company . for the historic trimaran see brittany ferries trimaran . this article needs additional citations for verification . please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources . unsourced material may be challenged and removed . november 2015 learn how and when to remove this template message brittany ferries type private company industry passenger transportation freight transportation holidays founded 1972 founder alexis gourvennec headquarters roscoff france area served france england ireland spain key people jean marc rou christophe mathieu fr d ric pouget corinne vintner jean fran ois jacob mike bevens revenue 376.5 million 2014 total assets 367.4 million 2014 owner bai bretagne angleterre irlande s.a. number of employees 2 451 2014 average high and low seasons 1 website www.brittany ferries.co.uk brittany ferries is a french shipping company that operates a fleet of ferries and cruiseferries between france and england ireland and spain and between england and spain . contents 1 history 1.1 1970s and 1980s 1.2 1990s 1.3 2000s 1.4 2010s 2 fleet 2.1 current fleet 2.2 past fleet 3 routes 3.1 regular services 3.2 seasonal services 3.3 exceptional services 4 passenger numbers 5 onboard facilities 6 brittany ferries conomie 7 references 7.1 notes 7.2 bibliography 8 external links history edit 1970s and 1980s edit in january 1973 following the provision of the deep water port at roscoff the company commenced operations at the instigation of alexis gourvennec when the existing ferry companies showed reluctance about providing a service from roscoff to plymouth . the company began sailings between roscoff in brittany and plymouth in the south west of england using the freight ferry kerisnel . the company s primary aim at that time was to provide a service to brittany s cauliflower and artichoke farmers giving them easier access to the british market . in the summer of 1973 vedettes armoricaines operated a service between plymouth and roscoff using the passenger only ferry poseidon which they had acquired from stena line and brittany ferries acted as the agents in the united kingdom for this service . 2 in 1974 kerisnel was replaced by penn ar bed which carried both passengers and vehicles . such was the success of the plymouth roscoff service that a larger ship the cornouailles was ordered and entered service in 1977 . new routes were developed in the late 1970s and the company continued to grow . routes to saint malo santander and cork in ireland were operated by the armorique and the prince of brittany and in the early 1980s a second ship was chartered for the saint malo route . the goelo an attractive looking vessel left the fleet in preparation for the new ship to be introduced in 1982 . the quiberon replaced the armorique for the santander and cork services allowing her to operate alongside the prince of brittany on the saint malo route while the cornouailles maintained the original routes from roscoff . the benodet operated between plymouth and roscoff for just one year before being redeployed as part of brittany ferries new venture channel island ferries . the tregastel replaced her and continued on the plymouth to roscoff route until 1989 . the cork route was operated by tregastel and quiberon later to be joined by celtic pride operated by swansea cork ferries supplying a midweek cork roscoff round trip . in 1985 brittany ferries further expanded by buying truckline ferries which operated freight only ships coutances and purbeck between poole in england and cherbourg in france . in 1986 brittany ferries introduced the duc de normandie which operated a new route from caen to the increasingly popular port of portsmouth . the former roscoff ship cornouailles was transferred to the truckline ferries route from poole to cherbourg introducing passenger services on this route . this service was also very successful and new ships were introduced over the next few years . meanwhile a second chartered ship the gotland was installed on the caen service in 1988 as well as a new truckline ferries vessel the normandie shipper in 1989 . in addition to the portsmouth caen services from 1986 a truckline ferries ferry ran from poole to caen during the summer to cope with the seasonal demand on brittany s standard ships by holiday makers . however the introduction of larger ships in 2006 and the sale of the original truckliners meant that this service was discontinued . in 1989 the cruise ferry bretagne was introduced on the santander and cork routes . she displaced the quiberon which transferred to the roscoff route . tregastel replaced cornouailles on the poole cherbourg truckline ferries passenger route along with corbiere formerly the benodet who had been transferred to channel island ferries . cornouailles was sold to british channel island ferries and was renamed havelet . a second hand purchase was introduced on the st malo route the duchesse anne . which was to run alongside the armorique . this allowed the prince of brittany to be transferred to the caen route under its new name the reine mathilde . 1990s edit at the end of 1991 the reine mathilde left the fleet ready for the introduction of the new cruise ferry the normandie on the caen route . the corbiere and tregastel also stepped down in preparation for the new truckline ferries ship the barfleur . during 1992 the truckline ferries freight vessel purbeck and the st malo ship armorique both stepped down . in 1993 the final new ship of the 1990s was introduced . the val de loire was purchased from tt line and partially rebuilt for service on the santander and cork routes . the vessel replaced the bretagne which transferred to the st malo route allowing the duchesse anne to operate new services between poole st malo cork roscoff and plymouth . following further financial difficulties in the mid 1990s these new routes were ended and the duchesse anne left the fleet . the normandie shipper was also sold but the ex truckline ferries vessel purbeck was later chartered back by the company for use on various routes primarily portsmouth caen . in 1999 the barfleur was repainted in brittany ferries colours ending the truckline ferries tradition on the route . 