Barfleur

Barfleur is a commune in the Manche department in the Basse-Normandie region in northwestern France. It is twinned with Lyme Regis in the United Kingdom.

History

Middle Ages

In the Middle Ages Barfleur was one of the chief ports of embarkation for England.

Later

Population

Heraldry

Geography

About 2 miles (3.2 km) to the north is Cape Barfleur, with a lighthouse 233 ft (71 m) high.

Transportation

A Brittany Ferries vessel is named after the village and operates from nearby Cherbourg-Octeville to Poole in the United Kingdom.

MS Barfleur (1992)

MV Barfleur is a ferry operated by Brittany Ferries on the route between Poole on the south coast of England and Cherbourg, France. She was built at Masa Yards Turku New Shipyard in Finland for the Brittany Ferries subsidiary Truckline and entered service in 1992. In 1999 she was repainted in Brittany Ferries standard livery. Barfleur was the last ship to carry the 1983-2002 version of the Brittany Ferries logo and livery which was replaced by the post-2002 version in March 2009. She sails under the French flag and is registered in Cherbourg.

From 27 April 2012 until December that year, she was in service with DFDS Seaways who had renamed her as Deal Seaways to ensure she had the same initials as their other ships, all DS. She was used on their joint Dover—Calais route with LD Lines.

Withdrawal and temporary return to service, 2010-2011

On the 19 December 2009 Brittany Ferries announced that they would be withdrawing Barfleur from its service between Poole and Cherbourg. They claimed to have been losing money on the service for quite some time. After completing her last trip in February 2010 Barfleur was laid up in the canal near to Caen. For many months there was much speculation as to the future of the vessel with many believing it was to be chartered to another operator. On the 16 December 2010, almost a year after the announcement of withdrawal, Brittany Ferries made a statement that Barfleur would resume service on the Poole to Cherbourg route commencing on 27 February 2011. However, the service was to be aimed at freight traffic as well as passengers.