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Plug-in hybrid ship Brittany Ferries Saint-Malo prepares for Pompey
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Saint-Malo at sea
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Saint-Malo in twilight side-on
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Saint-Malo leaving port on sea trials
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Le Littoral restaurant
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Bar - Breizh Ma Bro
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Club Lounge
Brittany Ferries LNG-electric hybrid vessel Saint-Malo has taken to the water. She is undertaking sea trials1 this week in the far east, ahead of her transit to Europe in November.
Portsmouth will be her home from early next year. She will link Pompey with the eponymous Corsair town from which she takes her name. And she will be the cleanest vessel on the Channel, operating like a hybrid car. That means running on cleaner liquefied natural gas (LNG) at sea and on electric power when manoeuvring, as well as when alongside in port, thanks to shore-side power.
Passengers will feel like they have arrived in Brittany the moment they step on board because interior design has been realised in partnership with the Brittany Region. Of course dedicated French crews will help with the Breton ambiance: more than three quarters of the company’s sailors hail from the north west peninsula.
Saint-Malo will be an exemplar of locally sourced produce served in her restaurants. She will also feature a huge choice of new cabin types including 28 pet-friendlies, an exclusive club lounge and an art collection hosting 150 works by Alexander Goudie.
“Saint-Malo will be the fourth new vessel to join the fleet, part of the biggest fleet renewal project in our company’s 52-year history,” said Christophe Mathieu CEO Brittany Ferries. “This vessel and sister-ship Guillaume de Normandie are significant steps on our journey to a more sustainable future. Cleaner and greener is one thing, but these new hybrids will also be love letters to the regions they serve. So stepping on board will be like your first step into a region where you’re your holiday begins.”
Saint-Malo replaces Bretagne. Launched in 1989, this grande dame of the Brittany Ferries fleet, sails for the final time on 3 November. Her replacement enters service on 12 February 2025. For more information and tickets: https://www.brittany-ferries.co.uk/ships/cruise-ferries/saint-malo/about
Plug-in power will come to Portsmouth International Port via the Sea Change Project2. Preparatory work is already underway in the port, ready for the arrival of shore-power ready ships on two berths.
On-board Saint-Malo:
Hybrid technology is Saint-Malo’s party piece. But the onboard experience will be enhanced for customers on the popular Portsmouth to St Malo route.
Importantly, comfort and accessibility were at the forefront of design. St Malo will therefore feature a much more spacious garage, wider interior spaces and more comfortable beds than the ship she replaces. Video on-demand is available throughout the ship, including in cabins.
Her ten decks house 387 cabins, 28 of which will be pet-friendly. Woof woof. There will also be an ultra-luxury Admiral Cabin, a cabin for six occupants and cabins designed for those with allergy issues. The ship’s capacity is 1,290 passengers
Brittany Ferries contributed 231 million Euros to the Brittany region through tourism last year (and nearly a billion euros to France plc overall). The new ship will continue to present the best of Brittany, hosting two fabulous restaurants called Le Littoral and Le Jardin. These will feature locally sourced produce, some of which may have been grown on the farms of the company president and shareholders, the majority of whom are still Breton farmers. There will be a luxury club lounge and fantastic, spacious bar bathed in light.
Saint-Malo’s voyage to Europe will commence this autumn (2024). Following ramp trials, staff training, tweaks and fine tuning, she will enter service in February 2025. Her inaugural voyage promises to mark a significant milestone in the company’s storied history.
- What are sea trials?
Sea trials serve two purposes for a new vessel. Firstly, they present the opportunity to test systems and sea-worthiness under realistic conditions for the first time.
This includes things like the main and auxiliary engines, pumps, alarms and safety systems such as firefighting equipment. The schedule also includes speed and manoeuvrability tests and an assessment of noise and vibration at sea. Propellor reversal tests demonstrate the ability of a ship travelling at top speed to stop within a limit specified in SOLAS* regulations.
Sea trials are also the opportunity for a ship builder to demonstrate to the end-user that contractual conditions have been met, paving the way to “delivery” of a vessel. Delivery refers to the passing of ownership from ship builder to user, rather than a physical voyage which in Saint-Malo’s case will take place from China to Europe in November 2024.
- What is the Sea Change project? (shore-side power at quay: Portsmouth International Port)
The Sea Change project is part of the Zero Emissions Vessels and Infrastructure competition (ZEVI), which was announced in February 2023, funded by UK Government and delivered in partnership with Innovate UK. As part of ZEVI, the Department for Transport allocated over £80m to 10 flagship projects supported by 52 organisations from across the UK to deliver real world demonstration R&D projects in clean maritime solutions.
Projects will take place in multiple locations from the Orkney Isles to the south west of England. ZEVI is part of the UK Shipping Office for Reducing Emission’s (UK SHORE), focused on clean maritime technologies that can be scaled rapidly to decarbonise the UK’s domestic maritime sector. In March 2022, the Department announced the biggest government investment ever in our UK commercial maritime sector, allocating £206m to UK SHORE, a new division within the Department for Transport focused on decarbonising the maritime sector. UK
SHORE is delivering a suite of interventions throughout 2022-2025 aimed at accelerating the design, manufacture and operation of UK-made clean maritime technologies and unlocking an industry-led transition to Net Zero.
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