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Ferry and cruise


With new EU rules on delayed and cancelled sailings coming into force later this year, the Chamber has played a central role in preparing guidance for passengers and carriers on their new rights and obligations. Meanwhile, an overdue review of Customs law will enable longer-standing rights to free movement within the EU to be fully acknowledged.


Record numbers of cruises were sold in 2011, and in the ferry sector passenger and freight volumes broadly stabilised. However, market conditions remained challenging. Ferry routes across the Irish Sea saw significant rationalisation and, on the prime Dover-Calais route, the French state-owned ferry operator closed. In Scotland the Northern Isles contract is being re-tendered, and the long-term Ferries Plan nears finalisation. At the same time, passengers and freight


customers alike are now better served than ever. New vessels, designed for efficient operation and quality service, were introduced on the English Channel, the North Sea and in Scotland; and new terminals opened at Loch Ryan and Portsmouth, serving two of the UK’s busiest ferry routes. Some threats to the cost base that enables


ferry and cruise operators to provide value to their customers persist – see Environment (pages 10-13) for forthcoming restrictions on the sulphur content of fuels, and Taxation (pages 8-9) in relation to VAT. But, in most areas, the regulatory framework continues to evolve in line with the business.


Passenger rights Ferry and cruise passengers will acquire new legal rights in December 2012 under an EU regulation that prohibits disability discrimination and creates statutory rules on delays and cancellations. The first aspect largely reflects existing practice, but the second is a new area of law, derived from an older regulation intended primarily to address overbooking by airlines.


28 SECTOR PANELS Carriers will be required to take care of passengers


stranded at ports and to refund a proportion of the ticket price if the sailing arrives late. However, the EU regulation presumes that all passengers travel on a personal ticket, which embodies their contract with the carrier and confers their rights. This does not reflect the reality of the ferry sector, where most passengers travel on group tickets that relate to a vehicle. The Chamber has been working with the DfT to


reconcile the two concepts in a guidance document. Similar guidance will follow on applying the principle of disabled access in the operating environment of a ship.


Payment surcharges In another initiative inspired by passenger dissatisfaction with the practices of some airlines, the Office of Fair Trading (OFT) investigated payment surcharges for web bookings. The ferry sector emerged with a largely clean bill of health – no Chamber members charge customers for paying by debit card. The OFT concluded that operators should remain free to charge for other payment options, such as credit cards, provided that they informed the customer early in the booking process. This conclusion, however, was upset in October


by the EU Consumer Rights Directive. Extended at the last moment to ferries, the directive will prohibit carriers levying charges that exceed their own costs for card payments. Ministers want to implement this provision early, before the directive comes into force into 2014, and this unexpected deviation from the OFT’s recommendations will necessitate defining how operators’ costs should be calculated.


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