First glimpse at brand new Brittany Ferries ship Saint Malo

The News, Portsmouth

Transcript

00:00Well I'm Christophe from Putney Ferries, I'm the CEO.

00:04Well I hope they can, today the idea is that already we've invited 200 customers,

00:08very loyal to have this first glimpse and the ship is starting operation in a very few days now, 12th of Feb.

00:16And we've already got quite a few bookings for the first few days

00:19because I think a lot of people are keen to travel on that quickly.

00:25So with the new bookings already set up,

00:27it must give you some confidence that the new ferry being added to the fleet will be something that Customs will want to travel on.

00:33Yeah, as it happens, the bookings to St Malo next year are pretty ahead of last year,

00:41about 10% better than last year.

00:43And we believe there is quite a lot of interest in people booking on that ship,

00:48not only because she's new, but besides being new she's also a very innovative vessel

00:55because as we say to many people, this ship is the first and the biggest hybrid vessel

01:01with LNG on one end and batteries on the other.

01:04And of course we're looking forward to welcoming the second ship in a few weeks

01:09that will serve Portsmouth-Caen with Triam.

01:12And we're looking forward a lot also in Portsmouth City Council

01:17finishing the job to invest on the onshore power system

01:21that will allow us to plug those vessels

01:24and recharge the batteries in the port,

01:28which will not only mean that the ship is no emission whatsoever at port,

01:34but she can do the few miles before getting at sea without any emissions

01:40once the battery will be charged at the port of Portsmouth.

01:43So all I'd say is that there is, I think, a lot of expectation but also a lot of curiosity

01:49because it's a true innovation.

01:52Yeah, so it was a fantastic story because we start from white paper.

01:56So for nothing we create the full engine room.

01:59And today this vessel is the biggest able to operate under full hybrid mode in the channel

02:08with a full power of 12 megawatts.

02:11And we can operate 100% with no emission, so fully electric.

02:16And also at sea we can operate with mixed hybrid to adjust everything

02:21to have the best efficiency in terms of power and emission.

02:26And it must be a great experience for the passengers as well

02:29because while we're traveling the noise is very quiet, the ride was incredibly smooth.

02:33Yes.

02:34And that's something that must be entirely different.

02:36Yeah, this is a real bonus.

02:38This is a free bonus because we create a technical system,

02:42but the bonus is for the passenger because there is more or less no vibration,

02:46no noise, and no funnel, nothing outside the funnel.

02:50So the passenger will be very happy.

02:53So the passenger experience will be very, very, very huge.

02:57And we hope all passengers will come on this vessel to a fantastic crossing.

03:02So how does the system actually work then?

03:05Because you said you can turn it from just using the electric power

03:09but also then use the LNG power as well whenever you have to.

03:13Yeah.

03:14So that means you can change the mode like in a car.

03:18So if the master wants to use the electric system, just push a button, nothing happens.

03:23You go to the electric.

03:24If you want to go back to the LNG, we go back to LNG.

03:27And we can also use a mix.

03:29For example, we have two shaft lines on this vessel.

03:32We can have one shaft line with the LNG and the other one with the electric.

03:37So that means we will adjust all the time the best efficiency for the vessel,

03:42for the environment, and for the passenger.

03:45It must be a big benefit for the passengers in port then

03:48because obviously the engines aren't running.

03:49It's fully on electric when it's in port, isn't it?

03:51Yes, yes.

03:52Today we leave Portsmouth on electric and it was a fantastic experience.

03:57So for the future Brittany Ferries ship coming up,

04:01do you think that this engine setup will be the basis for the other ships in the future?

04:06In fact, in the technical story of the company, we are going forward step by step.

04:11So it's quite complicated to make a big jump.

04:14So we go jump by jump.

04:16And we are waiting also another vessel like this one, the Guillaume de Normandie.

04:21And we already start to use BO LNG and BO Gasol.

04:26So day after day, we progress and we go forward to have a full clean vessel in the next years.

04:36For more information, visit www.fema.gov

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