News

DFDS to deploy former MyFerryLink vessels on Dover-Calais route

Two new ships are to be deployed on the Dover-Calais route by DFDS next month.

The former Eurotunnel-owned MyFerryLink ferries Rodin and Berlioz are each capable of carrying 1,900 passengers.

The vessels were handed over to DFDS last September after Eurotunnel was forced to shut its ferry arm on competition grounds.

The ferries, which previously operated for the defunct SeaFrance, are being refurbished and renamed as the Cote des Dunes and the Cote des Flandres.

They are due to enter service on February 8 and 22 respectively, raising the company’s sailings by 10 crossings to 30 a day.

The Calais fleet complements three DFDS ships operating on the Dover-Dunkirk route, bringing total sailings up to 54.

The two ferries will sail alongside Calais Seaways, one of DFDS’ current ships on the Dover-Calais route.

The vessel Malo Seaways will serve as a temporary third ferry while Calais Seaways undergoes routine maintenance, and will then be redeployed elsewhere on the DFDS network.

DFDS senior vice president, Carsten Jensen, said: “Although the two new ships were purpose built for the Dover Strait, there is a lot of work needed to bring the ferries up to our high standards, and our teams are currently working round the clock to get everything in place to bring them into service in February.

“The introduction of these two ships underlines our commitment to providing a sustainable and consistently high quality cross Channel ferry service, underpinned with a greater frequency and level of reliability.”

Share article

View Comments

Jacobs Media is honoured to be the recipient of the 2020 Queen's Award for Enterprise.

The highest official awards for UK businesses since being established by royal warrant in 1965. Read more.