Background:

P&O Ferries operates a network of passenger and freight services to Holland, Belgium, France and Spain. The fleet of 16 ships ranges from dedicated freight ferries to some of the largest and most luxurious cruise ferries ever built. In 2004 the company carried more than 11 million passengers, almost two million cars and coaches, and more than one million trucks.

Award Winners:

The service offered by P&O Ferries has been honoured with some major industry awards. Here are just some of the awards received over the last three years:

Best Short Sea Crossings and Best Operator All Other Routes, Travel Weekly Globe Awards
Best Ferry Operator and Best Operator (UK – France)
Best Ferry Operator - All other routes (Travel Weekly)
Best Operator Short Sea (Travel Weekly)
Short Sea Ferry Operator of the Year (Lloyd's Loading List)
Best Training Initiative (Cruise and Ferry Awards 2003)
Best Sea Crossing Operator (Group Travel Organiser)
Best Ferry Operator Short Sea / Channel (TTG British Travel Awards)
Best Ferry Operator (Group Leisure Awards 2003)
Customer Service Team of the Year - 2005
Britain's Best Ferry Operator for Groups - 2005
Best Short Sea Crossings Dover - Calais (Travel Weekly) 2006
Best Operator All Other Routes Hull and Portsmouth (Travel Weekly) 2006

On-Board Services:

P&O Ferries offers the widest choice of routes and ferries from the UK to mainland Europe giving a broad selection of facilities and services to cater for everyone. From Dover to Calais each ship has an exclusive Club Lounge, which includes complimentary tea, coffee, champagne, soft drinks, and office facilities. They also have a range of bars and restaurants, which cater for everything from light snacks, to à la carte dining in authentic versions of London's renowned Langan's Brasserie. There is also a games arcade for children to enjoy, onboard shop and bureau de change. From Hull to Rotterdam and Zeebrugge each ship has a lively Irish theme bar, relaxing wine bar, two cinemas, live cabaret show, casino, range of shops and bureau de change. There is a Game Zone video arcade and Children's World playroom and for those who want to keep in touch with the outside world there's a Business Lounge and Cyberzone Internet café. Dining choices include à la carte in the Langan's Brasserie, pavement style in the Continental Café, or buffet style in the Four Seasons restaurant. The Pride of Bilbao from Portsmouth to Bilbao has live cabaret acts, cinemas, casinos, swimming pools, fitness centres with sauna and Jacuzzi and a hair and beauty salon. There is also a range of quiet lounges, a wide choice of self-service and à la carte restaurants, bars, shops and bureaux de change. Also on the Pride of Bilbao there is a wildlife officer to help passengers spot whales and dolphins as the ship passes through the Bay of Biscay.

Duty-Paid Shopping:

Duty-free shopping was abolished on 30 June 1999 following a decision by European Community Finance Ministers. Since 1 July 1999 a new on board shopping regime has been operating. P&O Ferries sells excisable products at foreign rates of duty – which are lower than those in the UK - while the ships sail in foreign waters. For instance, on the Dover-Calais service, alcohol and tobacco products are sold at low French prices while the ships sail in French waters.

P&O Ferries & the Environment:

Wildlife

Since 1995 P&O Ferries has supported scientists from the Biscay Dolphin Research Programme who travel on the Pride of Bilbao to monitor whales and dolphins in the English Channel and Bay of Biscay. On every sailing there is a wildlife officer who provides free presentations and assisted deck watches for all passengers. He also provides a talk for children in the Dolphin Club. So far the work has resulted in 21 species of whales and dolphins being recorded, representing more than 30,000 individual animals. They include fin whales, pygmy killer whales, pilot whales, minke whales, Cuvier’s beaked whales, and even the legendary Blue whale. All kinds of dolphins are spotted regularly riding the bow waves, they include the striped, risso and bottlenose variety. The Pride of Bilbao also carries measuring devices on behalf of oceanographers from Southampton University who monitor water quality and temperature.

Environment

P&O and BP Marine are working together to develop new technology to radically reduce exhaust emissions, including an 85% reduction in sulphur. An exhaust ‘scrubber’ system is being tested on the Dover – Calais ferry Pride of Kent. This equipment passes the ship's exhaust gases through seawater to remove oxides of sulphur (Sox) and other pollutants. Seawater is an ideal scrubbing agent, since it already contains a number of salts that act to neutralise Sox. As the end product of the process is sulphate, a natural component of seawater, the scrubbing process has low impact environmentally. After scrubbing the seawater is filtered to remove particulates. Significantly for the marine industry, BP Marine and P&O believe the trial will provide further evidence of the benefits of shipboard solutions to improve the environmental performance of shipping. Similar processes are widely used in large-scale plants to scrub emissions from shoreside coal and oil-fired electricity generating stations. The P&O / BP Marine system is the first to be practically implemented on a shipboard scale. Refinement of the system is on going with results measured against the sistership, Pride of Canterbury, which also sails on the Dover – Calais route.