French-owned Brittany Ferries (www.corporate.brittany-ferries.com), which has its UK headquarters in Portsmouth, has completed a £60 million project to fit ‘green’ technology to six vessels operating on routes between the South Coast of England, France, Spain and Ireland.

The 18-month project involved fitting the ships with new exhaust systems — known as scrubbers — that remove sulphur from funnel emissions and significantly cut the particulate output.

The company’s flagship Pont-Aven, which can carry 2,400 passengers, was the last to return to service, after work carried out at the Gdansk shipyard in Poland.

Armorique, a cruise-ferry that carries passengers on the route of the first Brittany voyage between Roscoff and Plymouth on 1 January 1973, has also recently returned to service, after work at the Astander shipyard in Spain.

Last year Brittany Ferries reported a 7.5% increase in passenger traffic, carrying 2.6 million, while freight traffic increased by 22%.