Freight Ferry Update

UK hauliers have to face many challenges to make their business work in the 21st century, but a shortage of routes out of the country is not one of them. Largely due to the expansion of the European Union, the freight market on most RO-RO routes to and from the UK has been growing steadily over recent years. Adrian Richardson, SeaFrance's freight and sales marketing manager at Dover, says he can't remember a time when business was not expanding. SeaFrance is planning to launch another vessel on its Dover-Calais route at the end of the year it currently runs six ferries on this route, allowing 23 sailings a day in each direction.

P&O, which is now owned by Dubai Ports World, reports an 8% increase in freight volume last year and a 3% rise since the start of this year it too is about to add another dedicated freight vessel to the Dover-Calais route - the European Endeavour - with room for 125 artics. It is not just the short-sea routes that are seeing increased business. Brittany Ferries is launching the Cotentin on the run from Poole to Cherbourg and Spain. At a cost of £50m this new freight ferry can take 120 trucks.

Earlier in the summer P&O started a ro-ro service between Tilbury and Zeebrugge now it has added another vessel to the route. The Hoburgen has space for 82 trucks, giving P&O has an annual capacity of 100,000 units on this route. Unlike the short-sea cross-Channel routes, where most of the traffic is driver-accompanied, the Tilbury-Zeebrugge route is focusing on unaccompanied trailers. Some operators are putting the same emphasis on unaccompanied trailers on the Irish Sea, notably Seatruck Ferries, which in September took over Celtic Link's Liverpool-Dublin port route. Seatruck has taken over the charter vessel that Celtic Link operated and plans to add other vessels to the route this year and next.

It has ordered four new freight-only vessels in Spain which are specifically designed for the Irish Sea. But even on this busy route some services have been withdrawn this year. In Scotland, the Superfast Ferries route between Rosyth and Zeebrugge continues to give Scottish hauliers a direct link to the Continent, cutting out the long road trip to ports in the south of England. n

Eurotunnel's traffic increased by 9% in the first half of 2007 compared with the first half of 2006, with 707,422 trucks passing through the Chunnel. This suggests it is continuing to provide a viable alternative to ferries for hauliers. But rail freight remains one of Eurotunnel's disappointments: tonnage through the tunnel in the first half of 2007 was 14% down on the same period in 2006.

One of the shortest-lived ferry services out of the UK was the HJ Lines service between Swansea and Cork, which was launched in March and has already stopped operating. HJ Lines was unavailable for comment as CM went to press and Associated British Ports (ABP), which operates Swansea Port, was also unwilling to comment on the reasons for the closure. However, ABP says it continues to believe "in the viability of a freight-ferry service between Swansea and southern Ireland".