P&O is preparing to bring into service the largest ferries ever used in the Channel. The first ship, the Spirit of Britain, will replace the Pride of Dover from the 23rd January 2011 and will provide nearly double the capacity of the ship it replaces. The first sailing is currently scheduled for 0415 on the 23rd January.

The Spirit of Britain will be able to carry up to 180 lorries and 195 cars, plus 1,750 passengers. It has a whopping 3,746m of vehicle lanes – if loaded only with cars, it could carry more than 1,000, as opposed to 650 on the current ferries.

The Spirit of Britain and its sister ship the Spirit of France will be the largest ferries ever operated in the Channel and have been designed to ‘Dover Max’ size – the largest ships that can be handled by the existing ferry port facilities in Dover, Calais and Boulogne (for those times when striking French workers put Calais out of bounds…).

Each of the new ships weights 49,000 tonnes, is 213m long and is expected to operate on this route for 25 years – as have the existing ships.