NEWS\\\ >> 2


Issue 7 2020 - Freight Business Journal


owners to intensify their


preparations for the new border checks and systems that are coming and carefully review their supply chain options, while Government must provide adequate border infrastructure and maintain a level playing fi eld for ports across the UK.” EU Transition Minister, Rachel


Maclean, added: “We are working with ports across the country to boost capacity and build a greener way of working so they continue to thrive for decades to come.” The report suggests that


reshaped trade fl ows should increase volumes through ports on the East Coast in particular – from the Thames to the Tees – but also along the South and West coasts. Greater weighting of supply chain resilience and environmental factors would also benefi t ports in the north and west. However, Port of Dover chief


executive Doug Bannister said that UKMPG’s suggestions were unrealistic. In an open letter, he said that Dover’s own independent analysis has previously suggested that the cost of the extra ferries to handle just 20% of Dover’s current traffi c on longer and slower routes would be around £2.7 billion. A single vessel can complete up to fi ve round voyages in a single day in Dover whereas productivity on longer routes to other ports is of the order of one round voyage per day. Moreover, new ferries would


need to be built and, with current shipyard capacities, this would


need signifi cant lead time, said Dover. The UKMPG paper suggests that


other ports might have capacity to take up to 60% of Short Straits traffi c now, but acknowledges that this requires both Government and trader support for this off er of ‘resilience’ to be possible, says Dover, suggesting that the cost to businesses and the consumer could be up to around £8 billion. Focusing only on port capacity


“is terribly one-dimensional,” says Bannister. Other operating models, for example containers and unaccompanied trailers may have inbound dwell times ranging from several hours to several days whereas average inbound dwell time at Dover is just fi ve minutes, says Bannister. The ferry links between Dover


and Calais, as well as the Channel Tunnel, had achieved their 60% market share of British- Continental EU trade because they were the right choice for business, he said. He added: “The report is


right to focus on resilience as we approach the end of the transition


period, but what


resilience do you have if you are sending traffi c to ports where the ferries do not exist? Neither is that a quick fi x. The market dynamic is important here. In fact, rather than investing in new ferries, operators at some of the alternative ports have actually been closing these longer routes with tonnage moving back to the short routes as that is what the market wants – Dover has of


course kept going throughout the pandemic. This dynamic applies to the European side too, with the majority of freight vehicles choosing to route through northern France to Calais and Dunkirk as it is simply closest.” If there is disruption it will be


at every port and: “Sending more traffi c to ports that do not even have the ferry capacity will make the situation far worse and create far less resilience for UK trade,” he pointed out. In contrast, the traffi c management regimes for the


Short Straits are tested and


proven. For example, the recent national security operation that aff ected all ports with additional screening and searches leſt around 4,500 lorries in Operation Stack. When the security operation ended, Dover had cleared all queuing traffi c and was back to normal within just 12 hours. “Nowhere else could do that,” said Bannister. “It would take weeks with the


current vessel capacities


and frequencies available elsewhere.”


Government secures queue- busting ferry capacity


3


The government has signed agreements with four ferry operators


to provide capacity


equivalent to over 3,000 HGVs per week at the end of the Brexit transition


period. They will


provide space to keep essential food and medical supplies moving in the face of possible disruption aſt er the UK leaves the EU. The contracts, with Brittany Ferries, DFDS, P&O and Stena, are


collectively worth £77.6 million, and will focus on routes and ports less likely to experience disruption including Felixstowe, Harwich, Hull, Newhaven, Poole, Portsmouth, Teesport and Tilbury. Transport Secretary Grant


Shapps said: “As the transition period comes to an end, we’re putting the necessary measures in place to safeguard the


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