ISSUE 4 2011


RO RO DFDS: ups and downs in Scotland


The Rosyth-Zeebrugge route has had something of a roller-coaster ride these last few months. Initially, optimism surged among the Scottish freight community after new owners DFDS introduced an additional freight ship late last year, giving hauliers a rather better service than they had enjoyed under Norfolk Line although the passenger service was axed completely. Now, though, DFDS has withdrawn the Cimbria Seaways from the route, much to the dismay of bodies such as the South East of Scotland Transport Partnership (SEStran), which is calling on local industry to ‘use it or lose it’. Prior to the removal of the Cimbria,


the service had already gone down from four sailings to three sailings per week, so the latest change from


that


two to one ship could be carried out without affecting the schedule. A spokesman for DFDS admitted Scotland was “a


problem


area” adding: “We face severe competition from traffic out of UK ports, creating imbalances that contribute to making the service loss-making. In order to change this situation and improve the results, we have reduced from two to one ship – but without reducing the number of departures – in order to keep up service, but reduce costs.” He added: “As Scotland imports many goods as part loads these tend to be consolidated with English imports meaning that the entry point to the UK is in the north of England. Once a Scottish import load is delivered and an export


picked up the haulier tends to head back to the port where their next import is, which quite often is back in England.”


Many hauliers thus end up trekking south to Newcastle or Teesside and once there, find it far more convenient to use one of the many services available (including DFDS’s own routes from Immingham). This has put a brake on the growth of freight traffic out of Scotland. DFDS has meanwhile exited the Irish Sea ro ro market. After the sale of the Belfast-Birkenhead and Belfast-Heysham routes, it also decided to close Dublin- Birkenhead and Dublin-Heysham. (However, it still operates container routes in the Irish Sea.)


LD Lines goes for the long haul


sailings weekly with a crossing time of 14 hours.


The service benefits from a €30 million EU-approved subsidy from France and Spain under the ‘Motorways of the Sea’ programme over four years and a further €4 million grant from the Marco Polo project.


French-owned operator has drawn in its horns on the short- sea market with the ending of its Dover-Boulogne route and is now concentrating on its longer Portsmouth/Le Havre and Newhaven/Dieppe services, says managing director, Christophe Santoni.


Following the withdrawal from the Dover – Boulogne route last September, LD Lines will focus on its Western Channel routes between Portsmouth - Le Havre and Newhaven-Dieppe, in addition to the Mediterranean and Atlantic services. “The present overcapacity and subsequent rates war on the Dover Strait makes it impossible for a newcomer to become established. However, this might be reviewed should conditions ever change,” he said. LD Lines has reintroduced the conventional ferry Norman Spirit to the Portsmouth - Le Havre service which provides a year- round operation, replacing the Cote d’Albatre, he adds. “This has increased freight and tourist traffic capacity on the route, and we can now additionally provide some unaccompanied freight traffic shipments with this vessel, in response to customer demand. On the France - Spain (St Nazaire Nantes - Gijón) service we have


also introduced the Baltic Amber to the route, which has increased capacity to meet demand.” He believes that LD Line has now got the right match of frequency and tonnage to the present market environment. However, “at present we are noticing a slight shifting of freight volumes from the Western Channel to the Dover Strait and we believe this is due to extremely low freight rates being offered by Dover based operators.”


Meanwhile, the service between Saint Nazaire (Nantes) and Gijón in northern Spain “is developing very well and volumes are far above expectations with a current utilisation ratio of 65%. Landbridge volumes (via Le Havre from Portsmouth or Newhaven – Dieppe) are not very large at this stage but we hope to increase this traffic especially with Irish hauliers. The introduction of the larger capacity vessel, Baltic Amber – now renamed the Norman Asturias - has increased capacity and is being very well received by both freight and tourist markets.” Built


in 2007, the 26,500


gross tonnes ship can carry up to 120 trucks / trailers, plus cars and passengers on three return


LD Lines has meanwhile ended its commercial partnership with Transeuropa Ferries between Ramsgate


and Ostend. This


agreement, which included the use of an LD Lines vessel, finished in late March and Transeuropa Ferries now once again operates the route alone for freight and passengers.


to


29


as part of Norfolkline apart from some changes


the on-board


organisation to enhance sales and services. Three ships maintain a two- hour frequency on the route. Elsewhere in Europe, DFDS has also ordered two ro-ro ships to be built in Stralsund, Germany. They are to be delivered during 2012 and will be part of the cooperation with the Danish and German Military to deliver sea transport capacity. The line has also signed an agreement


to In other developments, last year


DFDS has rationalised its North Sea terminals following the Norfolkline acquisition.


DFDS’ acquisition of Norfolkline in summer 2010 left it with two fully equipped terminals in Rotterdam – Norfolkline’s terminal in Vaardingen and the existing DFDS facility in Maasvlakte. DFDS decided to concentrate its ro-ro activities in Vlaardingen, so from 1. January 2011 the line stopped servicing Maasvlakte, which has since been sold to the Rhenus Group, break bulk not being a core activity for DFDS.


There was a similar situation in the UK, with two Humberside terminals: Immingham and Killingholme. Here DFDS concentrated traffic in the existing DFDS Seaways Terminal in Immingham from 1 August 2010. This, said the spokesman, “strengthens our mega hub out of Immingham with connections to Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Germany and Holland all served from one port in the UK.”


From Rotterdam, DFDS also has services to Felixstowe through its Norfolkline acquisition.


There is basically no change on the Dover-Dunkerque service acquired


take over the


Älvsborg Ro-Ro terminal in Gothenburg from the port authority. The joint venture deal with C.Ports, with DFDS taking 65% and C.Ports 35% of the shares, is awaiting approval by the EU competition authorities. DFDS also recently opened a new combined ro-ro, passenger and rail service between the port of Ust Luga in Russia, west of St Petersburg, to the German Ports Kiel and Sassnitz at the end of May. This reflects the fact that business recovery is stronger in the Baltic than it is in the North Sea at the moment.


Brussels probes Seafrance support


The European Commission formally opened an investigation into whether French railway operator SNCF’s EUR223 million recapitalization plan for its loss- making Dover-Calais SeaFrance subsidiary is compatible with EU state aid rules on 22 June. EU competition commissioner Joaquín Almunia described rescue and restructuring aid as “one of the most distortive types of


More choice to France and Spain


We now offer up to 7 return crossings a week between the UK and Spain, plus a great choice of services across the Western Channel to France from Portsmouth, Poole and Plymouth.


state support, adding that the Commission would ensure that the company contributes its fair share of the burden and that it is ultimately viable without further state support.” The Commission will consider in particular whether the company is realistically viable in the long- term without state support and whether its participation in the restructuring costs is sufficient.


The Commission authorised a credit line in August 2010 for €40-70 million as rescue aid for SeaFrance on condition that the French government submitted a restructuring plan within six months demonstrating the firm’s future viability and avoiding any undue distortions of competition. The restructuring plan was subsequently February.


published on 18


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