The Spirit of Britain sets sail
P&O’s brand new ferry floated out onto the water for the first time this week.
The 49,000 tonne Spirit of Britain, left the construction dock at STX Europe shipyard in Rauma, Finland.
The Spirit of Britain will serve the Dover – Calais route from January 2011. Construction will now also start on the second ferry the Spirit of France, due to operate from September 2011.
Helen Deeble, chief executive of P&O Ferries, said: “The two ships represent a major investment of more than €360 million by P&O Ferries and are designed for a life span of 25 years so we are taking a long term view.
“Their design incorporates a number of world firsts, particularly in terms of hull design and in being the first ferries to comply with new Safe Return to Port regulations.
“It was only last August that I attended the keel-laying of the first ship so to witness its float-out is breathtaking. We’re proud to be associated with everybody at STX Europe which is a truly world class operation.”
Image: Captain David Miller, senior master of the Spirit of Britain, celebrates the floating out of the new ship at STX Europe in Rauma, Finland.
Safest Ship Ever?
Further the financial incentives and environmental deference, the safety concerns regarding life and property onboard has been addressed with extreme conscientiousness.
Consilium Marine & Safety, was from the very beginning assigned the project team in close collaboration with P&O, STX and other providers of essential systems, aiming at developing the safest passenger ship ever.
In accordance to the newest SOLAS 2010, not only the ship, but also quite some onboard fitted systems was consistently developed and refined to a yet unprecedented safety level.
In this process, Consilium M&S is proud and grateful for the opportunity to contribute with our latest passenger ship taylor made Fire Detection System, which without this project, most likely wouldn’t have managed the beheld level of system sophistication, not the least our unique Sagfe Return to Port feature, at where we are today.