[ad_1]
Direct daily ferry departures between Ireland and France will start from January to help merchants and shippers avoid the UK and avoid delays caused by post-Brexit EU-UK border controls.
Stena and Irish Ferries will start operating the new direct services from Dublin and Rosslare to Cherbourg in France to provide carriers with frequent service to continental Europe.
Ferry services will last at least 18 hours, making the journey longer than the current direct route through the UK to continental Europe, favored by carriers carrying express loads.
State Minister for Road and International Transport Hildegarde Naughton has urged traders and carriers to explore alternative direct ferry routes now, before border controls at the EU-UK borders congest the “land bridge” route. “after Brexit takes effect in early January 2021.
“Businesses must act now and must start talking to their logistics companies, carriers, the shipping industry and start testing those direct routes now,” he said.
Ms Naughton said there will be delays at British ports in the Irish Sea and the English Channel, whether the EU and the UK agree to a deal or not before the end of the transition period on December 31. , and that there was free capacity on existing ferry services.
Supply chain
She said the direct route may not be feasible for some companies that deliver perishable food products and urgent pharmaceuticals, but that companies should start evaluating this now.
“These are conversations that companies need to have with their logistics companies, throughout the supply chain, to perhaps ask the question: do you need this delivered in 24 hours? Could it be within 36 hours? ” she said.
Irish Ferries and Stena plan to run alternate week schedules on their ferries to Cherbourg so that there is a direct loading and unloading ferry service for trucks every day starting next year.
Irish Ferries will operate a service on Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays and Sundays one week from Dublin to the port, in addition to their usual weekly departures on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays.
Stena will continue its service between Rosslare and Cherbourg on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays and plans to add a service on Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays and Sundays in the week that Irish Ferries do not sail these days from Dublin to guarantee daily service between Ireland and the mainland. . Europe.
Irish Ferries declined to comment on the new service.
Larger vessels
A spokesperson for Stena said there was free capacity on its current ferry service to France. The Cherbourg ferry from Rosslare was two-thirds full during 2019.
He said the shipping line can move larger vessels to the direct route if necessary. The company had received inquiries about the shipment of fresh food and pharmaceuticals that they cannot afford delays.
Approximately 150,000 heavy vehicles cross the UK land bridge each year. It is the cheapest and fastest way to get goods to continental Europe, and it takes less than 20 hours to reach French ports near major destinations and markets in Belgium, Germany and the Netherlands.
A new report from Ireland’s Office for Maritime Development assessing the impact of Brexit on the land bridge says that importers and exporters of highly time-sensitive products are reliant on the ‘speed to market’ offered by the route through Great Britain “must evaluate all alternative options and where possible redesign supply chains so that alternative options are viable.”
“The speed offered by the land bridge option cannot be achieved on other routes or modalities and changes in supply chains will be necessary,” the report says.
[ad_2]