I was listening to a report on radio on Friday 04th October which mentioned a delegation has just visited the Port of Le Havre in France regarding the possibility of opening a Rosslare - Le Havre link to ease congestion problems at Dublin Port particularly in the event of a No Deal Brexit on the horizon. The interview raised issues highlighted in an Online article published on WexfordToday.com
"Le Havre to discuss opening shipping route to Rosslare"
POSTED BY: DAN WALSH OCTOBER 3, 2019
Opening a shipping route between Rosslare Europort and Le Havre in France would be a game-changer for Wexford and the entire South East region, a Fine Gael by-election candidate has said. Verona Murphy, who is Managing Director of DruMur Transport Limited and President of the Irish Road Haulage Association (IRHA), is leading a delegation to Le Havre today (Friday) where she will meet with officials from the port with representatives of the French Government. The Wexford by election candidate said: "Linking Rosslare Europort with Le Havre with a new route would be beneficial to the wider haulage industry in Ireland and will have a hugely positive economic impact on the entire South East region.
"Le Havre is classified as a Tier One corridor port entitled to Ten-T funding and Rosslare Europort will also have access to Ten-T funding if aligned with it. Such funding could fund major upgrades to the port's infrastructure.
"With Brexit on the horizon we need to maximise the capacity on direct route sailings so we can accommodate customers who want to avoid the land-bridge so they have certainty about their timelines.
"I know hauliers are looking for a viable alternative to Dublin Port and recent investment in the road network means hauliers can now bypass Enniscorthy and New Ross. Rosslare is easily accessible and well connected to the rest of the country.
"The linking of Le Havre and Rosslare Europort makes sense irrespective of the outcome of Brexit and will serve to protect the long-term economic interests of the port, as well as facilitating its growth.
"Such a partnership would be a strategic boost for Rosslare Europort and would lead to the necessary investment and commercial support secured to protect its position as one of the country's most important shipping ports.
"It would provide improved access to the Benelux countries, a key export market for Ireland," she said.
"It will allow us to minimise the disruption of Brexit and avoid the land-bridge. We should be ambitious for Rosslare and this trip will work towards realising that ambition.
Source:
https://wexfordtoday.com/2019/10/03/le-havre-to-discuss-opening-shipping-route-to-rosslare/
https://www.wexfordpeople.ie/is-rosslare-ready-for-brexit-38356302.html
Archive film footage from RTÉ television archives is below here:
https://www.rte.ie/archives/2018/0109/931954-rosslare-gateway-to-europe/
https://www.rte.ie/archives/2018/0605/968269-rosslare-le-havre-ferry/
https://www.rte.ie/archives/2019/0508/1048229-rosslare-wants-free-port-status/
Let's hope this route will be available to ordinary folk as well as freight. Dublin is a nightmare to access, and being only forty minutes from Rosslare we'd look to use it. Stena's vessel is OK but the timings are all wrong.
Would be interesting, but would there be enough traffic ? What if Horizon switched to Le Harve and Stena put Nordica as running partner, would they get enough traffic to use the route ?
Only way I can see this happening is if haulage companies guaranteed they would take x number of trailer spaces per crossing
I was looking for the podcast as I believe this story was covered during "Drivetime" with Sarah McInerney on RTÉ Radio 1 on Friday 04/10/2019. Unfortunately, the podcast of that programme edition has yet to be uploaded on to https://www.rte.ie/radio1/drivetime/podcasts/
One of the delegates in the Irish contingent that visited Le Havre mentioned that their meeting was positive and that there is an Irish person also involved on the Le Havre side. Apparently Le Havre is the only French port to have it's own dedicated police station with over a hundred officers based at that port which bodes well from a security perspective post Brexit and I understood from the radio interview that there has been no major illegal immigration issues to date unlike the problems experienced around Calais for instance. I think the feeling is that Cherbourg will be too congested and Le Havre has come back into focus. The delegate on the Irish side, was pressed in the radio interview about how quick such a service might be launched but she declined to specify any timeframes although; she did say that a number of ferry operators are aware of their interest in exploring a Rosslare-Le Havre link given the pressure and congestion at Dublin Port.
I once travelled outward from Rosslare-Cherbourg and returned from Le Havre-Rosslare under Irish Continental Line in October, 1985 on St. Killian II vessel.
