MV Bretagne
Nigel Thornton Collection
Steel twin screw motor vessel built in 1989 at Chantiers de l’Atlantique, St Nazaire, France (Yard No 29) for Brittany Ferries, Roscoff, France, as a passenger-car-cargo vessel
Technical Data
- Cost New: $55,000,000
- Length: 151.20 m (overall), 132.00m (between perpendiculars)
- Breadth: 26.0 m (extreme)
- Depth:Â 8.50m
- Draught: 6.2 m (maximum)
- Tonnage: 24,534 gross/13,242 net/3,249 deadweight
- Engines: Four 12-cyl, Wärtsilä-Crepelle diesels (Gwen, Véro, Sandra & Fabienne)
- Power: 17760 kW.
- Speed: 21.0 knots.
- Capacity: 2056 passengers, 650 cars, or 200 cars + 62 commercial trailers
- Crew: 130
- Call Sign: FNBR
- IMO Number: 8707329
- MMSI Number:Â 227286000
- Registry: Morlaix/France 🇫🇷
Current AIS Location
Please note that this specific vessels AIS position data may be over an hour old and that the vessels position will only be displayed when it is within range of the VesselFinder AIS system. The AIS transponder/ship position data featured on this page is intended for information purposes only and it is in no way related to the 'Safety of Navigation at Sea'. All the AIS ship position data featured within this article is provided by VesselFinder and we are therefore not responsible for its content or its accuracy.
History
June 1987: Ordered.
February 4th 1989: Launched.
Edmund Zielger Collection
May 4th 1989: Scheduled delivery delayed owing to modification and industrial action.
July 12th 1989: Inauguration in Roscoff.
July 13th 1989: Delivered to Brittany Ferries S.A, Roscoff, France.
 Â
© Brian Fisher (Portsmouth, 01/07/1989)
July 16th 1989: Commenced services between Plymouth – Santander with some trips between Roscoff – Cork.
January 29th 1993 – March 16th 1993: Services between Portsmouth – Santander, sometimes between Portsmouth – Caen.
© Ken Larwood (Portsmouth, July 1993)
December 24th 1994: Three day cruise to Rouen.
2005: Services between Roscoff – Plymouth.
January 29th 2006 – February 20th 2006: Operated between Cherbourg – Portsmouth.
December 24th 2006 – December 27th 2006: Chartered to Mistral European Holidays for cruises between Portsmouth – Rouen.
December 30th 2006 – January 2nd 2007: Again chartered to Mistral European Holidays for cruise between Portsmouth – Rouen.
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© Chris Hunsicker (Portsmouth, 16/08/2007) (Left) and © “The Ferryman” (Right)
2007: Winter cruises between Portsmouth – Santander/ Plymouth – Roscoff.
February 27th 2007 – March 10th 2007: Operated between Cherbourg – Poole.
December 29th 2007 – January 1st 2008: Cruises to Rouen.
2009: Extensive refit and refurbishment.
© Derek Sands (Approachin Portsmouth, 19/06/2011)
December 2011: Taken out of service.
December 13th 2011: Left Cherbourg for Dunkerque.
December 14th 2011: Arrived at ARNO, Dunkerque for winter lay-up.
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© Robert Fournier (Dunkerque, 03/03/2012)
March 16th 2012: Left Dunkerque.
March 17th 2012: Arrived in Cherbourg and operated Cherbourg – Portsmouth with some trips between Portsmouth – St Malo.
© Nicolas Lévy
  
  
© “The Ferryman”
November 28th 2012: Sailed to ARNO, Dunkerque and laid up.
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© Robert Fournier (Dunkerque, 08/12/2012)
© Peter Wearing
 Â
© Ray Goodfellow
 19th March 2013: Re-entered service between St Malo and Portsmouth.
 Â
© John Wilson (Portsmouth, 18/06/2014)
 © Ray Goodfellow
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© Ben Bartlett
January 5th 2015: Sailed to Gdansk for refit.
January 28th 2015: Refit completed, left Gdansk for Le Havre.
February 2nd 2015: Arrived in Le Havre and laid-up.
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© Nicolas Lévy
March 15th 2015: Resumed service initially from Roscoff to Plymouth before returning to service from St Malo to Portsmouth.
© Ray Goodfellow (Arriving in Portsmouth 14/07/2015)
 
