MS ''Barfleur'' is a

ferry A ferry is a boat or ship that transports passengers, and occasionally vehicles and cargo, across a body of water. A small passenger ferry with multiple stops, like those in Venice, Italy, is sometimes referred to as a water taxi or water bus ...

operated by

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 ...

on the route between

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 ...

on the south coast of England and

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 ...

, France. She was built at Masa Yards Turku New Shipyard in

Finland Finland, officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country in Northern Europe. It borders Sweden to the northwest, Norway to the north, and Russia to the east, with the Gulf of Bothnia to the west and the Gulf of Finland to the south, ...

for the Brittany Ferries subsidiary '' Truckline'' and entered service in 1992. In 1999 she was repainted in Brittany Ferries standard livery. ''Barfleur'' was the last ship to carry the 1983–2002 version of the Brittany Ferries logo and livery which was replaced by the post-2002 version in March 2009. She sails under the French flag and is registered in Cherbourg. Excluding the

HSC Normandie Express HSC ''Condor Voyager'' is a high-speed catamaran ferry operated by Brittany Ferries. Since being built in 2000, the vessel has borne the names ''Incat Tasmania'', ''The Lynx'' and ''Normandie Express''. History ''Condor Voyager'' was built as ...

and RoRo cargo vessels, she is the smallest passenger vessel in Brittany Ferries' fleet. From 27 April 2012 until December that year, she was in service with

DFDS Seaways DFDS Seaways is a Danish shipping company that operates passenger and freight services across northern Europe. Following the acquisition of Norfolkline in 2010, DFDS restructured its other shipping divisions (DFDS Tor Line and DFDS Lisco) in ...

who had renamed her as ''Deal Seaways'' to ensure she had the same initials as their other ships, all DS. She was used on their joint

Dover Dover ( ) is a town and major ferry port in Kent, southeast England. It faces France across the Strait of Dover, the narrowest part of the English Channel at from Cap Gris Nez in France. It lies southeast of Canterbury and east of Maidstone. ...

–

Calais Calais ( , , traditionally , ) is a French port city in the Pas-de-Calais department, of which it is a subprefecture. Calais is the largest city in Pas-de-Calais. The population of the city proper is 67,544; that of the urban area is 144,6 ...

route with LD Lines.

Withdrawal and temporary return to service, 2010–2011

On 19 December 2009 Brittany Ferries announced that they would be withdrawing ''Barfleur'' from its service between Poole and Cherbourg. They claimed to have been losing money on the service for quite some time. After completing her last trip in February 2010 ''Barfleur'' was laid up in the canal near to

Caen Caen (; ; ) is a Communes of France, commune inland from the northwestern coast of France. It is the Prefectures in France, prefecture of the Departments of France, department of Calvados (department), Calvados. The city proper has 105,512 inha ...

. For many months there was much speculation as to the future of the vessel with many believing it was to be chartered to another operator. On 16 December 2010, almost a year after the announcement of withdrawal, Brittany Ferries made a statement that ''Barfleur'' would resume service on the Poole to Cherbourg route commencing on 27 February 2011. However, the service was to be aimed at freight traffic with proportionately fewer passengers. On 11 July 2011, Brittany Ferries further announced that ''Barfleur'' would again be withdrawn from service between Poole and Cherbourg with effect from 3 October 2011, citing ongoing profitability concerns. The company further commented that the service 'may be reintroduced for the Summer 2012 season'. It was announced on 10 February 2012 that ''Barfleur'' would not resume service in 2012 due to the ongoing difficult economic situation. She would remain laid up at Caen for the foreseeable future.

Transfer to Dover-Calais under DFDS

The French press reported on 23 March 2012 that the ship had been acquired by LD Lines/

for their joint

–

service where she would be put into service starting on 27 April. Announcements from Brittany Ferries and

DFDS DFDS is a Danish international shipping and logistics company. The company's name is an abbreviation of Det Forenede Dampskibs-Selskab (literally ''The United Steamship Company''). DFDS was founded in 1866, when Carl Frederik Tietgen, C.F. Tiet ...

confirmed that Barfleur was to be chartered by the DFDS/LD Lines joint venture. DFDS renamed her as ''Deal Seaways'' to ensure she had the same initials as their other ships, all DS. ''Deal Seawayss charter was scheduled to end in February 2013 and Brittany Ferries announced that would be renaming her ''Barfleur'', bringing her back into service. DFDS/LD Lines therefore sought a new vessel and managed to charter ex , which had been acquired by Scapino Shipping Ltd after SeaFrance's liquidation. ''Molière'' was renamed as and joined the Dover/Calais fleet on 7 November 2012 leaving ''Deal Seaways'' out of service. ''Deal Seaways'' proceeded to

Dunkerque Dunkirk ( ; ; ; Picard language, Picard: ''Dunkèke''; ; or ) is a major port city in the Departments of France, department of Nord (French department), Nord in northern France. It lies from the Belgium, Belgian border. It has the third-larg ...

for lay-up and de-storing, and was not used by DFDS Seaways before her livery was changed back to that of Brittany Ferries.

