The Danish shipping & logistics company took hold of the E-Flexer ferry, chartered from Stena RoRo, six weeks ahead of schedule.
The brand-new ro-pax will replace Calais Seaways across the Dover-Calais crossing this summer.
Côte d'Opale is 216 m-long and 27.8 m-wide, offering 3,100 lane metres of cargo capacity, space for 120 cars, and room for 1,000 passengers and her crew.
"Instead of cabins, there are extra-large areas so passengers can spread out, relax and enjoy the great onboard facilities in a Covid-19 secure way. The bow and stern are especially designed to fit the quayside facilities in both ports, and in addition, it is equipped with a third bow thruster to facilitate the many daily manoeuvres in port," DFDS said in a press release.
Torben Carlsen, the company's CEO, added, "With capacity for 160 trailers and space for 1000 passengers and crew, the Côte d'Opale is a fine example of how we combine cargo and passenger traffic without compromising the onboard experience. We appreciate Stena's E-Flexer design, which has made it possible to adapt the ferry, in collaboration with Stena, to the wishes associated with the short crossings across the Channel."
He also said, "With this ferry, we will be able to offer our passengers a comfortable journey and an extraordinary shopping experience while accommodating growth and increasing operational efficiency. Due to the large capacity, energy consumption per trailer transported will be significantly decreased compared to Calais Seaways that will be replaced by Côte d'Opale."
Per Westling, CEO, Stena RoRo, also underlined, "Our focus is to adapt the design to our customers' specific wishes, and together with DFDS, we have jointly adapted the ferry's unique design. In addition to far-reaching demands regarding the environmental aspects and technology, flexibility is one of the main characteristics of the E-Flexer class."
To date, Stena RoRo has ordered nine large E-Flexer-class ferries, five of which the Chinese CMI Jinling (Weihai) shipyard has already delivered.
Photo: DFDS