First steel cut for new Brittany Ferries LNG ship Saint-Malo

The ship, also to be named Saint-Malo, will work like a hybrid car when she joins Brittany Ferries’ fleet in three years’ time.

A Brittany Ferries spokesman said: ‘She will run on LNG, on electric power or on a combination of the two. The benefits include significantly lower emissions, less noise and a smoother ride for passengers.

‘She will also be shore-side power ready. That means Saint-Malo will automatically become cleaner when investment in infrastructure in ports like Portsmouth allows her to be plugged-in when alongside.

‘Saint-Malo will the third of four LNG-powered ferries to join the Brittany Ferries fleet and will replace much-loved grande dame Bretagne. Salamanca began operations from Portsmouth in March this year and Santoña will arrive in the port for her first sailing next spring.’

Salamanca’s first trip saw more than 600 passengers and freight vehicles leave Portsmouth for Bilbao in Spain, and she was the first ferry in the UK to run off LNG rather than the usual heavy fuel oil – which is much more polluting.

Speaking just before Salamanca left Portsmouth for the first time, Brittany Ferries CEO Christophe Mathieu said Portsmouth was the company’s ‘hub’, and was important to the company as Terminal 5 is to Heathrow Airport.

He said that the four LNG ferries would play a role in helping the city’s port reach its stated aim of being the greenest in the country.