Book review: Bretagne – 30 Years Of Splendour

Let's start with a little bit of background for this one: a little over three years ago, my friend (of the internet variety) Vitor Francisco got in touch with me as he had an idea for a maritime book (several, in fact!) and he was keen to have my advice on publishers and how to get things started. In the end, however, it turned out he didn't need it: last May, he got in touch with me again, telling me he had found a publisher (G Books International, run by the maritime historian Nico Guns) and that he was about to do a book on Brittany Ferries' Bretagne – amusingly, this was not a project he had listed to me earlier. Later on, Vitor was kind enough to ask me to write a foreword for the book, which I was more than happy to do.

All this naturally makes me not the ideal person to review the book, as I've been involved in it, first in a peripheral manner before it was even a real project, and then later more intimately. But, as I think it's a good book worthy of the publicity, I'm going to do it anyway.

Bretagne – 30 Years Of Splendour isn't your stereotypical ferry book with thorough technical details and an extensive history of the ship down to the smallest incident and route change. Rather, it is the kind of book which I think is sorely lacking in the field of maritime books: one looking at the subject from the passengers' point of view. What is it like to sail on the Bretagne? What do the interiors look like? How is the cuisine? What are the ports served like? Are there any special events related to the ship and its service? This book delivers all these points and more, with plentiful illustrations to go with the text.

There are some things that I would have done differently. There is some repetition in the photos, and I would have frankly removed some of them from the final product, allowing either for the remaining ones to be printed in larger size (though it must be said there are no stamp-sized images here!), or cut down the number of pages, which would have had the advantage of making the book shorter and therefore cheaper to produce. Furthermore, I would maybe have included a look at how the ship's livery has changed over the years; as it is, all the liveries are illustrated, but not in a chronological way. And then there are a few typos, but to be honest they are almost unavoidable (and I shouldn't be the one speak, seeing there is one also in the prologue I wrote).

Overall, I think this is a very exciting book in that it is very different from most existing ferry books (the ones in English, anyway), with a refreshingly different way of looking at things. This is more of a passengers' book than an enthusists' book, and even with the above mild criticism it makes the book very worthwhile and, frankly, I wish there were more books like this out there! (Perhaps I should write some myself? :P)

Mont St Michel in Gdansk, 11 January 2018

I was originally planning to post a different set of images from the recent Baltic Princess to Poland trip today, and indeed had already prepared one for publication in advance, but then got a request for images of the Mont St Michel at Remontowa. As I don't even remember when was the last time someone requested something, of course I'm going to do it.

Mont St Michel

IMO 9238337
Built 2002, Van der Giessen-de Noord Krimpen aan den Ijssel, the Netherlands
Tonnage 35 891 GT
Length 173,95 m
Width 28,50 m
Draugth 6,20 m
2 120 passengers
774 passenger berths
830 cars
2 250 lane metres
4 MaK diesels, combined 21 600 kW
2 propellers
2 bow thrusters
Service speed 21 knots

The Mont St Michel was contracted by Brittany Ferries from the Van der Giessen-de Noord shipyardiun the Netherlands in 2000, and delivered a little over two years later in December 2002 - no less than nine months behind originally agreed schedule. On delivery she replaced the older Duc de Normandie on routes linking Portsmouth to Caen (or rather, its outer port Ouistreham).

To comply with the International Maritime Organisation's restrictions of sulphur emissions on the English Channel, North Sea, Baltic Sea and the coasts of North America, Brittany Ferries in 2013 announced that the Mont St Michel, along with other newer members of the company fleet, would be rebuilt to run on liquidized natural gas. However, this was later revised to equipping the ship with sulphur scrubbers, which were installed in late 2015. To this day, the ship remains on the Portsmouth-Caen route.

The photographs below show the Mont St Michel at the Remontowa shipyard in Gdansk, Poland on 11 January 2018. Photographed from onboard the Baltic Princess, which was also coming in for a refit. As per usual procedure, click on the images to see them in larger size.

The weather was far from good, but an image-editing software can work wonders.

Alas, due to our relative positions and the fact we did not have a chance to walk around the shipyard, there wasn't much variation to the photos taken.

Kships will return next week, probably with photos of the lovely little Ålandstrafiken ferry Gudingen.

Armorique, 17 November 2008

Armorique

IMO 9364980
Built 2009, STX Europe Helsinki, Finland
Tonnage 29 468 GT
Length 165,00 m
Width 26,80 m
Draft 6,20 m
1 500 passengers
788 berths
470 cars
985 lanemeters
2 MaK diesels, combined 24 000 kW
2 propellers
2 bow thrusters
1 stern thruster
Speed 23 knots

Armorique was the second of two ro-pax ferries built in 2007-2009 by the Aker Finnyards/STX shipyard in Helsinki for Brittany Ferries. Originally the two ships were ordered as sister ships, but the Armorique was built with a notably larger superstructure than her older sister Cotentin, giving her a much larger passenger capability. The Armorique is to-date the last ship to be built at Helsinki's Hietalahti shipyard and at the moment it seems no further ships will be built at that yard. Instead, the yard specialises in maintainance and refitting of ships and it is likely to be closed down one the agreement to rent the land from the city of Helsinki ends.

Since her delivery to Brittany Ferries in January 2009 the Armorique has served mainly on the Plymouth-Roscoff -route, occasionally doubling on other services as well.

The photographs below were taken in Hietalahti, Helsinki on 17 November 2008 while the Armorique was still under construction. Click on the images to view full size.

A historical sight, no more can we see large ships being built in the heart of the city.

A slightly different point-of-view. Tallink's Superfast VIII is partially visible in the background on the right.