Return to Poole-Cherbourg route

The ''Barfleur'' returned to the Poole–Cherbourg route on 19 March 2013, running alongside which inaugurated a new route between Poole and

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 ...

, also starting on the same date. The ''Barfleur'' re-commenced overnight services between Cherbourg and Poole in November 2013, on a Tuesday and a Wednesday in place of the usual evening service. These overnight sailings were also repeated in 2014 except during the peak summer period. The ''Barfleur'' was laid up for the winter period with the last sailing from Poole being on Wednesday 31 January 2018 but returned to service on 4 March 2018. In January 2023, during an interview with La Presse De La Manche (Actu.fr), Jean-Marc Roué told the interviewers that the company plans to replace Barfleur with the

Cotentin The Cotentin Peninsula (, ; ), also known as the Cherbourg Peninsula, is a peninsula in Normandy that forms part of the northwest coast of France. It extends north-westward into the English Channel, towards Great Britain. To its west lie the Gu ...

. However the date for this has not been confirmed, but is expected to be around 2026.

Routes served

2013 onwards

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:Commencing on 19 March 2013, ''Barfleur'' has run between Poole and Cherbourg, a short sailing of approximately hours each way. There was a winter break from 1 January to 3 March 2018.

1992–2012

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:Due to a massive increase in passenger numbers on the Poole–Cherbourg route in 1991, ''Barfleur'' was lengthened by 19 metres during

construction Construction are processes involved in delivering buildings, infrastructure, industrial facilities, and associated activities through to the end of their life. It typically starts with planning, financing, and design that continues until the a ...

. This increased passenger and

freight In transportation, cargo refers to goods transported by land, water or air, while freight refers to its conveyance. In economics, freight refers to goods transported at a freight rate for commercial gain. The term cargo is also used in ...

capacity as well as adding a number of additional cabins. But sources working on this project talk about stability issues and the addition of a section of 7.2 meters or 9 meters (?). :Until 27 February 2007 ''Barfleur'' was the largest ship ever to use

Poole Harbour Poole Harbour is a large natural harbour in Dorset, southern England, with the town of Poole on its shores. The harbour is a drowned valley ( ria) formed at the end of the last ice age and is the estuary of several rivers, the largest being th ...

. then held this title until the arrival of the , after covering for ''Barfleur''s unscheduled 2007 refit. *

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 ...

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: March–November 2005 :''Barfleur'' operated one round trip Tuesday to Sunday in 2005 in place a Poole round trip. This regular Portsmouth conventional service was unsuccessful and has not been repeated. ''Barfleur'' has also served on

–

(

Ouistreham Ouistreham () is a commune in the Calvados department in Normandy region in northwestern France. Ouistreham is a small port with fishing boats, leisure craft and a ferry harbour. It serves as the port of the city of Caen. The town borders t ...

) where she acted as refit cover for and . During the winter seasons of 1997 and 1998 ''Barfleur'' operated between

and Santander at weekends and made the crossing in 28 hours. As a result of major engine problems with ''Val de Loire'' in September 2000, ''Barfleur'' operated between

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 ...

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 ...

for two round trips before moving to

–

(

) in place of . Barfleur's place at Poole was taken by ''MV Purbeck''. On rare occasions ''Barfleur'' has also operated routes not usually undertaken by

:- *

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''Barfleur'' has sailed on this route as a positioning move to provide refit cover but also as a result of strike action by French dockworkers in October 2002. *

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As a result of the previously mentioned strike a round trip to Roscoff was undertaken in October 2002 to facilitate a crew change. This route was repeated between 23 and 26 May 2008 due to a blockade of Cherbourg by French fishermen. *

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Cork "Cork" or "CORK" may refer to: Materials * Cork (material), an impermeable buoyant plant product ** Stopper (plug), or "cork", a cylindrical or conical object used to seal a container *** Wine cork an item to seal or reseal wine Places Ireland * ...

In December 2005 ''Barfleur'' was chartered by Victor Treacy International for a one off freight-only crossing to help clear a buildup of freight caused by a strike at

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 ...

Accidents

On 16 July 2014 at 6:26am the ferry collided with a chain of the chain ferry crossing Poole harbour entrance, snapping the chain and causing the chain ferry to be out of action for 2 days. This happened on a previous occasion (believed to be around 1996) when damage to the rudder/propellers occurred. The chain ferry now remains stationary on the Studland side when large shipping is passing through.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Barfleur 1991 ships DFDS Ferries of the United Kingdom Ferries of France Ships built in Turku