Spirit of France to arrive in Dover 28th January 2012

Spirit of France to arrive in Dover 28th January 2012

On Tuesday 24 January P&O Ferries will take delivery of its second new €180 million ship, Spirit of France, during a handover ceremony at the STX Europe shipyard in Rauma, Finland.

Captain Steve Johnson, senior master will then take command of the Spirit of France on its 1400 mile voyage to Dover.

At more than 47,000 gross tons and 213 metres in length, Spirit of France, and sister ship Spirit of Britain, which began service last year, are the largest ferries ever built for the Dover Strait. Their combined cost of €360 million is the largest investment ever made by P&O Ferries.

P&O Ferries operates 22 ships on routes to Northern Ireland, Ireland, Holland, Belgium and France, carrying more than nine million passengers, more than one and a half million cars and two million trucks a year.

Spirit of France particulars:
Gross tonnage: 47,592 tons. Length: 213m. Beam: 31.43m. Number of decks: 12.
Capacity: 170 x 15m lorries + 195 cars (or 1,000 cars). 2,000 passengers.

Below article from ThisIsKent

The arrival of the ship has been delayed because of a vibration issue for which a solution now appears to have been found.
The SoF will the join the freighter European Seaway and the Prides of Calais, Canterbury, Kent and Burgundy.
The Spirit of Britain – an identical ship to the SoF – is currently in dry dock in Dunkerque and will undergo the same engineering solution in the spring to cure the same vibration problem.

P&O Ferries' senior managers are desperate to get a full fleet in service – especially the new, large capacity SoB and SoF ferries – to accommodate the extra business created by SeaFrance's withdrawal from the route after its serious financial problems.
A spokesman said: "We hope that the Spirit of France will soon successfully complete the final sea trials and start making its delivery voyage from the shipyard in Finland where she and the Spirit of Britain were both built.

"We understand that after the remedial works we have undertaken, the vibration issue has been largely eradicated or is within design tolerance."

On the extra business the demise of SeaFrance's has created, the spokesman added: "Clearly, the extra business is a welcome boost after four years of grim recession.

"Market conditions remain pretty tough."

Just P&O Ferries operate a service into Calais from Dover at present, while DFDS principally sail to Dunkerque.
Other carriers may sense an opportunity to seize some of the market share left behind by SeaFrance.

The P&O spokesman added: "There are now slots in Dover and there are slots in Calais, so there is every chance that others might come along and take a look at what they can make of it. It's the nature of the business."

Spirit of France was due to bolster the P&O fleet in autumn last year until the vibration problem was detected in both ships.