Brittany Ferries place order for flagship diesel-electric ferry

French cross-channel operator Brittany Ferries has commissioned a new ship from German shipyard Flensburger Schiffbau-Gesellschaft (FSG).

Scheduled for delivery in 2019, Honfleur will carry up to 1,680 passengers and serve the thrice-daily route from Portsmouth to Caen.

Named after the Normandy port town, the 42,400GT vessel with diesel-electric propulsion will be the largest in the Brittany Ferries fleet – slightly larger than 41,000GT flagship Pont-Aven.

"Honfleur will be the greenest vessel regularly operating on the English Channel," the company announced. "That's partly thanks to her innovative design, which burns fuel with no sulphur emissions, much lower particulates and less carbon dioxide than diesel."