Fine Whine

Thanks Jonno, I managed to get the "can't confirm" bit in the wrong place! - do you have any info about whether Stena actually own her now? Chris

In my view Cotentin was (with invaluable hindsight) one of the worst commercial decisions BF have ever made. At a cost of something like 80 million euros she was ordered in 2005 when the world economy was thriving and delivered at the end of 2007 just as we were entering one of the worst financial crises in living memory and the bottom then falls out of the freight market, so right ship, wrong time. In hindsight a Visentini leased in freight only mode would have been a much better option, allowing 80M € of investment to be put towards building the much more important Bretagne 2. Now that she is in full Stena colours I imagine (although I can't confirm this) Stena took up the option to purchase her at the end of the initial 5 year leasing deal in 2018, so I think the the likelihood of seeing her again in the Western Channel in the forseeable future is almost nill. Now if only I had a crystal ball ...... Chris

Which in polite terms means « his bottom and his elbow »...🤣

To put things into stark perspective, I've just looked up freight figures passing through either the Port of Dover or using the tunnel, it's around 4 million trucks per annum or around 11,000 per day - and BF only carried 165,000 freight units on ALL France to UK routes combined last year - mind boggling.....! If the Eastern Channel ports really do start to clog up Plymouth will need far more than a 2 ship operation... Chris

I can feel some cheesy puns brewing - Ed, are you Stilton your main course? Lucky old you David, a beautiful part of France and all 3 of those cheeses stink to high heaven if aged correctly ... Here’s part of my lunch today, à camembert running in all directions ...🙀 Chris

Ah the cheese trolley, the endangered species that's becoming increasingly harder to find as many restaurants opt for a boring selection of underripe offerings straight from the fridge. If softer cheeses aren't ripe they're not worth bothering with in my opinion - last night I found a perfect camembert in Auchan, presented it for dinner only to watch it slowly slide off the plate by the end - yummo! Chris

Then you need to do your homework Peregrine...🤣 🤣 🤣

So in reply to both questions I use it either on MSM or Normandie and it appears to be available on most ships. 3.90€ is for 45 minutes, not an hour though Chris The info below is from the BF website Enhanced Wi-Fi options on board Aboard some of our ships, we also offer an enhanced Wi-Fi service with four options designed to suit your needs. Please note that the service is via satellite so speeds may not be the same as at home or the office. ON OUR SHIPS SAILING TO / FROM FRANCE The following ships offer the Wi-Fi service options listed below. Armorique Barfleur Bretagne Mont St Michel Normandie Normandie Express Level No of devices Price Level 1 - Free Wi-Fi in specific public areas of the ship 1 FREE Level 2 - Web Browsing up to 45 mins (100MB) 1 €3.90 Level 3 - Social Media up to 1 hour, or Web browsing up to 2 hours (300MB) 2 €9.90 Level 4 - Streaming up to 1 films, Social Media up to 2 hours or Web browsing up to 4 hours. (600MB) 2 €17.90 Level 2, 3 and 4 Wi-Fi is available in all areas of the ship. When paying in Euros, your bank may charge you a transaction fee. Prices shown are per sailing. For sailings on Pont-Aven to France, please see its options when sailing to Spain. ON OUR SHIPS SAILING TO / FROM SPAIN The following ships offer the Wi-Fi service options listed below. Cap Finistère Connemara Pont-Aven (also available on sailings to / from France) Level No of devices Price Level 1 - Free Wi-Fi in specific public areas of the ship 1 FREE Level 2 - Basic Web Browsing up to 1 hour (200MB) 1 €5 Level 3 - Social Media up to 2 hours, or Web browsing up to 3 hours (600MB) 2 €14 Level 4 - Streaming up to 2 films, Social Media up to 5 hours or Web browsing up to 7 hours. (1GB) 2 €25 Level 2, 3 and 4 Wi-Fi is available in all areas of the ship. When paying in Euros, your bank may charge you a transaction fee. Prices shown are per sailing.

The free version doesn't but the Premium offering does and is pretty efficient. I consider the 3.90€ for an hours use good value as it allows me to work in the comfort of the cabin undisturbed, certainly better value than the horrendous charges I've had in the past having forgotten to turn off data roaming.... Chris

Looking ahead to its LNG fueling requirements, Brittany Ferries has developed a solution to re-fuel its first LNG vessel, Honfleur. In partnership with Total, industry-standard, containerized LNG will be trucked on board, then lifted into position by onboard cranes where they will replenish Honfleur’s fixed, onboard LNG storage tank. The process will be reversed when mobile tanks are empty, the company said. (source: LNG World News) Which backs up what Ed just posted.... Chris

The latest news I had last week (and it came from the horse's mouth) was that IF2 will be built but not necessarily at Flensburg. That doesn't mean it won't be built there but there are a number of options on the table at the moment. Chris

I'm afraid this is just the tip of the iceberg and although some may view it as "concerning" I"m pretty sure it's happening on a regular basis, and those organizing these operations are getting more sophisticated (and violent) by the day. Only last week an Irish trucker was telling me how he turned up here in Cherbourg recently and the police ordered him to check his vehicle for signs of tampering. All seemd fine until he realised the padlock on the rear doors was the wrong way around, put on by a left handed person and he was right handed. He summoned them to open up and there were 18 Albanians huddled amongst pallets of Yoghurt for a well-known supermarket chain - there were men, women and children. Someone had drilled out the security locks and seal and put it all back in exactly the same position as before, just the inverted padlock as evidence of false entry. Because they had shall we say extensively soiled inside the trailor the complete load was refused at a considerable cost to the haulier, but the driver was allowed free. Criminals are making huge sums of money out of these poor people, it's totally wrong but even a whole army of customs officers can't stop this happening completely. In the past drivers only had to be vigilant around the channel ports, now motorway service stations on main routes heading north are being targetted throughout France, especially trailers with UK or IE registration numbers. Chris

So that makes it a zillion and one times then Gareth....🤣 My view too, backed up by an ex Barfleur captain a few months ago who said exactly the same Chris

I love the castle Nestlé-ing into the cliff - great photos Ed

A word of warning Lygra, I don't know where you're coming from but give yourself an extra hour at the very least just in case; the M5 on a busy summer Sunday can be horrendous, just ask @neilcvx