MS Barfleur (1992)

MS Barfleur is a ferry operated by Brittany Ferries on the route between Poole on the south coast of England and Cherbourg, France. She was built at Masa Yards Turku New Shipyard in Finland for the Brittany Ferries subsidiary Truckline and entered service in 1992. In 1999 she was repainted in Brittany Ferries standard livery. Barfleur was the last ship to carry the 1983–2002 version of the Brittany Ferries logo and livery which was replaced by the post-2002 version in March 2009. She sails under the French flag and is registered in Cherbourg. Excluding the HSC Normandie Express and RoRo cargo vessels, she is the smallest passenger vessel in Brittany Ferries' fleet.

For other uses of "Barfleur", see Barfleur (disambiguation).

MS Barfleur at Cherbourg
History
Name
  • Barfleur (2012 onwards)
  • Deal Seaways (2012)
  • Barfleur (1992–2012)
Owner
  • SENAMANCHE (1992 - 2020)
  • Brittany Ferries (2020 - present)
Operator
Port of registryCherbourg,  France
RoutePoole–Cherbourg
Ordered1990
BuilderKværner Masa-Yards Helsinki New Shipyard, Finland
Yard number485
Launched26 July 1991
Completed1992
In service1992
IdentificationIMO number: 9007130
General characteristics
Tonnage20,133 GT
Length158.7 m (520.7 ft)
Beam23.3 m (76.4 ft)
Installed power4 × 8-cyl Wärtsilä Vasa 8R32 diesels, 4,020bhp each geared to two controllable pitch propellers
Speed19.5 knots (36.1 km/h; 22.4 mph)
Capacity
  • 1,212 passengers
  • 590 cars; or
  • 304 cars and 66 freight vehicles.
Crew185

From 27 April 2012 until December that year, she was in service with DFDS Seaways who had renamed her as Deal Seaways to ensure she had the same initials as their other ships, all DS. She was used on their joint Dover–Calais route with LD Lines.

Withdrawal and temporary return to service, 2010–2011

On 19 December 2009 Brittany Ferries announced that they would be withdrawing Barfleur from its service between Poole and Cherbourg.[1] They claimed to have been losing money on the service for quite some time.[1] After completing her last trip in February 2010 Barfleur was laid up in the canal near to Caen. For many months there was much speculation as to the future of the vessel with many believing it was to be chartered to another operator. On 16 December 2010, almost a year after the announcement of withdrawal, Brittany Ferries made a statement that Barfleur would resume service on the Poole to Cherbourg route commencing on 27 February 2011.[2] However, the service was to be aimed at freight traffic with proportionately fewer passengers.

On 11 July 2011, Brittany Ferries further announced that Barfleur would again be withdrawn from service between Poole and Cherbourg with effect from 3 October 2011, citing ongoing profitability concerns.[3] The company further commented that the service 'may be reintroduced for the Summer 2012 season'.

It was announced on 10 February 2012 that Barfleur would not resume service in 2012 due to the ongoing difficult economic situation. She would remain laid up at Caen for the foreseeable future.

Transfer to Dover-Calais under DFDS
Barfleur leaving Poole in April 2013
Barfleur leaving Poole in April 2013
Deal Seaways at the Port of Calais in May 2011
Deal Seaways off the White Cliffs of Dover. in June 2012

The French press reported on 23 March 2012 that the ship had been acquired by LD Lines/DFDS Seaways for their joint Dover–Calais service where she would be put into service starting on 27 April.[4] Announcements from Brittany Ferries [5] and DFDS[6] confirmed that Barfleur was to be chartered by the DFDS/LD Lines joint venture. DFDS renamed her as Deal Seaways to ensure she had the same initials as their other ships, all DS.

Deal Seaways's charter was scheduled to end in February 2013 and Brittany Ferries announced that would be renaming her Barfleur, bringing her back into service. DFDS/LD Lines therefore sought a new vessel and managed to charter ex MS SeaFrance Moliere, which had been acquired by Scapino Shipping Ltd after SeaFrance's liquidation. Molière was renamed as MS Dieppe Seaways and joined the Dover/Calais fleet on 7 November 2012 leaving Deal Seaways out of service. Deal Seaways proceeded to Dunkerque for lay-up and de-storing, and was not used by DFDS Seaways before her livery was changed back to that of Brittany Ferries.

