MV

Ship prefix

A ship prefix is a combination of letters, usually abbreviations, used in front of the name of a civilian or naval ship.Prefixes for civilian vessels may either identify the type of propulsion, such as "SS" for steamship, or purpose, such as "RV" for research vessel. Civilian prefixes are often...

 SeaFrance Berlioz is a ferry owned by SeaFrance

SeaFrance

SeaFrance is a ferry company based in France that operates ferry services between Calais, France, and Dover, England.SeaFrance is 100% owned by the French railways, SNCF....

 and operated on its Dover—Calais route. She was built in 2004 by Chantiers de l'Atlantique

Chantiers de l'Atlantique

Chantiers de l'Atlantique is part of the South Korean STX Shipbuilding Group and one of the world's largest shipyards, based in Saint-Nazaire, France...

 (Yard No.032) at Saint-Nazaire

Saint-Nazaire

Saint-Nazaire , is a commune in the Loire-Atlantique department in western France.The town has a major harbour, on the right bank of the Loire River estuary, near the Atlantic Ocean. The town is at the south of the second-largest swamp in France, called "la Brière"...

, France

France

The French Republic , The French Republic , The French Republic , (commonly known as France , is a unitary semi-presidential republic in Western Europe with several overseas territories and islands located on other continents and in the Indian, Pacific, and Atlantic oceans. Metropolitan France...

, for SeaFrance, as a passenger and roll-on roll-off car and commercial vehicle ferry. SeaFrance Berlioz is engined by Wartsila

Wärtsilä

Wärtsilä is a Finnish corporation which manufactures and services power sources and other equipment in the marine and energy markets. The core products of Wärtsilä include large combustion engines...

 of Helsinki

Helsinki

Helsinki is the capital and largest city in Finland. It is in the region of Uusimaa, located in southern Finland, on the shore of the Gulf of Finland, an arm of the Baltic Sea. The population of the city of Helsinki is , making it by far the most populous municipality in Finland. Helsinki is...

, Finland

Finland

Finland , officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country situated in the Fennoscandian region of Northern Europe. It is bordered by Sweden in the west, Norway in the north and Russia in the east, while Estonia lies to its south across the Gulf of Finland.Around 5.4 million people reside...

, and was launched 14 October 2004. She has a sister ship, the MV SeaFrance Rodin

MV SeaFrance Rodin

MV SeaFrance Rodin is a ropax ferry owned by SeaFrance and operated on their Dover—Calais route. She was built in 2001 by Aker Finnyards in Rauma, Finland for SeaFrance, as a passenger and roll-on roll-off car and commercial vehicle ferry; Rodin is engined by Wartsila Corporation, Helsinki,...

.

Service

The SeaFrance Berlioz carries out up to ten English Channel crossings per day with SeaFrance

SeaFrance

SeaFrance is a ferry company based in France that operates ferry services between Calais, France, and Dover, England.SeaFrance is 100% owned by the French railways, SNCF....

, in a time of 70 minutes each. In total, there are 11 decks. The passenger areas account for the upper two decks, with the lower decks used for the vehicles. The passenger area includes a retail space and children's play area. The retail area covers around 500m² and includes a boutique and a shopping area offering clothes, cosmetics, confectionary, beer, wines and spirits. There is also a newspaper kiosk, bureau de change

Bureau de Change

A bureau de change or currency exchange is a business whose customers exchange one currency for another. Although originally French, the term bureau de change is widely used throughout Europe, and European travellers can usually easily identify these facilities when in other European countries...

and information desk. On board, there are six bars and restaurants. The Latitudes café bar and the Le Parisien café are located in the ship's bow - the former on the upper deck and the latter on the lower deck. The Latitudes can seat 260 passengers with waiter service for 60 and the Le Parisien café can accommodate 350 diners. The other areas are the Relais self service restaurant, the la Brasserie Restaurant, the Le Pub bar, which has seating for 400 people, and a commercial driver's restaurant catering for 160 people. The Relais is situated at the stern and overlooks the children's play area. It has seating for 350 customers.

Maneuverability

Maneuverability is important for a vessel having to make 20 port movements a day. To assist in manoeuvring at port, the vessel has four transverse thrusters, three in the bow and one in the stern. The Wartsila thrusters are rated at 1,800kW each. The propellers and thrusters can be controlled individually, with the aid of a joystick, or simultaneously. It can berth in wind speeds of 50 knots without tug assistance.