P&O’s Pride of Burgundy ferry will soon be returning to the Dover-Calais route it had served for several decades, bringing more freight capacity to the company’s short strait crossing offer.
Built in 1993, the Pride of Burgundy is a 28,000 ton vessel with the capacity to carry 120 lorries. Due to a lack of demand from passengers caused by coronavirus, the ferry was taken out of service for two spells in the last year. However, after spending time docked at the Port of Leith and latterly at the River Fal, the vessel is ready to return to action.
Next month, the ferry will resume operations on P&O’s Dover-Calais route, bringing the company’s fleet back to its pre-pandemic strength of five. The ship will sail in freight-only mode so as to serve the demand for the transport of goods to and from the UK and the EU.
Commenting on the news, David Stretch, Chief Executive of P&O Ferries, said the company aims to improve its market share with the arrival of the new service:
“I am delighted to welcome a fifth ship back to our Dover-Calais fleet which will increase flexibility for customers and enable us to deliver a cost effective freight service on the English Channel as the economy returns to normal. Dover-Calais is a vital trade route both for the UK and EU economies as well as the thousands of businesses which rely on our services and we aim to return our market share back to where it belongs.”
Photo credit: © Raimond Spekking / CC BY-SA 4.0 (via Wikimedia Commons)