REMEMBERING THE CLASSIC VESSELS OF BRITTANY FERRIES

Now well into a fifth decade of services linking France with England, Ireland and Spain, Brittany Ferries began when a combine of Breton farmers from agricultural collective SICA, headed by Alexis Gourvennec, looked to get their produce directly into West of England markets as the UK prepared for entry into the European Common Market. Land was secured in Roscoff to establish a deep-water ferry port, and sailings to Plymouth began in January 1973, operated by the 3,395gt freight ro-ro ferry Kerisnel, built in Vigo in 1971.

Demand for what was initially branded as BAI (Bretange-Angleterre-Irlande SA) quickly exceeded Kerisnel’s 540 lane metres of space. She was sold in October 1974 for Red Sea work, before a 1995 move to the Mediterranean and service as The vessel was to go for scrap at Aliaga in 2001, only to sink north of