A multimillion-pound hybrid newbuild ferry for P&O Ferries Dover-Calais service has arrived in the Kent port for the first time yesterday.

P&O Pioneer, the first of twin newbuilds that is joining P&O Ferris fleet, arrived in the Port of Dover in the morning at 8am.

Combined the newbuilds costing £230 million, will replace P&O’s older fleet and significantly the ferries will be the first double-headed vessels on the UK-France.

By having this design, the ferries will reduce time in port when loading and unloading by virtue of not having to turn around in port. In addition to saving o fuel and reduced emissions.

P&O Pioneer is scheduled to make its first journey on the Strait of Dover route on 19 June.

After the ferry operator announced the order in 2020, P&O said the new ferries would cut fuel use by 40% "through a combination of fuel and battery propulsion".

The twins built by the Guangzhou Shipyard in China for P&O who claim their ships are designed with the capacity to be carbon neutral in the future based on the twin assumptions that there are more electric shore charging stations in ports and batteries.

More from KentOnline on the entry of the first of the newbuilds.