''GNV Spirit'' 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 ...

owned by GNV (

Grandi Navi Veloci Grandi Navi Veloci (GNV) is an Italian shipping company, based in Genoa, that operates ferry, ferries between mainland Italy, Sicily, Sardinia, France, Spain, Albania, Morocco and Tunisia. It was established by Aldo Grimaldi in 1992. History ...

) and operated by GNV between the

Tyrrhenian Sea The Tyrrhenian Sea (, ; or ) , , , , is part of the Mediterranean Sea off the western coast of Italy. It is named for the Tyrrhenians, Tyrrhenian people identified with the Etruscans of Italy. Geography The sea is bounded by the islands of C ...

and Spain. She was acquired in 2022 by Grandi Navi Veloci from

Brittany Ferries Brittany Ferries is the trading name of the French shipping company, BAI Bretagne Angleterre Irlande S.A. founded in 1973 by Alexis Gourvennec, that operates a fleet of ferries and cruiseferries between France, England, Ireland, Spain and the ...

for an undisclosed amount.

SECA 2015 refit

On 1 January 2015, the European Union (including the North Sea, English Channel, Eastern side of the Western Channel and Baltic Sea) had a

sulphur Sulfur (American spelling and the preferred IUPAC name) or sulphur (English in the Commonwealth of Nations, Commonwealth spelling) is a chemical element; it has Symbol (chemistry), symbol S and atomic number 16. It is abundance of the chemical ...

marine fuel Fuel oil is any of various fractions obtained from the distillation of petroleum (crude oil). Such oils include distillates (the lighter fractions) and residues (the heavier fractions). Fuel oils include heavy fuel oil (bunker fuel), marine fuel ...

cut from the allowance in 2014 of 1% to 0.1% of sulphur allowed,

then announced in January 2014 that they were going to fit

scrubber Scrubber systems (e.g. chemical scrubbers, gas scrubbers) are a diverse group of air pollution control devices that can be used to remove some particulates and/or gases from industrial exhaust streams. An early application of a carbon dioxide scr ...

s to a number of elder vessels, convert newer vessels to

liquified natural gas Liquefied natural gas (LNG) is natural gas (predominantly methane, CH4, with some mixture of ethane, C2H6) that has been cooled to liquid form for ease and safety of non-pressurized storage or transport. It takes up about 1/600th the volume o ...

(LNG) and construct a new LNG-powered ferry but Brittany Ferries later withdrew and cancelled the order and the LNG conversions, instead they announced that all vessels were to have scrubbers systems fitted. was the first vessel in the fleet to have these installed at the Astillero shipyard in Santander in late 2014 re-entering service in January 2015. ''Cap Finistère'' sailed from

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 ...

to Santander on 11 January 2015 with a commercial sailing, before proceeding to the shipyard for refit and installation of scrubber technology which will also necessitate a new funnel arrangement. After the re-entry into service of ''Cap Finistère'' on 24 March 2015 with the 10:30 sailing from

Bilbao Bilbao is a city in northern Spain, the largest city in the Provinces of Spain, province of Biscay and in the Basque Country (greater region), Basque Country as a whole. It is also the largest city proper in northern Spain. Bilbao is the List o ...

(

Zierbena Zierbena is a town and municipality located in the province of Biscay in the autonomous community of Basque Country, northern Spain. Ferry port The ferry port in Zierbena (which is known to some as Bilbao Ferry Port) has two departures and arr ...

) to Portsmouth, she was followed into the shipyard by in March returning to service in May 2015.

Brief history

''Superfast V'' was built at HDW in Kiel for

Superfast Ferries Superfast Ferries is a Greece-based ferry company founded in 1993 by Pericles Panagopoulos, Pericles Panagopulos and Alexander Panagopoulos, Alexander Panagopulos. Superfast Ferries is a member of Attica Group and operates 5 car-passenger fer ...

Adriatic Sea The Adriatic Sea () is a body of water separating the Italian Peninsula from the Balkans, Balkan Peninsula. The Adriatic is the northernmost arm of the Mediterranean Sea, extending from the Strait of Otranto (where it connects to the Ionian Se ...

services,

Patras Patras (; ; Katharevousa and ; ) is Greece's List of cities in Greece, third-largest city and the regional capital and largest city of Western Greece, in the northern Peloponnese, west of Athens. The city is built at the foot of Mount Panachaiko ...

—

Igoumenitsa Igoumenitsa () is a coastal city in northwestern Greece. It is the capital of the regional unit of Thesprotia. Igoumenitsa is the chief port of Thesprotia and Epirus, and one of the largest passenger ports of Greece, connecting northwestern Main ...

Ancona Ancona (, also ; ) is a city and a seaport in the Marche region of central Italy, with a population of around 101,997 . Ancona is the capital of the province of Ancona, homonymous province and of the region. The city is located northeast of Ro ...

along with her sister ship . She was the first ship in the third pair of

Ropax Roll-on/roll-off (RORO or ro-ro) ships are cargo ships designed to carry wheeled cargo, such as cars, motorcycles, trucks, semi-trailer trucks, buses, trailers, and railroad cars, that are driven on and off the ship on their own wheels or usi ...

ferries built for Superfast Ferries from various ship yards in Northern Europe. She was ordered in July 1998, alongside sister ship ''Superfast VI'' and another pair for Baltic Sea service, and In March 2010 Brittany Ferries purchased the ship from

Attica Group Attica Holdings S.A. is an operator of international ferry services in Europe. Attica Group's operations include its subsidiaries Superfast Ferries, which began in 1995 with the launch of its first ships, Superfast I & Superfast II, and Blu ...

for €82 million to expand Spanish services. ''Cap Finistère'' was delivered to Brittany Ferries under her new name in February 2010. During October 2010 she conducted berthing trials in Cherbourg and Portsmouth before heading for work to be completed in Dunkerque prior to entering service running Portsmouth to Cherbourg as her first route eventually running a Portsmouth to Bilbao route with occasional stops to Roscoff Santander and Plymouth. In early 2022, GNV bought the 'Cap Finistère' from Brittany Ferries for an undisclosed amount. The vessel was renamed ''GNV Spirit'' and serves in the Mediterranean Sea.

Current routes

''GNV Spirit'' currently operates the current routes. *

Barcelona Barcelona ( ; ; ) is a city on the northeastern coast of Spain. It is the capital and largest city of the autonomous community of Catalonia, as well as the second-most populous municipality of Spain. With a population of 1.6 million within c ...

Palma de Mallorca Palma (, ; ), also known as Palma de Mallorca (officially between 1983 and 1988, 2006–2008, and 2012–2016), is the capital and largest city of the Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of the Balearic Islands in Spain. It is ...

Valencia Valencia ( , ), formally València (), is the capital of the Province of Valencia, province and Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Valencian Community, the same name in Spain. It is located on the banks of the Turia (r ...

<> Palma de Mallorca

Routes for Brittany Ferries

* Portsmouth <>

(Via

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 ...

) * Portsmouth <> Santander * Portsmouth <>

Cherbourg-Octeville Cherbourg-Octeville () is a former commune in the Manche department in Normandy in north-western France.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 ...

(For crew change)

References

External links

Official Brittany Ferries Website
{{DEFAULTSORT:GNV Spirit Ferries of the United Kingdom Ferries of France Ships built in Kiel 2000 ships 05 2022 mergers and acquisitions