MV Armorique (2008)

The MV Armorique is a passenger and freight ferry built for Brittany Ferries by STX Europe in Finland at a cost of £81 million (€110 million).[2][3][4] The vessel was delivered to Brittany Ferries on 26 January 2009,[5] it was originally planned for her to be delivered in September 2008. Armorique is named after a national park of outstanding beauty in western Brittany. Armorique was also the name of a previous Brittany Ferries vessel purchased for service between Portsmouth and St Malo in 1975 and sold in 1993.

MV Armorique berthed at Saint-Malo
History
Name: Armorique
Owner: SOMAROP
Operator: Brittany Ferries
Port of registry: Morlaix,  France
Route: Plymouth - Roscoff
Ordered: January 2006
Builder: STX Europe Helsinki New Shipyard, Finland
Cost: £81 million (€110 million)
Yard number: 1362
Laid down: 14 March 2008
Launched: 10 August 2008
Completed: 28 January 2009
Maiden voyage: 10 February 2009
Identification: IMO number: 9364980 Call Sign= FMLW
Status: In service.
General characteristics
Tonnage: 29468 GT
Length: 168 m (551 ft)
Beam: 26.8 m (87.9 ft)
Speed: 25 kn (46 km/h)[1]
Capacity:
  • 1500 passengers
  • 470 cars
  • 65 freight vehicles

The vessel was designed and built specifically for the Plymouth-Roscoff route, as a replacement for the MV Pont L'Abbe

Her maiden voyage was due to be on 10 February 2009 at 15.00hrs, sailing from Roscoff to Plymouth. However, due to severe weather conditions, this crossing was cancelled, and she sailed to Plymouth without passengers. The overnight crossing from Plymouth on 10 February went ahead, making this her maiden voyage.

Armorique sails under the French flag and is registered in Morlaix.

Routes

Current route
  • Plymouth - Roscoff

Other routes served
  • Portsmouth - Bilbao
  • Portsmouth - Santander
  • Portsmouth - Saint Malo
  • Portsmouth - Caen
  • Plymouth - Santander
  • Poole - Cherbourg
  • Roscoff - Cork
  • Portsmouth to Le Havre

The Armorique is the only ferry to visit all the ports that Brittany Ferries operates.

MV Armorique at Plymouth Ferryport sporting the new logo (December 2018)

Design

Armorique is identical to the Cotentin from keel to deck five. The first deck of passenger space is on deck six rather than deck 7 as on the Cotentin.

Initial artist impressions from Aker Yards showed a vessel that shared a number of similarities to the Cotentin.[6] However, Brittany Ferries released an altered artist's impression of the Armorique in December. Revisions include a design change to the funnel and upper cabin deck along with alterations to the proposed livery.

Pictures released by Brittany Ferries show the ship will have double deck vehicle access at the bow and stern to decks 3 and 5 though while on her usual route loading of deck 5 will be via an internal ramp due to lack of double deck facilities at Plymouth or Roscoff. The stern door will be narrower than the one fitted to the Cotentin.

References

Notes
  1. "History & specification of Armorique". Brittany Ferries. Retrieved 2016-11-25.
  2. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2007-09-27. Retrieved 2007-07-16.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  3. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2007-09-28. Retrieved 2007-07-16.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  4. "Hjem - Aker ASA". Akeryards.com (in Norwegian). 2016-11-07. Retrieved 2016-11-25.
  5. "Archived copy". Archived from the original on 2009-02-03. Retrieved 2009-01-30.CS1 maint: archived copy as title (link)
  6. "Hjem - Aker ASA". Akeryards.com (in Norwegian). 2016-11-07. Retrieved 2016-11-25.
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