BF Val de Loire

[brynithel]

I have just recieved a telephone call from BF, informing me that the Val de Loire

has been taken out of service and is being sold. My booking for 22nd of February Caen-Portsmouth is therefore cancelled. They have offered some alternatives (limited options), which I am considering. The lady that I was speaking to asked for further contact numbers, eg mobile numbers in France and UK. explaining that it was difficult to contact all those who have made bookings because they do not have all the contact numbers. If anyone has book for this period on this Ferry, please take note.

John

[Will]

I have heard nothing about this, being in the business so to speak we do usually get the odd whisper of what is happening in the ferry world. I am awaiting a call back from Brittany Ferries' press officer, who is usually pretty helpful.

However the web site is still showing the Val de Loire as being in service in January (alongside the Normandie on Portsmouth/Caen) while for Feb 22, the date in question, the Portsmouth/Caen route is shown as being operated by the Mont St Michel and Bretagne. So from that information I can't see why the booking was cancelled.

It is of course normal in the winter season for the ships to be mixed up a bit, as they undergo routine maintenance and drydocking in the off-peak period.

If the ship is indeed being taken out of service, it could explain why the Cherbourg service is apparently being cut back. We shall see.

[PeterCD]

Interesting this.............we booked Portsmouth/Cherbourg on 18th November for 27th March 2006 leaving at 0800.  On Monday this week - 21st - a lady from BF calls to say that this service is no longer avaible as they are revising all their schedules and if it was OK they have booked us the same day Portsmouth/Caen which leaves Porstmouth at 0845.

Seems like BF are moving things around because in the Portsmouth Evening News last night they announced that the only services from Portsmouth to Cherbourg in 2006 would be High Speed only.

PeterCD

[Martin963]

Maybe getting that monopoly on the Western Channel routes and thinking they could charge what they like isn't the license to print money they thought it would be.

[Punch]

[quote]I have heard nothing about this, being in the business so to speak we do usually get the odd whisper of what is happening in the ferry world. I am awaiting a call back from Brittany Ferries' press off...[/quote]

 

Actually quite surprised you of all people hadn't even had a whisper Bill - Most of western France already know   In fact by the time you read this I think the deal would have been as good as done.

From today's Ouest France Newspaper;

Le Brittany Ferries vend le ferry Val de Loire

Si tout se passe comme prevu, la Brittanny aura vendu le ferry Val de Loire avant la fin de cette semaine. Un groupe danois est interesse par le navire que la compagnie bretonne prevoit de remplacer par un ferry plus adapte a la ligne Roscoff-Plymouth. Ce futur navire demandera 100 millions d'euros d'investissement a la Sabemen, societe dont la Region Bretagne et les departements sont actionaires majoritaires. Le Val de Loire a ete evalue a 50 millions d'euros.

 

Paul

 

 

[Deimos]

Le Val de Loire a ete evalue a 50 millions d'euros

At that price I might just buy a few

[brynithel]

I was hoping that Will would shed some light on this situation. have you had any response from BF?

My crossing booked on the 18th September Clearly states that hte Val de Loire was making the crossing from Caen to Portsmouth Departing at 16.15 arriving at 21.15. They did explain that they had ordered a new ferry which was being built and should be in service in two years. They have plans to hire another ferry in the meantime but this was not available until March and would need to be painted etc. before being brought into service

[Will]

Thanks to Paul for that information from Ouest France, which doesn't seem to have got through to the rest of the world .

Interesting that they refer to a ship more suited to the Plymouth-Roscoff route. The Val de Loire was first chartered, and later bought, to serve the Plymouth services - but the newest ship, the Pont Aven, was designed and built specifically built for these routes of course, and has been working in conjunction with the Bretagne (which if my memory serves me right was built to be used on the Roscoff and St Malo routes), the Val de Loire being used mainly in 2005 for the St Malo service though latterly it has been going to Cherbourg.

I have spoken to Brittany Ferries again, but they still don't have any answers - I got the distinct impression that the Ouest France announcement may have been a little premature, as nothing seems to be decided yet.

Two things which have been firm for some time -
1. the summer service to Cherbourg will be high speed only. This isn't vastly different from 2005, when the Barfleur was used to fill in a gap at weekends when the Normandie Express did one of its two daily trips to Caen instead of Cherbourg. This wasn't popular with the Poole travellers, particularly freight customers, so the ship is working wholly out of Poole for 2006.
2. the new ship, the Coutances 2, was ordered from a Norwegian builder during last summer. BF is laying a bit of a red herring by inferring that this ship is directly replacing the Val de Loire, as it is primarily a freight carrier (as the Barfleur was originally, but the new ship has been designed to travel considerably faster) and it is planned to use it between Portsmouth and Cherbourg (2 return trips daily) on weekdays, with a freight-only service to Spain at the weekend. As it is not due until autumn 2007, and will not be able to handle much in the way of car and foot passenger traffic, there is obviously a need for another ship to plug the gap.

[Will]

I have had another conversation with Brittany Ferries, as the company is now able to release information on what is happening.

The sale of the Val de Loire is now definite, the ship will be going to DFDS Seaways. As part of the deal, Brittany Ferries will be getting the DFDS ship Duke of Scandinavia on medium term charter. The ship will be renamed Pont l'Abbé and refurbished in Brittany Ferries colours, ready to enter service in March. This ship was built in Denmark in 1978 as Dana Anglia, and was used on the Harwich-Esbjerg route until 2002 when she was transferred to the Baltic, then to Newcastle-Ijmuiden.

The company is about to place an order for a further new passenger ship, provisionally named Bretagne 2, for delivery in Spring 2008 - further details soon.

The rationale behind the change is that the existing Bretagne is too large to use economically on the Plymouth-Roscoff route, and the new ship is being designed specifically for this service. Bretagne 1 will work the St Malo route, where she is currently operating while the Val de Loire serves Cherbourg.

Brittany Ferries says that the published winter schedule isl being maintained as far as possible. The company says that cancellations and changes to times and routes are mostly being applied to bookings made several weeks ago (though see postings above - W). Future bookings made via the website or using the current timetables will not be affected. There may be a few more minor alterations to cabin bookings or similar to reflect the change in ships.

It does sound as if you have made a booking for the next few weeks it will be worth a call to find out about any changes.

 

[Val_2]

I remember the Dana Anglia as the ferry that was used in that BBC ferry drama in the 80's - Triangle I think it was called. Anyway this story was in yesterdays Le Telegramme as this area is the seat of BF registered office and we get all the info published locally regarding them and Roscoff. Its not a very big ferry either, about the same as the old Quiberon and nearly as old as that was.

[brynithel]

Thanks Will, I knew i could rely on you to give me an explanation.

I will note that on our last trip to france we turned up at the port minus one passenger, who was ill at the last minute and couldn't make the trip. We are Bf members and were charged £15 for the change in circumstances. There was no offer of compensation to us for the inconvenience of trying to rearrange our schedule to accomodate their rearrangements.