So silent it’s spooky: electric ferries boost summer passenger volumes

Brittany Ferries is celebrating a summer season boosted by the arrival of two LNG-electric hybrid ships. Passenger volumes rose three percent from June to September to 1.2 million.

Its flagship route serving Portsmouth and Caen carried 415,824 of those passengers. They travelled on brand new vessel Guillaume de Normandie, one of two hybrids to have joined the fleet in spring 2025. Their arrival marked the final step in the largest fleet renewal programme in the company’s 52-year history.

On entering and leaving Portsmouth port the hybrids travel on pure electric propulsion. That means no emissions, little vibration and no noise other than the hull gliding through water.

“On many departures passengers are unaware the ship is moving until they see sights like Spinnaker Tower passing on the port side,” said Christophe Mathieu, company CEO. “Meanwhile, Pompey residents, used to the visceral thumping of huge cruise-ship diesel engines, have started to call our hybrids the Brittany Ferries’ ghost ships.”