© Ray Goodfellow (Loading and Departing St Malo 15/07/2015)
November 29th 2015: Owing to adverse weather her Portsmouth-St Malo crossing was diverted to Cherbourg.
December 17th 2015: Repositioned to Cherbourg for a period of maintenance and Christmas layup.
December 26th 2015: Resumed service from Plymouth to Roscoff for 1 week before returning to the Portsmouth-St Malo route.
December 29th 2015: Owing to adverse weather her 22:00 sailing from Plymouth to Roscoff was diverted to St Malo.
January 3rd 2016: Owing to adverse weather her 22:00 sailing from Plymouth to Roscoff commenced from Portsmouth instead of Plymouth.
January 11th 2016: Resumed regular service between St Malo-Portsmouth-St Malo.
March 27th 2016: Operated Portsmouth-Cherbourg instead of Portsmouth St Malo due to adverse weather.
March 28th 2016: Operated Cherbourg-Portsmouth instead of St Malo-Portsmouth due to adverse weather.
December 23rd 2016: Departed St Malo for Cherbourg and Christmas layup.
December 27th 2016: Resumed service.
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© Ray Goodfellow
January 4th 2017: Departed Cherbourg for Poland.
January 8th 2017: Arrived in Gdansk, Poland for overhaul and refit.
© Brittany Ferries
January 28th 2017: Departed Gdansk, Poland for Cherbourg, France.
February 15th 2017: Resumed service between St Malo and Portsmouth.
October 19th 2017: Sailing delayed due to technical issue with the bow doors.
October 21st 2017: Sailings diverted to Cherbourg.
December 1st/2nd 2017: Sailings cancelled due to industrial action at the Port of St Malo.
December 6th 2017: Final sailing before proceeding to Winter layup in Le Havre. The St Malo service will continue with the Pont-Aven.
December 9th 2017: Arrived in Le Havre.
March 8th 2018: Departed Le Havre for Roscoff to cover the Roscoff-Plymouth service whilst the Armorique covers for the Normandie on the Caen-Portsmouth service. Expected to return to service from St Malo to Portsmouth on the 27th March 2018.
December 7th 2018: Sailed from Portsmouth to Le Havre for winter lay up. Received her new livery.
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© Philippe P. Brébant (Le Havre, 30/12/2018)
March 25th 2019: Sailed from Le Havre to Saint Malo.
© Pascal Bredel (Le Havre, 25/03/2019)
March 26th 2019: Resumed service Saint Malo – Portsmouth
November 2019: Refit in Gdansk.
December 5th 2019: Conducted sea trials before sailing to Le Havre.
December 9th 2019: Arrived Le Havre for 2 week lay up.
December 2019: Resumed Portsmouth – St Malo.
September 7th 2020: Laid up in Le Havre.
© Nicolas Lévy (Le Havre, 13/09/2020)
© Philippe P. Brébant (Le Havre, with CAP FINISTERE 25/12/2021)
January 2022: Remains laid-up in Le Havre.
March 13th 2022: Left Le Havre for Cherbourg.
March 14th 2022: Arrived Cherbourg.
March 25th 2022: Arrived St Malo.
March 27th 2022: Arrived Portsmouth to return to Portsmouth – St Malo service.
© Darren Holdaway ( Portsmouth, 27/03/2022)
Interior
                           
© Darren Holdaway
November 5th 2022: Came off service at Portsmouth and sailed to Cherbourg.
November 6th 2022: Sailed to Gdansk for refit.
November 9th 2022: Arrived Gdansk.
© Waldemar Danielewicz (Gdansk , 26/11/2022)
December 10th 2022: Left Gdansk.
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© Waldemar Danielewicz (Gdansk , 10/12/2022)
December 13th 2022: Arrived Le Havre for winter lay-up.
March 5th 2023: Left Le Havre.
March 6th 2023: Arrived Cherbourg.
March 23rd 2023: Sailings St Malo – Portsmouth.
2023 (Winter): Lay up in Le Havre.
March 19th 2024: Sailed from Le Havre to Portsmouth
March 21st 2024: Resume service Portsmouth – St Malo.
                              
🆕 Courtesy of Nicolas Lévy (St Malo, 14/04/2024)
We would like to thank: Philippe P. Brébant (Association Paquesbots & Marine Marchande), Rascal Bredel, “The Ferryman”, Brian Fisher, Robert Fournier, Waldemar Danielewicz, Darren Holdaway, Chris Hunsicker, Ken Larwood, Ben Bartlett, Nicolas Lévy, Derek Sands, Peter Wearing, John Wilson and Andreas Wörteler their assistance in producing this feature. All information is believed to be correct and no responsibility is accepted for errors and omissions.
Special thanks go to Brittany Ferries.
Article © Nigel Thornton and Ray Goodfellow (Dover Ferry Photos Group)
Hi, we love the Bretagne, she is our favourite ship, we wonder what the furture holds for her, has she had the scrubbers fitted? Great site, thank you for all the photos.
Hi Mary,
Thank you for taking the time to leave a comment on the site and thank you for your kind words. I have to admit that the Bretagne is one of my personal favourites and I have travelled on her three times in the last couple of years. She is a classic cruise ferry in my eyes and she is Brittany Ferries. There is nothing better than a meal in Les Abers followed by a comfortable night’s sleep.
The Bretagne hasn’t been fitted with scrubbers and it is not currently planned for her to receive them due to her age and the capital costs involved. Instead she is burning low sulphur diesel oil (MGO) which is better for the environment than the standard ship fuel known as heavy fuel oil (HFO).
I hope that when she does finally leave the Brittany Ferries fleet that she finds a good home and is given the same level of care that she currently receives as she is a fine ship and has many useful years left ahead of her.
In regards to when this will happen, well that’s still up in the air, we will have to wait for Brittany Ferries to announce a new build or a new acquisition.
Best Wishes
Ray