English Channel ferries equipped with KONE solutions
KONE Corporation, trade press release, May 3, 2012
KONE, a leading provider of elevators and escalators, has supplied the People Flow® solutions for the latest P&O ferries in the UK. The Spirit of France entered full service in February 2012 joining her sister ship, the Spirit of Britain, in daily passenger service over the English Channel. The two ferries were built at STX Finland, Rauma shipyard in 2011 and 2012, respectively.
For each of the vessels KONE delivered a total of nine units: three passenger elevators, three service elevators, two lifts for people with impaired mobility and one dumbwaiter. Five of the elevators are based on the KONE MiniSpace® platform, where the machine room is only an extension of the elevator shaft, and it holds the compact KONE EcoDisc® gearless hoisting machine.
"Due to short port calls, the People Flow solutions onboard were designed to work efficiently especially during embarkation and disembarkation. To help guide passengers, the interior designs of the passenger elevators match the color-coding of the zones on the vessel," says John Hemgård, Head of Marine Business at KONE.
The two ferries operate from Dover to Calais on daily routes. At 213m and 47,000 gross tons each, the two ferries are the largest built for the Dover Strait. Together, they can transport more than 3,500 passengers and 360 trucks or approximately 2,100 cars.
For further information, please contact:
Cãlin Hera, Marketing and Communications Specialist, KONE, tel: +358 20475 3450, email: calin.hera@kone.com
About KONE
KONE is one of the global leaders in the elevator and escalator industry. The company has been committed to understanding the needs of its customers for the past century, providing industry-leading elevators, escalators and automatic building doors as well as innovative solutions for modernization and maintenance. The company's objective is to offer the best People Flow® experience by developing and delivering solutions that enable people to move smoothly, safely, comfortably and without waiting in buildings in an increasingly urbanizing environment. In 2011, KONE had annual net sales of EUR 5.2 billion and on average 35,000 employees. KONE class B shares are listed on the NASDAQ OMX Helsinki Ltd in Finland.