Some memories of Rosslare & Cork to Le Havre services in times past for anyone interested via the below link courtesy of Afloat.ie - Ireland's Sailing, Boating & Maritime Magazine in association with Irish Sailing.
https://afloat.ie/port-news/ferry-news/item/35987-le-havre-500th-recalls-ireland-french-links-past-present
Sounds a lot like an election candidate trying to boost their profile to me!
Quote from: Steven on October 08, 2019, 08:47:58 AM
Sounds a lot like an election candidate trying to boost their profile to me!
And there is an upcoming by-election for Wexford, so expect to hear many more soundbites on Rosslare!
Seems like all these rumours about new routes, some of which sound ludicrous, are nothing more than pure waffle.
I suppose there will always be some form of elections about to take place - the Bye Election result won't even have had a chance to dry as you will have candidates gearing up again to run in the General Election shortly thereafter given that the Taoiseach has publicly indicated his preference to go to the country by next May. It would be odd if representatives selected to stand as candidates were not highlighting local issues that directly impact on their constituency so yes there is a certain element of electioneering involved but most rational voters know this too. At the end of the day, if there is a sound business case it will gain traction although; if it is not deemed a sustainable proposal then it will be viewed as nothing more.
I recall it took several years before Cork started a direct link to Spain with Brittany Ferries operating it's Cork-Santander X 2 times week service and while it is primarily aimed at freight/cargo, who knows how the dynamic might evolve over time if factors make it favourable to develop the route further over a longer period. I'm sure there were those who doubted if a Cork>Spain link would become a reality and it is still operating.
I remember being told some years ago that you would never see routes from Dublin with direct connections to the continent simply because it would involve a longer sea crossing and Rosslare and Cork were more suited for such routes. Some years later, Irish Ferries no longer have any direct passenger services ex-Cork since 1997 or ex-Rosslare to France since 2018. In fact, Irish Ferries now only provides it's passenger services direct between Dublin-Cherbourg which was a significant change with Roscoff as a route destination dropped altogether. The Dublin to France service started off with the economy priced Epsilon vessel if I'm not mistaken. Things change with new technology which can result in improved efficiencies not to mention other external factors that may enter into the equation. There was also a time when the former Sealink (now STENA Line) would not have been likely to exit it's Dún Laoghaire base and transfer operations to Dublin Port instead where former B+I Line (now Irish Ferries) operated but priorities change as companies are bought & sold over time.
Of course sea transport is not immune from generating CO2 emissions but I gather some of the major carriers have been investing in more fuel efficient vessels too. I wonder if the ferry operators gain more brownie points over their airline rivals in the years ahead with the younger demographic will also be interesting to observe.
Sources:
https://afloat.ie/port-news/ferry-news/item/43482-brittany-ferries-names-new-ships-and-promises-significant-co2-savings-from-fleet-renewal-plans
https://safety4sea.com/brittany-ferries-promises-co2-savings-presents-new-ships-names/
https://www.irishtimes.com/news/cork-loses-out-as-ferry-company-announces-plans-for-new-ship-1.128038
I'd love to see it up and running but to be honest this to me holds about as much water as the plans to demolish the Great Southern hotel
I think it goes without saying that IF a Rosslare to Le Havre route was to be established by any carrier, it would need to justify itself for all parties concerned. Of course, such a route cannot succeed on sentimental grounds alone as it would need to attract sufficient demand for it to be a viable proposition going forward. If a satisfactory deal is done on BREXIT, I would expect this to go on the back burner however; if a "No Deal" BREXIT happens then all bets are off.
Hopefully, trading at each of our ports, all transport providers across various modes and all businesses can manage to survive this period of uncertainty across the entire length & breadth of this island.
At the end of the day, if nobody with the means to start such a route (I.e a ferry operator) is interested, it won't happen. Le Havre is more fuel and journey time than Cherbourg (or Roscoff, or Brest). All very well politicians politicians and others talking about such a route, it doesn't make it a commercial reality.
With rumours about possible new Rosslare/France ferry services, I wonder if any of it originates around earlier reports of a new Rosslare to Le Havre service that had been previously referenced last October in WaterfordLive and Afloat.ie ?
If such a route is announced in due course, which carrier is most likely to be involved in operating such a route ex-Rosslare in the current climate?
