Update 22.02.22: Having been delayed by successive storms, GNV SPIRIT (ex CAP FINISTÈRE) left for Italy this morning. The newly renamed ship departed Le Havre at approx 09:30 local time. AIS indicates an arrival in Napoli on the evening of 26 February.
Italian ferry company GNV (Grandi Navi Veloci) has announced that its most recent acquisition, Brittany Ferries CAP FINISTÈRE, is to leave the French port of Le Havre for Italy today. However, it remains to be seen if the forecast extreme weather associated with Storm Euince delays this from happening.
Her first destination will be the Nuova Meccanica Navale shipyard in Naples. While there, she will be renamed GNV SPIRIT and repainted in GNV’s distinctive livery. The 2001-built ship will also undergo maintenance ahead of the coming season.
Built as SUPERFAST V by HDW in Germany as one of six similar vessels, she passed to Brittany Ferries in 2010. The arrival of SALAMANCA to the fleet means that CAP FINISTÈRE has been deemed surplus to requirements. The ferry operated her last sailings for Brittany Ferries in November 2021.
She becomes the latest in a long line of UK ferries to pass to GNV, including the former PRIDE OF YORK and PRIDE OF BRUGES which the company purchased last year.
GNV currently operates 27 ferry routes in the mediterranean. Once she enters service later in the year, GNV SPIRIT will take the operational fleet to 25 ferries. It appears that she will operate on GNV’s existing routes.
With capacity for 1,595 passengers and 1,926 lane metres of vehicles; the new ship, which is capable of 29 knots in service, will be a useful addition to the GNV fleet. CAP FINISTÈRE was fitted with exhaust gas cleaning scrubbers at Astander during 2015 when she lost her distinctive Superfast funnel shape.
