Brittany Ferries to add third weekly return sailing from Rosslare to Cherbourg

The explosion of freight traffic at Rosslare Europort shows no signs of slowing down, as Brittany Ferries have today confirmed their intention to add a third weekly return sailing between the Wexford port and Cherbourg in France.

The company says the move will boost connectivity ahead of the arrival of its rail-ferry service in 2025. Ferroutage will link Bayonne with Cherbourg by rail, carrying trailers for onward transport by ferry.

Speaking at the announcement, Glenn Carr, Director Commercial Business Units Iarnród Éireann/ Irish Rail & Port Authority Rosslare Europort said: “We are delighted to see our shipping partner Brittany Ferries further increase services at Rosslare Europort.

“As we continue to significantly invest in facilities and infrastructure at the port it is great to see additional new services being introduced that further strengthens our links and connectivity between Ireland and France.

Meanwhile, CEO of Brittany Ferries Christophe Mathieu stated the addition of the third weekly rotation would provide an even greater opportunity for freight operators to bypass the UK.

“It is great news for hauliers and logistics companies,” he said. “It means even more opportunity for freight operators to by-pass the UK entirely, cutting down on bureaucracy and delays that can occur the UK border.”

This is the latest chapter in the huge growth of Rosslare Europort since Brexit came into effect. It now operates over 34 services between Rosslare, Bilbao, Cherbourg, Dunkirk and Zeebrugge, in addition to 58 weekly UK services, and Rosslare is now the only port in Europe to have the three largest RoRo brands operating services collectively from one location.

The port is a hive of activity at the moment as its largest ever infrastructure investment is now under construction and will see upgrades to passenger, freight, security, border control, storage and future Offshore Renewable Energy facilities.

Brittany Ferries has massively grown the direct Ireland-France market since 2021 and has reaffirmed its freight and passenger traffic commitment. In two years, freight volumes on France to Ireland routes has grown by 96% from 3,808 in 2021 to 7,734 units last year. Passenger traffic has also been boosted by 412% (a fourfold increase) from 28,584 in 2021 to 146,351 last year.

This new service will leave Cherbourg at 18:20 local time on Monday, arriving at Rosslare at 14:00 on Tuesday. It will then depart Rosslare at 18:00 destined for arrival in Cherbourg on Wednesday at 17:00.

Brittany Ferries has chartered Condor’s ferry the Commodore Clipper for the service, which will also include additional sailings to and from Portsmouth. The Clipper will be chartered to the company for around half the week: the other half it will continue to be used by Condor to serve the Channel Islands.

In addition to three weekly rotations linking Rosslare with Cherbourg, Brittany Ferries operates two weekly Cork-Roscoff round trips and a bi-weekly service from Rosslare to Bilbao.

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