14


Issue 1 2021 - FBJ Ireland


and other countries, such as the Netherlands, see these as being of strategic importance for competitive advantage to local industry. He adds: “We fully intend to


There is an urgent need in the post- Brexit era for rail connections to the Ports of Waterford and Foynes and others, said logistics company International Warehousing & Transport (IWT). In IWT’s submission to the Irish


government’s Joint Committee on Transport, joint managing director Colin Dunne argued that the restoration of the rail freight connection from Mayo to southern ports, as proposed by the Transport Minister recently, would allow for greater flexibility and alternative exit points for current business as


well as the development of such new business opportunities. He added: “We are confident that


many new business opportunities would arise if it were indicated that this infrastructure was to be made available.” IWT, a privately-owned Irish


company with offices in Dublin, Rotterdam Hamburg and Ballina, has chartered over 3,000 freight trains between Dublin Port and Ballina and is the only regular intermodal operator on the Irish rail network. It currently runs 14 trains a week and is the largest


Ups and downs on the Irish Sea for Stena


Brexit and other factors have led to “a pretty marked distortion of


flows between Britain,


Ireland and the Continent, year on year”, says Stena Line freight commercial manager for the Irish Sea, Anna Breen. Holyhead-Dublin is 55% down and Fishguard-Rosslare 66%, she says, adding: “Whilst Brexit has undoubtedly had an impact, other issues such as the ongoing lockdown and stockpiling have also contributed to the changes. Routes into Belfast are either ahead year-on-year or only slightly down.” Stena Line will soon have


two new E-Flexer ferries (Embla and Edda) operating on the Belfast – Liverpool (Birkenhead) service. Using


direct sailings


into Northern Ireland is now less complicated for operators than transiting via Dublin. Stena’s direct routes to the


Continent are meanwhile experiencing significant upliſts with Rosslare to Cherbourg increasing by no less than 185% year-on-year. The operator has strengthened capacity on the route; the previous single vessel, the Stena Horizon used to operate at around 60% capacity but there are now two vessels, in addition to a new weekly return trip from Dublin to Cherbourg. But the vessel situation is


still currently very fluid and Stena will move vessels to meet demand. Breen explains: “The market is currently distorted, causing rapid fleet re-deployment, as it returns to


normal in the weeks and months ahead. For example on Dublin- Holyhead, we will reconfigure our fleet deployment to ensure there is adequate capacity in place to meet the changing demand.” In time will people get used to


the new customs arrangements and things will settle down to more or less what they were? That is a difficult question, Breen considers: “We have been through low freight volumes before, aſter the credit crunch for example, and the market bounced back. Even at over -50% Holyhead/Dublin


is still


doing twice the freight volumes of Cherbourg and while hauliers have indicated that transit to the Continent is working well, the UK landbridge will invariably be their preferred route to market. However, until we know for sure aſter lockdown, it


is going to


be a very challenging time for everyone.” Meanwhile, Stena will have to


grapple with the effects of Covid for at least a few more months. During


the last lockdown


freight dropped 25%, “so we are expecting a difficult time while the current restrictions are in place.” As for returning to normal, “it


is certainly our hope that we can do that as quickly and safely as possible once the restrictions are eased but for now our priority remains providing a safe, reliable service where the demand is greatest for it, so, for now it’s all about being flexible.”


While the sheer volume and complexity of new paperwork after Brexit has been widely reported in the media - and continues to cause challenges for businesses – “we are confident that most of these roadblocks associated with Brexit will be overcome by April”, comments managing director of Rhenus Logistics Ireland, Declan Sinnott. Like many freight


forwarders, Rhenus Logistics Ireland has been busy preparing and assisting Irish customers trading with the UK following the introduction of customs formalities on 1 January. Ireland is a key market for


Rhenus and the forwarder offers the full range of logistics services to both industrial manufacturers (including automotive, hi-tech and chemical) and the food and consumer goods sectors. This typically includes road freight as well as sea and air transportation and all aspects of customs clearance and logistics services. In 2020 Rhenus in Ireland


invested in developing a Customs Clearance team to meet the expected demands of Brexit. On


the upside, Sinnott


continues, “we have seen strong demand for our UK bypass service, which provides businesses in Ireland with


a reliable, robust and direct route into the EU, skipping the need for customs clearance.” He says that in spite of


global economic uncertainty, the impact of the pandemic and Brexit, the Rhenus Ireland operation has done remarkably well: “Our teams in Dublin and Galway have really pulled together as a single unit and tried to see opportunities where others might just see problems.


