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FERRY STOR ES 1
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As UK international operators continue
to struggle for market share on an
uneven playing field, we review the latest developments on routes out of the UK.
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 arc seeing increased business. Brittany Ferries is launching the Cotentin on the run from Poole to Cherbourg and Spain. At a cost of .f.50in this new freight ferry can take 120 trucks. Earlier in the summer P&O started a RO-R() service between Tilbury and Zeebrugge; now it has added another vessel to the route.The floburgen has space for 82 trucks, giving P&O has an annual capacity of 100,0(1) units on this route.
Unlike the short-sea cross-Channel routes, where most of the traffic is driveraccompanied, 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 LiverpoolDublin port route (CM 28 September). 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 But even on this busy route some services have been withdrawn this year (see panel, Hi Lines).
In Scotland, the Superfast Ferries route between Rosyth and Zeebrugge continues to give Scottish hauliers a direct link to the C,ontinent,cutting out the long road trip to ports in the south of England. • Care for the environment is firmly on top of the political agenda. This is mainstream and the pressure is on to present yourself as environmentally responsible.
The Commercial Motor Environmental Conference will unravel some of the myths and mystery which surround this debate. Find out what a carbon footprint is, how you go about achieving carbon neutrality and how to compile an environmental impact all in a simple straightforward manner.