The P&O Ferries mobile app - which will be rolled out across the company's fleet of passenger ships on the English Channel, North Sea and Irish Sea - will mean that customers no longer have to use any paper for their tickets.

Other benefits will include updates on travel conditions around the port, an interactive guide to the ship on which you are sailing and early notice of on-board offers in the bars, restaurants and shops. Customers will also be able to use the app to purchase holiday money at competitive rates with zero commission.

Sarah Rosier, P&O Ferries Head of Sales and Marketing, said: "At P&O Ferries we pride ourselves on the holiday beginning as soon as our customers set foot on the ship and our new mobile app will make their travel experience easier, better and more fun."

"We sail cruise ferries of up to 60,000 tons between Britain, Ireland and Europe and the mobile app will give our passengers the opportunity to make the most of what these extraordinary ships have to offer. That includes everything from fine dining to a quick bite to eat, entertainment for the whole family and on-board shops with discounts of up to 40 per cent on high street prices on perfume, alcohol and chocolate."

"The customer experience on board a P&O Ferries ship today recalls the unforgettable style of the famous P&O liners of the past. The big difference is that with our new app, you're the captain."

P&O Ferries is a leading pan-European ferry and logistics company, sailing 27,000 times a year on eight major routes between Britain, France, Northern Ireland, the Republic of Ireland, Holland and Belgium. It operates more than 20 vessels which carry 8.4 million passengers and 2.3 million freight units annually.

Together with its logistics division, P&O Ferrymasters, the company also operates integrated road and rail links to countries across the continent including Italy, Poland, Germany, Spain and Romania. P&O Ferrymasters also owns a rail terminal in the Romanian city of Oradea, which facilitates the onward movement of goods to Britain from Asian countries via the Silk Road.