With air travel under attack not only by current coronavirus issues but also by long-term environmental concerns, ferry operators are looking at a fairly rosy future, especially on high-demand routes such as those linking the British Isles, including Ireland, to Europe.
Four major ferry companie, Stena, BDFS, Brittany Ferries and P&O, expect to put thirteen new ships into service over the next three years, joining several new ‘cruise ferries’ recently added. The cruise ferry concept is to make the sometimes greater-than-24-hour longest routes into part of a vacation experience, sort of like Cunard’s old motto that “half the fun is getting there.”
Last year’s total of 38 million passengers for the lines on both domestic and continental routes is expected to rise, according to industry association Discover Ferries. Between Ireland and the Continent or Great Britain, they are the only non-flying choice. From Scotland and northern England, they avoid the need to travel to the south, by rail or road, to get to the Channel Tunnel.
Photo: Irish Ferries’ new flagship cruise ferry, the W.B. Yeats
