A ferry serviceto Spain is to start, which had been previously served by the Irish Continental Group.

Brittany Ferries 32,728 tonnes Cap Finistere will re-open the Portsmouth-Bilbao route following P&O Ferries closurelast September.

The Cap Finistere has a 500vehicle capacity and the vessel will operate two round tripsweekly with each crossing taking 24 hours.

In 2009 the P&O service carried 180,000 passengers and 193,000 in 2008 but closed due to "unsustainable losses".

The Bilbao routebrings the Brittany Ferries operations to five sailings weeklybetween the UK to Spain, two from Portsmouth to Santander and a single round-trip to Plymouth.

The Pride of Bilbao was sold late last year to St. Peter Line and next month starts a new St. Petersburg-Stockholm service, with calling en route to Tallinn.

    Afloat 27/03/2011