The post you are reporting:
The Spirit of Britain was delivered almost a year ago and has gone to Falmouth for the guarantee drydock which takes place after the first year. Representatives of the shipbuilders attend and arrange to rectify any deficiencies uncovered.
She has had a lot of mechanical trouble, particularly with the propeller shafts and bearings, and is experiencing excessive vibration.
Her sister ship, Spirit of France, was completed at the same yard, STX Europe in Rauma, Finland, back in September. P&O have refused to accept her until the vibration issues are dealt with. The intention being that, once the causes of the excessive vibration have been established and dealt with, then a similar remedy can be applied to the Spirit of Britain.
Spirit of France has been conducting sea trials for months attempting to solve the problem. Her lines carried away in a storm a couple of months ago and she went aground causing a bit of damage which has further delayed matters. Believe they are hoping that she will finally enter service in late January, early February.
Each of these ships carries double the amount of the ships they are replacing whilst burning the same amount of fuel. The original intention was that they would replace the Pride of Dover, Pride of Calais, and possibly also the Pride of Burgundy and European Seaway. When the Spirit of Britain arrived, the Pride of Dover went off to lay up in Tilbury, where she remains.
Things have changed with the demise of SeaFrance. The freighter European Seaway was also laid up in Tilbury but has been put back into service. Scuttlebutt has it that P&O now want as many ships on the Calais run as they can manage, in order to exclude another operator from running into Calais. To this end, it is rumoured that the Pride of Calais will be tarted up to soldier on for a couple more years.
