[ 2 ] THE SHIP OF THE FUTURE Our new, game-changing P&O Pioneer and P&O Liberté are the fruit of six years of extremely hard work across the board. The project started in-house from a clean sheet of paper but very early on we selected OSK Design as our consulting naval architects. With their out-of-the-box thinking and unrivalled experience in ro-pax ferry design, OSK Design quickly elevated the project to the next level, culminating in a diesel-battery hybrid doubleender design. Although our Spirit-class brought a quantum jump in terms of capacity and fuel efficiency when introduced in 2011/12, it was essentially an evolution of the Darwin-class, being based on proven technology. But, epitomising low-energy ferry design, the Fusion-class is nothing short of a paradigm shift in cross-Channel travel. Besides the double-ended hull, warranting a significantly lower energy consumption, it’s the scope of energy-saving technologies that set the Ship of the Future in a class of its own. We spared no effort to develop what are arguably the most fuel-efficient crossChannel ferries with the lowest possible emissions footprint per transported vehicle and passenger. Lessons were learned from the Spirit-class with, for example, wider and less steep fixed ramps that lead to the upper vehicle deck, the height of which was also increased to accommodate most types of cargo van and campervan. Acting as our eyes and ears, staff across all departments were consulted and had a big say in the new designs, as had our customers whom we always put first. P&O Ferries has been ahead of the pack in Channel ferry design for the past 60 years but with the Fusionclass we have raised the bar to a level which puts us head and shoulders above the competition. P&O Pioneer and P&O Liberté will undoubtedly consolidate our leading position on the Dover–Calais route. We share this route with two other ferry operators, but we are currently carrying about 47 per cent of the available freight volumes and about 50 per cent of the available tourist business. P&O Ferries has become a passionately ‘customer-first’ business and so we have maintained that focus on both our freight drivers and tourists. It is genuinely satisfying to see them happily coexist. I will never ever underestimate the significance of commercial drivers to our business, so making sure that “ P&O Ferries has become a passionately ‘customer-first’ business and so we have maintained that focus on both our freight drivers and tourists. It is genuinely satisfying to see them happily coexist” AN ALL-NEW WAY TO CROSS THE CHANNEL By Peter Hebblethwaite
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