Finally some positive news for Brittany Ferries!
Shaken by the Covid crisis, border closures and Brexit, the shipping company based in Roscoff (Finistère) has just announced the opening of a new link.
From November 12, his vessel
Le Cotentin
will connect Le Havre (Seine-Maritime) to Rosslare, in the south-east of Ireland.
The company wants to ride on the “significant” increase in demand for direct links between France and Ireland, after a gloomy start to the year.
The leading employer of French sailors, which employs 2,500 people, has been in great difficulty since the start of the health crisis.
The French state awarded it an exceptional subsidy of 45 million euros, as well as debt forgiveness for a total of 16 million euros, the government announced at the end of October.
It also benefited from a State Guaranteed Loan (PGE) in the amount of 117 million euros.
A Cherbourg-Rosslare link already open in 2020
“Brexit has created more difficulties than opportunities on the cross-Channel lines.
As a result, direct France-Ireland links have turned out to be very attractive for the transport of goods, to the detriment of lines serving Ireland via Great Britain, ”notes Director Christophe Mathieu, Managing Director of Brittany Ferries.
In 2020, a Cherbourg-Rosslare link had already been opened.
In almost a year, the number of vehicles transported by sea from Ireland has tripled.
And everything suggests that it could continue.
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