P&O Pioneer leaving the GSI Shipyard in China for sea trials ahead of a late spring arrival on the Channel to begin sailings between Dover and Calais.
P&O Pioneer, the first of P&O Ferries’ double-ended vessels for the Dover-Calais route, put to sea from China’s GSI shipyard in late November 2022 on trials prior to a delivery voyage to England and an expected Channel crossing debut in late spring. Her sistership, P&O Liberty, will followbyJune.
They are costing a total of £220 million and P&O have options for a further pair of identical vessels, which are 230m in length with a beam of 30.8m, and designed to carry up to 1,500 passengers with 2,800 lane metres of space for vehicles. Power will come from a line-up of four 16-cylinder Wärtsilä diesel engines powering podded propellers for a speed of over 20 knots.
A feature of the design is provision of fully equipped bridges at either end of the superstructure to reduce turnaround time in port.