Thanks to this


enterprising spirit we’ve continued to broaden our customer base, leveraging our bespoke services, while we continue investing into the future.” While 2020 was a tough


year, “we got through it with very few problems and are in a strong position to exploit the new opportunities created by the upturn which we’re expecting later this year.” The Customs team is set up


to meet the increased demand in 2021, where it is anticipated clearances will jump from 1.6 million in 2018 to possibly 20 million by the end of 2021. Sinnott points out:


“Brexit


has introduced us to new customers who, along with needing a clearance agent, offer us opportunities on road, air and sea. We have established a proven UK bypass solution, providing three


departures per week from our Irish hubs in Galway


and Dublin directly into strategic European locations. From here, exporters can reach all of Europe, CIS and Russia thanks to daily departures across the Rhenus network. “We’re finding a lot of


interest in this service, as Irish manufacturers are keen to establish


a reliable import/


export route, without the need for customs formalities where possible. Whilst transit time may be 24 hours or so longer, the reliability the UK bypass programme offers provides stable solutions to our clients.” For Ireland to UK clients, the


key to supply chain stability has been to cover all aspects of customs clearance for traditional export and import cargo. This will continue to be a vital service for customers. Covid-19 has presented its


challenges to all industries, but as an essential business in the


single freight customer of rail operator, Iarnród Éireann. IWT charters the train thereby


taking all the commercial risk and slots are available for the entire market to use. It has invested over €2 million in its depot in Ballina, Co. Mayo, a modern fleet of trucks and trailers to operate the ‘last mile’ to and from the rail terminal and heavy liſt port-type reach stackers for liſting laden and empty containers. Dunne points out that in


mainland Europe, Ballina would be considered an inland port


grow current rail services where possible with a focus on reducing costs, reducing transport’s annual carbon footprint and providing a statistically safer mode of transport.” But he added: “Despite the


fact that we are supposed to be incentivising carbon savings in the area of transport, Ireland currently has the second highest track access charges in Europe at approximately twice the average in the EU.” Dunne points out that unlike


most other countries, there are no subsidies for rail freight in Ireland. In contrast, the Scottish Government


///IRELAND


has recently allocated £25million to support the country’s rail freight industry over the next five years. The benefits of moving freight


from road to rail in order to reduce carbon emissions are widely recognised in other EU countries and are championed by governments. IWT’s own trains displace about 13,000 truck movements or 3 million truck kilometres a year. However, the rail industry could


do much more, says Dunne. He cites a 2015 study by the Western Development Commission which estimated that the rail freight market share in the western region could be increased four-fold. IWT itself has identified a number of other potential customers including potential traffics from Cork to Ballina, Foynes to


Ballina and Waterford to Tuam/ Claremorris and Ballina. In addition to facilitating direct


access to southern ports such as Waterford and potentially Shannon-Foynes and Cork, the restoration of the rail link between Claremorris and Athenry would provide an alternative route to Dublin in the event of unforeseen interruptions or congestion on the line from Claremorris to Athlone. There is already evidence of traffic congestion on the existing radial route from Dublin to the West. As operations continue to increase this becomes a more pressing issue. Dunne concludes: “There is a


quick and available opportunity to commence a new service from Waterford to Ballina immediately and IWT is willing to commit to this.”


supply chain, “from day one we’ve been very disciplined in our approach to employee and customer safety and so have managed to maintain service as close to regular as possible. Globally,


the Rhenus Group


worked very closely to share information about the local situations, and we received much praise from our clients for the way we communicated. Social distancing, sanitisation and the wearing of masks has become a way of life for our team in Ireland, so instances of Covid-19 among our colleagues has been thankfully very low. Granted, we have previously faced supply chain disruption due to lack of drivers or machinery at overseas ports. However we’re


now seeing


business starting to return to normality as the vaccine is rolled out.” Sinnott concludes: “We’re


hugely positive about the next six months. Let’s be honest, given the double hit of both Covid and Brexit, it’s hard to imagine more difficult challenges to overcome for the freight industry. We’re by no means out of the woods yet, but we’re starting to see a quiet confidence back among manufacturers who in some sectors are even predicting a


bounce-back, given the


amount of pent up demand that there may be in specific niches. “Moreover, the integration


of chemicals specialist C&G Logistics


(to be rebranded


Rhenus Chemical Logistics Ireland has been seamless and we plan to drive significant growth in this business unit.”


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