Cruise & Ferry Review - Spring/Summer 2021

7 8 ROUNDTABLE Cote D’Opale will begin service for DFDS in summer 2021, sailing between Dover, England and Calais, France Ferry flexible Simon Johnson asks executives from Brittany Ferries, DFDS and Stena Line about the origins of their new E-Flexer ferries, as well as why they expect them to become so popular with guests D esigned in collaboration with Deltamarin, Stena RoRo’s new series of ro-pax ferries is being built and delivered by China’s AVIC Weihai shipyard. The vessels are already living up to the E-Flexer name, being some of the most fuel efficient in the world for their size and being flexible enough to be uniquely customised to meet specific operator and route demands. We ask Brittany Ferries, DFDS and Stena Line to explain how they successfully met the challenge of modifying the ferries to suit their operational requirements and how they have bought their visions to life. Why did you choose an E-Flexer as part of your newbuild strategy? PA : Stena Line started the E-Flexer project back in 2013 with a pre-design study based on our fleet strategy and long-term tonnage plan. We needed to add larger ro-pax ferries to the fleet, but we didn’t want to build bespoke vessels with unique and inflexible features that would increase both capital and operational expenditures. Together with Stena RoRo, we agreed to design a larger ro-pax that could operate on a range of routes offering both high-intensity day crossings and quieter night sailings, while offering high operational efficiency PETER ARVIDSSON Chief Operating Officer at Stena Line Group and Head of the E-Flexer Steering Group at Stena Line K ASPER MOOS Vice President and Head of the Passenger Business Unit at DFDS CATHERINE QUERNÉ Strategy Director at Brittany Ferries S IMON JOHNSON Director of Shipshape Consulting The panel: The host: