Background:
P&O Ferries operates a network of passenger and freight services to Ireland, Holland, Belgium & France. The fleet of nearly 20 ships ranges from dedicated freight ferries to some of the largest and most luxurious cruise ferries ever built.

Award Winners:
The service offered by P&O Ferries has been honoured with some major industry awards.

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 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. 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.

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 to Calais service, alcohol and tobacco products are sold at low French prices while the ships sail outside of British Waters, this typically means about 20 minutes from departing the Port of Dover. On the Hull services, the ships sell these products at non-Uk prices again typically 20 minutes after departure but can vary.

P&O Ferries & the Environment:

Wildlife
Since 1995 P&O Ferries has supported scientists from the Biscay Dolphin Research Programme who travelled on the "Pride of Bilbao" to monitor whales and dolphins in the English Channel and Bay of Biscay. On every sailing there was a wildlife officer who provides free presentations and assisted deck watches for all passengers. He also provided a talk for children in the Dolphin Club. The work 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 were spotted regularly riding the bow waves, they include the striped, risso and bottlenose variety. The "Pride of Bilbao" also carried measuring devices on behalf of oceanographers from Southampton University who monitor water quality and temperature. Unfortunately the Portsmouth to Bilbao route closed on the 27th September 2010 with the final sailing from Bilbao to Portsmouth.

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 to 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 shore side 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 to Calais route.