sailing this afternoon.

Last night's inward bound sailing to Cork from France had too been cancelled. As a result cruiseferry Pont-Aven was forced to vacate the single berth at the Breton port. This was to faciliate another Brittany Ferries cruiseferry, Armorique that too has had to cancel sailings today to Plymouth in the UK.

The cancellation of Pont-Aven's round trip Irish route this weekend has led to cruiseferry having to take shelter further along the coast in the Baie de St. Brieuc.

For latest sailing updates on Cork-Roscoff route, click Brittany Ferries website here to include contact details (by scrolling down) beyond English Channel routes.

The seasonal operated Irish service ends this year with final sailings taking place from France on Friday, 3rd November and that from Ireland on Saturday, 4th November.

Other operators have also cancelled and delayed sailings between Ireland and the UK along with those serving between Ireland and France. 

For the latest information from Irish Ferries click here for Stena Line, click this link and for those from P&O Ferries.

#Increase – An increase of 5% has been reported by operator Brittany Ferries in the number of passengers travelling to Ireland in 2016, compared to the previous year.

The company begins its seasonal Ireland-France service next month operated by Pont-Aven. On Saturday, 1 April, sailings depart from Cork (Ringaskiddy) and every subsequent Saturday throughout the season. The return sailings depart from Roscoff every Friday until early November.

Ireland’s popularity as a travel destination show no signs of waning as the number of French passengers travelling with the cruise-ferry operator has been rising steadily over the last number of years. General Manager Hugh Bruton said ‘We’ve noticed an increase in the number of French passengers travelling to Ireland, which has been a continuing trend in the last few years, and demonstrates both the popularity of Ireland as a travel destination and the valuable contribution that Brittany Ferries is making to the Irish economy.’

Bruton added, ‘There’s no better way to experience all that France has to offer than on a self-drive holiday and the figures reveal that passengers enjoy the many advantages of ferry travel. Not only does it allow holidaymakers to explore the region at their own pace, it also means you can pack as much as you want, which is particularly convenient for families with a large amount of luggage, adventurers travelling with bikes or keen golfers hoping to get into the swing of things on France’s greenways.

The service in 2016 ended strongly with 4,500 passengers and 1,100 cars on the last two sailings of the season. 2017 looks set to be an even more successful year with ferry bookings up 4% on the previous year.

Pont-Aven will resume the fastest direct ferry crossing between Ireland to France, taking just 14 hours and operating to a convenient weekend schedule. The state-of-the-art ship is the most modern to be found on any of the direct continental crossings .

#BrittanyFerries – Brittany Ferries this year celebrate 35 years of Cork-Roscoff service currently served by flagship Pont-Aven, which every weekend makes a round-trip up to early November, writes Jehan Ashmore.

Pont-Aven arrives every Saturday morning and departs in the afternoon bound for Breton port which is a 14 hour crossing.

The luxuriously appointed Pont-Aven has top-class facilities and where French chefs and friendly bi-lingual staff all add to create a typically Gallic and chic atmosphere on board.

Brittany Ferries are offering an early autumn break. Book now and enjoy 6 days in France from €338 return for a car plus two passengers including cabin each way - the equivalent of just €169 per person return.

But hurry...as bookings are to be made by tomorrow (15 September) for travel dates up to 26 October 2013. For further details visit: www.brittanyferries.ie/6-day-late-summer-autumn-getaway

The Irish-French route began operations in 1978 firstly served by the Armorique, followed by Quiberon, Bretagne and Val de Loire.

#BrittanyFerries35th – Today Brittany Ferries celebrates launching into its 35th year in operating the Cork-Roscoff seasonal service served by 'flagship' Pont-Aven, writes Jehan Ashmore.

Speaking about the upcoming 2013 season, General Manager of Brittany Ferries, Mr Hugh Bruton said: "This is always a busy time for us as we re-commence our service from Cork to Roscoff. We are delighted to report that the route is currently ahead by 12% on last year which is a great sign for The Gathering!

"It's also an exciting time for the business as we are celebrating our 40th anniversary globally and 35 years of sailing from Cork to Roscoff. Our continued service offers affordable, convenient holidays to France which is perfect for families of all ages".

Pont-Aven, is not just 'any' ferry as at 41,000 tonnes, she has an array of luxurious facilities to include a spa and swimming pool and an on board ambiance of French flair combined with a bilingual crew.

The flagship departs every Saturday from Ringaskiddy Ferry Terminal until November 2013. She offers the shortest and fastest route between Ireland and France, taking 14 hours, several hours shorter than rivals running routes from Rosslare.

The origins of Brittany Ferries can be directly derived to Breton vegetable farmers who wanted to export their produce to markets in the UK following the closure of other west English Channel ferry routes more than forty years ago.

A co-operative of French farmers got to together to form Bretagne-Angleterre Irlande (B.A.I) otherwise as we know today as Brittany Ferries, which started a new service to Plymouth in 1973.

Brittany Ferries soon found demand not just from agricultural exports but in the reverse direction with passengers from the UK which really boosted the fortunes of the company. On foot of this success and within the next few years further routes were added to include its first route to Ireland opened in 1978.

Armorique, Quiberon, Bretagne and Val de Loire are not just nice-sounding names from locations in Brittany and beyond to conjure images and memories of travels past but these placenames were also given to name the ferries that served the route down through the decades.

The route has also brought closer ties through Irish-Gallic history and heritage but also Celtic cultural connections.

For more information on Brittany Ferries 2013 season schedule and more visit www.brittanyferries.ie

#FrenchFerry- Cork-Rosscoff is the shortest route to France and Brittany Ferries will open the 2013 season in a month's time with sailings served by the luxury cruiseferry Pont-Aven.

Connections to Cork have improved with M7 and M8 motorways, with driving times from Dublin just 2.5 hours and from Belfast taking 4.5 hours.

Brittany Ferries have a range of cottages, apartments and chalet camping in Brittany, Western Loire or beyond.Until the end of the month, savings of 15% can be made on holiday accommodation and 15% on sailings. But hurry, the offer to save twice must book by 28 February.

Sailings begin on 23 March from Ringaskiddy ferryport and operate on Saturdays with an afternoon departure.

For further details on this offer visit: www.brittanyferries.ie/holidays/2013-holiday-offer

#FERRY NEWS- Brittany Ferries are to resume sailings today, following the end of an industrial dispute as previously reported on Afloat.ie, which was carried out by employees that led to services halted between UK, France, Ireland and Spain.

The Breton ferry company was forced to suspend services for 10 days after strikes erupted and employees fought to disrupt the operator which sought cuts in costs by reducing salaries and the frequency of crossings.

The Irish service, operated by the Pont-Aven on the weekend only round-trip route from Roscoff to Cork, is to depart the French port this Friday 5th October, at 21.15hrs. The return sailing departs Cork (Ringaskiddy) on Saturday 6th October at 16.00hrs.

All English Channel routes are to resume today though the company had to cancel tomorrow's 11.00hrs sailing from Portsmouth to Santander as the ship is out of position.