96 INTERVIEW Brittany Ferries first announced it had chartered two E-Flexer vessels from ship designer and owner Stena RoRo in 2018. At the time, the move to work alongside Stena and shipbuilder CMI Jinling represented a significant shift in strategy for the operator, which had previously ordered and owned its own vessels. According to Frederic Pouget, Brittany Ferries’ group maritime director, the decision to go in a new direction was motivated by the potential of the E-Flexer design. “At the beginning of our process for building the new ships, the main aim was to secure the renewal of our large fleet while having decarbonisation in mind,” says Pouget. “The process of finding a shipyard to meet those aims turned out to be very complex, especially in the European market. When we started to have discussions with Stena, however, we were able to identify a really strong vision and opportunity through the E-Flexer. The flexibility of the vessel type, from both a technical and commercial point of view, really convinced us.” Brittany Ferries has taken delivery of three E-Flexers – Galicia, Salamanca and Santona – and has agreements in place for a further two vessels, Guillaume de Normandie and Saint-Malo. While based upon the same basic design platform, each E-Flexer can be adapted to fit the needs of a particular customer. In the case of Brittany Ferries, these adaptations included a significant increase in accommodation to provide capacity for 1,015 passengers and, for all the vessels after Galicia, the additional capability to operate using LNG fuel. Guillaume de Normandie and Saint-Malo will also be equipped with batteries, enabling them to operate under battery power, as well as a further increase to a capacity of 1,300 passengers. Frederic Pouget, Arnaud Le Poulichet and Joëlle Croc of Brittany Ferries explain to Simon Johnson how five new E-Flexer vessels are renewing the operator’s fleet A flexible future Brittany Ferries’ E-Flexer vessels have been adapted specifically for the brand Photo: Brittany Ferries “ The main aim was to secure the renewal of our large fleet while having decarbonisation in mind” Frederic Pouget
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