Cross-channel sailings from Dieppe to Newhaven will continue throughout 2015 with additional high season departures as a result of an agreement between operator DFDS Seaways and Syndicat Mixte de Promotion de L’Activité Transmanche (SMPAT) from French regional authority Conseil Generale Seine Maritime.
The agreement is understood to include the use of both vessels owned by SMPAT. These are Côte d’Albâtre, maintaining a single-ship Dieppe service, and Seven Sisters from the Portsmouth-Le Havre route, which is expected to close soon, with Newhaven departures rising to three return sailings a day during peak periods.
There are also plans to convert the 18,564gt vessels, which were delivered from Vigo, Spain, by J. Barreras in 2006, to meet the requirements of the MARPOL IV directive by using cleaner fuels. They carry up to 600 passengers, with 190 cabin berths and vehicle deck space for 224 cars.
