P&O Ferries has announced that it will soon take delivery of its second new ship, the Spirit of France. The €180 million ship will be handed over at a ceremony taking place at the STX Europe Shipyard, which is located in Rauma, Finland. The ceremony is planned for Tuesday, the 24th January 2012.

The Spirit of France will then depart on her journey of 1,400 miles to Dover, where she will be stationed. The ship will be commanded by Captain Steve Johnson (Senior Master).

She is scheduled to arrive in the port of Dover on Saturday the 28th January 2012, after which she will embark on a series of berthing trials. These will take place both in Calais and Dover. The Spirit of France will officially enter service on the busy cross Channel route before the middle of February this year.

The ship weighs more than 47,000 and her total length is 213 metres. Together with her sister ship, the Spirit of Britain, she is the biggest ferry every constructed for service in the Strait of Dover. The Spirit of Britain entered service last year.

In total, P&O Ferries had to fork out €360 million for the two ships – the biggest investment ever made by the company.

P&O Ferries currently operates 22 ships on the various routes to France, Belgium, Holland and Ireland. These ships carry in excess of nine million passengers every year, as well as two million trucks and more than 1.5 million passenger cars.