Brittany Ferries gets EU emissions grant, but says it’s not enough

BRITTANY FERRIES has received almost £5 million from the European Union to help pay for low-emission exhaust systems. The grant will be used to install “scrubber” systems on three of its ships to reduce sulphur emissions. 

But #BrittanyFerries says the money is not enough, with the overall cost for fitting scrubbers to its fleet of six ships calculated at £63 million.

The EU last year ordered fuel sulphur levels to be reduced from 3.5% to 0.1% by last January, on the back of recommendations by The International Maritime Organization.

A company spokesman told The Portsmouth News: ‘We are one among a number of ferry companies including DFDS and Stena Line to have received this grant. It is a contribution towards the capital cost of fitting scrubbers to three of our ships this coming winter – Pont Aven, Armorique, and Mont St Michel – and we have received nothing for the three ships already done. 

‘The grant falls far short of the cost of fitting scrubbers to six ships. It is only 8% of the total. It helps, but falls far short of the incremental cost we have had to bear.’

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Picture Credit: http://www.flickr.com/photos/27406286@N05/4575570906">mv Bretagne, Brittany Ferries, off St Malo, Brittany, France</a> via <a href="http://photopin.com">photopin</a> <a href="https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/">(license)