Shipping company DFDS will make an investment of €1 billion (US$1.09 billion) in battery electric vessels to help reduce emissions caused by maritime traffic in the English Channel.
The investment covers six ferries that will be deployed on the Dunkirk-Dover and Calais-Dover routes to carry passengers and freight between the UK and the European Union.
The first two electric vessels will be in operation by 2030, while the rest are scheduled to follow before 2035. DFDS CEO Torben Carlsen said that, because of the relatively short distance between the UK and France, the routes are optimal for electric ferry transport.
Three of the ships will sail under the French flag.
DFDS and the Port of Dover, the Port of Boulogne Calais, and the Port of Dunkirk had earlier agreed to decarbonise maritime traffic in the Straits of Dover through a Memorandum of Understanding signed on March 15, 2023.
