Despite far-reaching talks with Dunkirk, DFDS is still considering Belgium to set up a direct ro-ro service between Scotland and mainland Europe. Everything revolves around guaranteeing sufficient cargo volume.
There is progress in talks with Dunkirk on setting up a new freight service with Rosyth (Edinburgh) in Scotland. That route was initially conceived for Zeebrugge following the disappearance in late 2020 of P&O Ferries’ Zeebrugge-Hull, the last remaining ropax service between Belgium and the UK. The Scottish government, Scottish maritime firm Ptarmigan Shipping and Danish ro-ro operator DFDS made the plan ‘Project Brave’ to start in 2023. But nothing came of that yet because Port of Antwerp-Bruges in Zeebrugge has no free terminal in surplus and no cooperation could be agreed with current concessionaires either.
Thereupon, the Scots shifted their focus to Dunkirk. Closely involved MP Douglas Chapman (Scottish National Party) confirmed that the rapprochement was becoming concrete. He attended a meeting in the last week of October in Dunkirk. Along at the table were representatives of the Scottish government, DFDS, port companies Forth Ports and Dunkirk, the mayor of Dunkirk and Ptarmigan Shipping’s managing director Derek Sloan. “We are working very hard to re-establish a direct ferry service to mainland Europe,” Chapman said. “In the near future, the Dunkirk port authority will visit Scotland to discuss the shipping link in further detail.”
Zeebrugge not counted out
DFDS confirms the rapprochement but nuances its focus on Dunkirk. “We are now in the exploration phase of the project and we do not expect a decision until next year,” says spokesman Dennis Kjærsgaard Sørensen. “We are in full discussion with the French, Belgian and Scottish governments to explore the feasibility and potential of this set-up. Our main requirement for a direct service between Scotland and mainland Europe is to ensure sufficient cargo volume.”
But information DFDS cannot provide at the moment. So it is not clear which port is being considered. The obvious one is Zeebrugge, where a lot of freight volume is available and DFDS has connections but no terminal of its own. In North Sea Port, DFDS has ample its own roro facilities in Ghent. Or to run down the Belgian port landscape completely: the Port of Ostend too still wishes to attract another ro-ro connection and has always maintained its facilities to that end.
