''Pont-Aven'' is a

cruiseferry A cruiseferry is a ship that combines the features of a cruise ship and a Ro-Pax ferry. Many passengers travel with the ships for the cruise experience, staying only a few hours at the destination port or not leaving the ship at all, while ot ...

operated by Brittany Ferries. She was built at

Meyer Werft Meyer Werft (; ) is a German shipbuilding company, headquartered in Papenburg at the river Ems. It was founded in 1795, as a builder of small wooden vessels. It has been owned and managed by the Meyer family for seven generations. Since ...

shipyard in

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

and has been sailing for Brittany Ferries since March 2004. She is the current and longest serving Brittany Ferries flagship; sailing between the UK, France, Spain and Ireland. ''Pont Aven'' is the fastest and largest purpose-built cruise-ferry on the English Channel. Prior to being named, ''Pont-Aven'' was referred to as ''Bretagne 2''; this was then the codename for the new Brittany Ferries vessel for the

Plymouth Plymouth ( ) is a port city status in the United Kingdom, city and unitary authority in Devon, South West England. It is located on Devon's south coast between the rivers River Plym, Plym and River Tamar, Tamar, about southwest of Exeter and ...

–

Roscoff Roscoff ( , ; ) is a commune in the Finistère département of Brittany in northwestern France. Roscoff is renowned for its picturesque architecture, labelled (small town of character) since 2009. Roscoff is also a traditional departure point ...

route, the . ''Pont-Avens layout is similar in many respects to that of another Brittany Ferries vessel, .

Service history

''Pont-Aven'' was ordered by Brittany Ferries from the

shipyard on the river Ems, gt

Papenburg Papenburg (; East Frisian Low Saxon: ''Papenbörg'') is a city in the district of Emsland, Lower Saxony, Germany, situated at the river Ems. It is known for its large shipyard, the Meyer-Werft, which specializes in building cruise liners. Ge ...

, Germany on 22 February 2002. She was laid down on 9 April 2003, launched 13 September the same year and completed on 7 February 2004, ahead of schedule. She completed sea trials and was handed over on 27 February, making her maiden voyage on 24 March, from Roscoff to Santander. ''Pont-Aven'' experienced a number of technical problems in her 1st year of service. Most serious was the flooding of an auxiliary engine room in August 2004 caused by a faulty sea valve leaving the ferry unable to move from the

terminal for two days. Many services were disrupted at the height of the holiday season, many passengers having to be transferred to services from

Poole Poole () is a coastal town and seaport on the south coast of England in the Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole unitary authority area in Dorset, England. The town is east of Dorchester, Dorset, Dorchester and adjoins Bournemouth to the east ...

and

Portsmouth Portsmouth ( ) is a port city status in the United Kingdom, city and unitary authority in Hampshire, England. Most of Portsmouth is located on Portsea Island, off the south coast of England in the Solent, making Portsmouth the only city in En ...

. The problem occurred at the same time as a major breakdown on the

Irish Ferries Irish Ferries is an Irish ferry and transport company that operates passenger and freight services on routes between Ireland, Britain and Continental Europe, including Dublin Port–Holyhead; Rosslare Europort to Pembroke, Pembrokeshire, Pembr ...

vessel , which operates on the Rosslare -

Cherbourg Cherbourg is a former Communes of France, commune and Subprefectures in France, subprefecture located at the northern end of the Cotentin peninsula in the northwestern French departments of France, department of Manche. It was merged into the com ...

route. This situation left no passenger ferry link between Ìreland and France and as a result many holidaymakers were forced to use the so-called Land Bridge route, travelling from Ìreland to Wales by ferry and driving to Plymouth or Portsmouth to board a ferry for France, or vice versa. Other problems included the bow door jamming shut and the unusual roll when travelling at high speed even in calm weather. However most faults have now been corrected and the vessel has become a popular member of the Brittany Ferries fleet. On 22 May 2006 ''Pont-Aven'' sustained damage en route to Santander from Plymouth. Several forward windows were smashed by a 9-metre wave which resulted in a number of cabins flooding. She was forced to divert to Roscoff where passengers disembarked. On 26 May 2006 ''Pont-Aven'' returned to service, while refurbishment was carried out on board throughout the voyage. The windows were covered by

metal A metal () is a material that, when polished or fractured, shows a lustrous appearance, and conducts electrical resistivity and conductivity, electricity and thermal conductivity, heat relatively well. These properties are all associated wit ...

. These windows were later replaced with smaller, round porthole windows in late 2007 - early 2008. On 18 August 2008 the ship experienced problems opening the bow door in Santander for cars to be off-loaded. As a result of this the ship had to re-dock, aft into the port first, and the vehicles had to reverse off. This led to further delays and the problem was not fixed before the next crossing to Plymouth later that day; meaning that vehicles had to reverse or make a U-turn to disembark. At around 04:00 on 29 April 2019, a fire in the engine room caused the ship to divert to Brest whilst on route from Plymouth to Santander.

Name

''Pont-Aven'' was named for the town of

Pont-Aven Pont-Aven (; in Breton) is a commune in the Finistère department in the Brittany region in Northwestern France. Demographics Inhabitants of Pont-Aven are called in French. Pont-Aven absorbed the former commune of Nizon in 1954, which had ...

in Brittany. The town is famous as the home of a group of artists known as the

Pont-Aven School Pont-Aven School (; ) encompasses works of art influenced by the Breton town of Pont-Aven and its surroundings. Originally the term applied to works created in the artists' colony at Pont-Aven, which started to emerge in the 1850s and lasted until ...

, and the interior decor of the ship commemorates this link.

Routes

Current routes

– Santander 2004–present *

–

2004–present * Cork –

2004–present *

– St Malo 2006–present (winter only)

Previous routes

- Santander 2009–2020

Other routes served

In addition to her regular routes, ''Pont-Aven'' has seen occasional use between

and St Malo,

and

. In most cases these were position moves during the winter though passengers and freight were carried.

References

Meyer Werft: Pont-Aven

External links

Official Brittany Ferries Website
* Pictures of the ship at the shipyard

{{DEFAULTSORT:Pont-Aven Ferries of the United Kingdom Ferries of France Ferries of Spain Transport in Cantabria Ships built in Papenburg 2003 ships Rogue wave incidents Maritime incidents in 2006