French ferry company Brittany Ferries has today confirmed reports that it has agreed to sell CAP FINISTERE to Italian company Grandi Navi Veloci (GNV). Although no figure has been confirmed, a sale price of between 45 and 50 million Euros has been suggested elsewhere.
The proposed sale comes ahead of the arrival of CAP FINISTERE’s replacement, SALAMANCA, at Bilbao tomorrow. The brand-new ship is on the final stage of her 7,529-nautical mile delivery voyage from China. She has just passed Lisbon at the time of writing. Earlier this week she took on LNG bunkers from dedicated shoreside facilities for the first time at Cartagena, Southern Spain.
Christophe Mathieu, CEO Brittany Ferries, said:
“Cap Finistère has served us well for the last decade and she will be missed by crew, passengers and freight drivers,”
“She is a fine ship and I am delighted that GNV will be her new owner. We are now ready to finalise the deal and to bid her a fond farewell.”
https://brittanyferriesnewsroom.com/agreement-for-sale-of-brittany-ferries-cap-finistere/
The sale of CAP FINISTERE is the latest piece of business between Brittany Ferries and other shipping companies. Earlier this year, Brittany Ferries and CMA CGM (which owns GNV) announced a partnership which sees Brittany Ferries shipping CMA CGM containers across the English Channel. The first containers were shipped from Le Havre yesterday onboard COTENTIN.
Shop onboard CAP FINISTERE. Image: Brittany Ferries -
Deluxe Cabin onboard CAP FINISTERE. Image: Brittany Ferries Restaurant, CAP FINISTERE. Image: Brittany Ferries Bar Area, CAP FINISTERE. Image: Brittany Ferries -
The Upper-Deck Bar Area onboard CAP FINISTERE. Image: Brittany Ferries
CAP FINISTERE will join a number of other former UK and Irish ferries in the GNV fleet. These include the former PRIDE OF YORK/BRUGES, OSCAR WILDE, KONINGIN BEATRIX, and PRIDE OF PORTSMOUTH/LE HAVRE.
CAP FINISTERE was completed as SUPERFAST V in 2001 by HDW in Germany for Superfast Ferries. She passed to Brittany Ferries at the end of 2010 and has spent most of the past decade serving that company’s routes between England and Spain.
Brittany Ferries finally receives its first LNG ferry
SALAMANCA is not only the newest ferry in the Brittany Ferries fleet but is also the first to be fuelled by liquid natural gas (LNG). In addition to having a larger passenger and vehicle capacity than the vessel she replaces, SALAMANCA is also a far more efficient ship incorporating the latest technologies and design innovations. This, however, comes at the cost of a lower service speed. She is Brittany Ferries third attempt at introducing a brand-new ferry fuelled by the “greener” fuel following the shelved PEGASIS project and cancelled HONFLEUR. The company had also considered retrofitting some of its existing vessels to run on LNG during 2014, but opted for exhaust gas scrubbers instead.
The latter ship is nearing completion in Norway and has been freshly linked with Polish operator Polferries in recent days.
SALAMANCA is an E-Flexer class ferry and a part-sister to Brittany Ferries diesel fuelled GALICIA, DFDS’ COTE D’OPALE, and Stena Line’s STENA ESTRID, STENA EDDA, and STENA EMBLA. Brittany Ferries has three further E-Flexer vessels on order including replacements for NORMANDIE and BRETAGNE.
