Norman Voyager, currently maintaining the LD Lines’ service between Portsmouth and Le Havre, is being taken over on charter by Brittany Ferries from late March and, renamed Etretat, will continue sailing to the French port in midweek with a weekend return from Portsmouth toSantander.
Completed by Visentini in 2008 and owned since 2012 by Stena RoRo, the 26,904gt Norman Voyager has 2,255 lane metres of vehicle space and accommodation for up to 800 passengers including 428 cabin berths.
Sailings to Northern Spain are beingadvertised as an economic alternative to Portsmouth-Santander/Bilbao trips by cruise ferries Pont-Aven and Cap Finistere and partially fill a gap left by Brittany Ferries withdrawal of freight ro-ro Cotentin, now chartered for Stena Line Sweden-Poland service as Stena Baltica.
Brittany Ferries started seasonal services between Portsmouth and Le Havre last year with the fast catamaran Normandie, and these will resume through summer 2014. Of Etretat’s five return sailings on the route, one of which will be cargoonly.