Return to Poole-Cherbourg route

The Barfleur returned to the Poole–Cherbourg route on 19 March 2013, running alongside MV Cotentin which inaugurated a new route between Poole and Bilbao, also starting on the same date. The Barfleur re-commenced overnight services between Cherbourg and Poole in November 2013, on a Tuesday and a Wednesday in place of the usual evening service. These overnight sailings were also repeated in 2014 except during the peak summer period.[7] The Barfleur was laid up for the winter period with the last sailing from Poole being on Wednesday 31 January 2018 but returned to service on 4 March 2018.

In January 2023, during an interview with La Presse De La Manche (Actu.fr), Jean-Marc Roué told the interviewers that the company plans to replace Barfleur with the Cotentin. However the date for this has not been confirmed, but is expected to be around 2026. [8]

Routes served

2013 onwards
Commencing on 19 March 2013, Barfleur has run between Poole and Cherbourg, a short sailing of approximately 4+1⁄4 hours each way. There was a winter break from 1 January to 3 March 2018.

1992–2012
Due to a massive increase in passenger numbers on the Poole–Cherbourg route in 1991, Barfleur was lengthened by 19 metres during construction. This increased passenger and freight capacity as well as adding a number of additional cabins. But sources working on this project talk about stability issues and the addition of a section of 7.2 meters or 9 meters (?).
Until 27 February 2007 Barfleur was the largest ship ever to use Poole Harbour. MV Bretagne then held this title until the arrival of the MV Cotentin, after covering for Barfleur's unscheduled 2007 refit.
Barfleur operated one round trip Tuesday to Sunday in 2005 in place a Poole round trip. This regular Portsmouth conventional service was unsuccessful and has not been repeated.

Barfleur has also served on Portsmouth–Caen (Ouistreham) where she acted as refit cover for MV Normandie and MV Val de Loire. During the winter seasons of 1997 and 1998 Barfleur operated between Poole and Santander at weekends and made the crossing in 28 hours.

As a result of major engine problems with Val de Loire in September 2000, Barfleur operated between Plymouth and Roscoff for two round trips before moving to Portsmouth–Caen (Ouistreham) in place of MV Duc de Normandie. Barfleur's place at Poole was taken by MV Purbeck.

On rare occasions Barfleur has also operated routes not usually undertaken by Brittany Ferries:-

Barfleur has sailed on this route as a positioning move to provide refit cover but also as a result of strike action by French dockworkers in October 2002.

As a result of the previously mentioned strike a round trip to Roscoff was undertaken in October 2002 to facilitate a crew change. This route was repeated between 23 and 26 May 2008 due to a blockade of Cherbourg by French fishermen.

In December 2005 Barfleur was chartered by Victor Treacy International for a one off freight-only crossing to help clear a buildup of freight caused by a strike at Irish Ferries.

Accidents

On 16 July 2014 at 6:26am the ferry collided with a chain of the chain ferry crossing Poole harbour entrance, snapping the chain and causing the chain ferry to be out of action for 2 days.[9] This happened on a previous occasion (believed to be around 1996) when damage to the rudder/propellers occurred. The chain ferry now remains stationary on the Studland side when large shipping is passing through.

References
  1. Diana Henderson (18 December 2009). "Poole to lose Barfleur ferry link with France (From Bournemouth Echo)". Bournemouthecho.co.uk. Retrieved 26 November 2016.
  2. "bfenthusiasts | Barfleur is back!". Archived from the original on 7 July 2011. Retrieved 14 January 2018.
  3. Diana Henderson. "Last sailing of Barfleur ferry (From Bournemouth Echo)". Bournemouthecho.co.uk. Retrieved 26 November 2016.
  4. "DFDS/LD Lines lancent un second navire sur la liaison Douvres-Calais fin avril - LaVoixEco.com". Archived from the original on 24 March 2012. Retrieved 14 January 2018.
  6. "News | News and Media". DFDS Group. Retrieved 26 November 2016.
  7. "Poole to Cherbourg ferry timetable". Brittany Ferries. Retrieved 26 November 2016.
  8. "Interview. Ferroutage entre Cherbourg et Bayonne : « Le premier coup de pioche devrait être donné à l'été »". actu.fr (in French). Retrieved 2 March 2023.
  9. Jim Durkin (16 July 2014). "UPDATE: Sandbanks ferry: tests today but service hoping to run again on Friday after chain snapped (From Bournemouth Echo)". Bournemouthecho.co.uk. Retrieved 26 November 2016.
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