2000s edit in 2001 a new fast ferry service began to operate between poole and cherbourg in partnership with condor ferries . the fast normandie vitesse could make the voyage in just over two hours . in 2002 a new ship the mont st michel was due to enter service between portsmouth and caen . the duc de normandie was transferred to the roscoff route in july whilst the quiberon was sent to caen to cover until the new ship arrived . the mont st michel was delayed until december however . the quiberon spent the remainder of the year on the busiest brittany ferries route . she had been with the company for almost 21 years when she was sold in 2003 . in 2004 another new ship the pont aven was introduced on the santander & cork routes . she could travel much faster than the rest of the fleet cutting journey times by a quarter . in late 2004 the company withdrew the duc de normandie from the fleet . the bretagne transferred to the roscoff route leaving the val de loire at st malo . the coutances was also earmarked for disposal but then a change of heart resulted in its refit losing her truckline ferries livery in favour of the new brittany ferries logo . more changes occurred in 2005 with the withdrawal of p & o s french routes from portsmouth . a new fastcraft the normandie express was chartered to operate between portsmouth and cherbourg and caen . in addition the poole cherbourg ship barfleur was redeployed to operate a triangular service between portsmouth poole and cherbourg . a new ship was announced in part a replacement for the coutances . the ship was named the cotentin . purbeck was to have returned from operating in new zealand and cover the portsmouth cherbourg link but this plan was dropped . barfleur returned to the poole cherbourg link in november 2005 . the former flagship of the fleet from 1993 until the arrival of the mont st michel val de loire left the fleet in february 2006 having been sold to dfds and renamed king of scandinavia . in the meantime brittany ferries had taken a 2 year charter of the dfds ship duke of scandinavia which was renamed pont l abb and ran on the plymouth roscoff route . the bretagne returned to the portsmouth st malo route . brittany ferries also announced a new build for the plymouth roscoff route to be launched early 2008 . in february 2006 the normandie express was brought under the french flag she was later purchased by the company in early 2007 . brittany ferries new freight ship the cotentin entered service on 26 november 2007 with the 23 45 cherbourg poole service . the new ship also operated a weekly service to santander from poole . it was announced on 19 december 2007 that the company had purchased the pont l abb from dfds . on 1 may 2008 mv coutances completed her last sailing for the company having been with truckline ferries for 30 years and with brittany ferries since 1985 . in early 2009 the armorique was launched on the plymouth roscoff route replacing the pont l abbe . for 2009 the pont aven operated a new portsmouth to santander service once a week cutting the previous plymouth to santander route to once a week . 2010s edit in late 2009 the new poole santander freight only service was deemed a success and the frequency was doubled there would now be two services a week operated by cotentin . in november 2009 the armorique was laid up for the rest of the winter season . major changes were announced in december 2009 . the barfleur was withdrawn from service at the end of january 2010 after nearly 18 years service on the poole cherbourg route . the service was temporarily serviced by the armorique which came back to service earlier than originally planned . the poole santander service reverted to one sailing a week with the cotentin covering freight on the poole cherbourg service in the absence of barfleur . the condor vitesse continued to operate one round sailing a day in the summer months between the two ports . the cap finist re ran between portsmouth and santander twice a week and also operated three round trips a week between portsmouth and cherbourg . in september 2010 brittany ferries announced plans to serve the portsmouth bilbao route recently abandoned by p & o ferries . 3 the route started on 27 march 2011 . in february 2011 barfleur returned to the poole cherbourg route on a seven month trial basis after being laid up for a year . her final crossing of 2011 was 3 october . the return of barfleur allowed cotentin to run two poole santander trips a week . however with barfleur being laid up again the poole santander sailings reverted to one trip a week . on 23 march it was announced that barfleur was to be chartered to dfds seaways for use on their dover calais route . her first sailing on the route was on 27 april . on 1 april 2011 the new portsmouth international port pip terminal used by brittany ferries ld lines and condor ferries was opened to the public . an official opening ceremony took place on 13 may 2011 . this modern stylish eco friendly building replaced the previous terminal building that stood from 1976 until its well needed replacement occurred in 2011 . on 21 september 2012 brittany ferries cancelled sailings indefinitely following two days of wildcat strikes caused by crew members who were unhappy with changes in working terms and