David Williams

Anyone know what they did to Normandie during her short layover in Cherbourg ?

and April 2021 is when the proposed rail link will start !

Interesting that the Shippax sentence <<This is equivalent to the current trailer throughput of Brittany Ferries' Cherbourg-Poole service which, according to Brittany Ferries, will benefit from the company's tonnage renewal later this year.>> is not in the BF release - not sure why they spent the money on the Barfleur make over ! Edit - reading the BF release more carefully it does say << This rail project is part of a larger strategy that also includes the renewal of its fleet, which Ouistreham and Cherbourg should benefit from 2020.>>

I note that Liekut now has the AIS switched on - no sign of Honfleur yet !

I imagine that the purpose is to protect BF business, unaccompanied freight will grow and trailers are the only option that BF can offer. Large haulage companies can manage the logistics of managing the trailer movement. The only other option for unaccompanied freight is containers and BF are not in that market. Logically short sea containers with simple transfer to train and lorry will be the future for non time critical freight and that will cause BF major problems in the future.

She is in Cherbourg for a very short time, maybe they needed a part that they could not get quickly during her stay.

The 22nd is in 10 days ! I would call it next weekend, however that does not translate well to French speakers

Which side of a double ended ship is Port ?

Yes, however if this forum was to ban hesitation, repetition or deviation it would be a bit boring !

I am impressed with the way that the eflexer series is being built with most of the build being standardised but with customisations on length, bow thrusters (the DFDS version) and cabin / vehicle combinations. I know that enthusiasts obsess with the external appearance of a ship, however the view that most have of a ship is when entering her through the front or rear doors & that is not their best side ! Some of the Dover Calais ships can be said to look ugly, however the external ramps to load cars at the top plus the planned 2 'faced' one are excellent examples of designs that have their end goal in mind which is efficiency which leads to making money. Assuming that the performance of the eflexers are as good as they seem to be, it would make sense for BF to agree with Stena to continue building the range for the next 10 years and for all new BF ships to be from that range with versions that suit the routes (ie length/ fuel/ cabins etc)

I would have thought that BF would have learnt the lesson re customised designs from European shipyards, Logically they should go for an eflexer of the correct length and start running a proper business independent of the wishes of the ship financiers (be they regions or European subsidies !)

Some would say that you don’t need a sticker on the door to stop the cabin being cleaned !

Back to the 25 Million loss on turnover per year, I imagine that it is an average turnover loss for each year when comparing with 2015 which was a bit of a high point & would include the 2019 figures. However it should all be clear by the end of this year whether the ferry markets will improve or get significantly worse - it will depend on how friction-less trade is going to be which could definitely affect accompanied freight sailings. In addition the prospect of the Norman Fishermen blockading the ports cannot be ruled out if they don't get the same access to British waters as at present.

The purpose of linking to the official list was to show the typical timings of cruise ships in port, I guess that if a deal is struck by Saga they will be added to the official list.

I understand that they can get the guarantees if they can show that the projects are viable and will make money, the fact that they haven’t speaks volumes.