P&O Ferries' Pride of Burgundy ship could be srapped

   January 11, 2021 ,   Cruise Industry

A popular 1993-built Cross Channel ship of P&O Ferries UK is currently moored up on Fal River (Cornwall England) due to a drop in demand caused by the pandemic.

The 28-years-old Pride of Burgundy ferry operated on the UK-France route Dover-Calais for 27 years, but with a lack of demand (caused by the expanded travel restrictions), the P&O boat was taken out of service and on May 3, 2020, moored at Port Leith (Edinburgh, Scotland).

Pride of Burgundy ferry

In early-December 2020, Pride of Burgundy was brought to River Fal (close to Truro), where still remains, now facing an uncertain future after reports that P&O Ferries had confirmed to staff they didn't intend to return the vessel to service.

Pride of Burgundy was intended to be a freight-only ship for service on the Dover-Zeebrugge Belgium route. However, with rising demand for the Dover-Calais service, P&O converted the vessel (still under construction) to a multi-purpose cruiseferry that can carry both passengers and wheeled cargo.

The cross-Channel ship's maiden voyage between Dover and Calais started on April 5, 1993. With max capacity 1200 passengers and 600 cars, Pride of Burgundy was one of the P&O's smallest ferries sailing on the route.

During the first lockdown in 2020, the liner was taken out of service and moved to Leith. Although this was thought to be a temporary break in the service, concerns were raised when the company advertised for a crew to sail the ship from Scotland to Cornwall in December 2020.