* Irish Ferries
* STENA Line
* Brittany Ferries
* P & O Ferries
* DFDS
What would be the main advantages/pros in the year 2020 of selecting "Le Havre" as a destination port from Ireland over alternatives gateways to France like Cherbourg, Roscoff, St. Malo etc; ?
Sources courtesy:
https://beat102103.com/news/new-ferry-operator-to-run-sailings-from-rosslare-to-destinations-in-europe/
https://afloat.ie/port-news/ferry-news/item/44317-new-rosslare-to-le-havre-shipping-route-could-benefit-waterford
https://www.waterfordlive.ie/news/home/485178/new-rosslare-to-le-havre-shipping-route-could-benefit-waterford.html
i think brittany ferries will keep roscoff cork and cork santander in the summer but will come to rosslare for freight and will do rosslare cherbourg and cherbourg porsmouth as freight don't forget that there will be a freight line by train and that the normandy region has donated € 2 million for the freight line by train for cherbourg bayonne the port of le havre is private it is not managed by the normandy region brittany ferries said that freight from the united kingdom and ireland will run via the port of cherbourg
i think brittany ferries will take over the old line from irish ferries rosslare cherbourg which would be logical with the creation of the train line cherbourg bayonne from brittany ferries
brittany ferries plans 100 trucks per day in each direction of freight from the uk and ireland via the port of cherbourg by the train cherbourg bayonne
I note that among Brittany Ferries list of routes, they already have one currently serving Le Havre (X 7 times per week) from Portsmouth in the south of England.
Brittany Ferries also serves Caen (also called Ouistreham) Ferryport to Portsmouth.
Le Havre, located in Normandy on the right bank of the Seine estuary, is the second largest port in France. According to Brittany Ferries website, the ship "Etretat" makes this connection, offering the Eco Class of Brittany Ferries , with also the ship "Baie de Seine".
With most of Ireland's sea connections with France currently using Cherbourg (i.e.) Irish Ferries with it's new "W.B. Yeats" vessel and "mv Epsilon" on Dublin Cherbourg in addition to Stena Line with it's "Stena Horizon" vessel will be operating X 3 times per week on the Rosslare Cherbourg route.
I wonder if it makes sense to have a 3rd ferry operator from Ireland also using the same port of Cherbourg as entry point to France if there are longer inspection checks on freight cargo once the UK transition period after BREXIT takes effect. If road haulage firms face long delays at ports, will improved rail access be sufficient to have more operators operating to/from the same entry point at Cherbourg while other Normandy ports such as Le Havre and Caen are less busy?
Following the official announcement by Brittany Ferries today of the replacement of the Cork to Santander route by a new Rosslare to Bilbao route commencing on 28th of February, there is now also some speculation as to whether Brittany Ferries may also open a Rosslare to Le Havre route using CF once she has been displaced by one of the Flexers next year although; a Rosslare to Le Havre link has NOT been confirmed by BF today.
In the meantime, Brittany Ferries is to continue with it's popular Cork to Roscoff weekly sailings which resume from the Port of Cork's Ringaskiddy Ferryport from March to October during 2020.
Sources:
https://www.echolive.ie/corknews/Major-Cork-ferry-route-cancelled-4055dc59-d23f-404a-bc04-3cc3ab6f0f0b-ds
https://www.96fm.ie/news/96fm-news-and-sport/brittany-ferries-to-withdraw-cork-santander-service/
Hopefully CF will replace Kerry On Services to Roscoff and BilBao in 2021.
I wonder will we see a reaction from Irish Ferries or Stena to these developments.
I think the ferry operators you referenced wil almost certainly be looking on with great interest given that Irish Ferries parent company, Irish Continental Group (ICG) has had long established links to the continent through Rosslare Europort for quite a while. At various times over the years Irish Ferries operated Rosslare Le Havre, Rosslare Cherbourg and Rosslare Roscoff. Irish Ferries also had summer seasonal services ex-Cork Le Havre and ex-Cork Cherbourg which ran up until 1997 when it's two vessels "St. Killian II" and "St. Patrick II" were being replaced by the "MV Normandy" at the time. At present Irish Ferries only Ireland/France services for 2020 are it's Dublin Port to Cherbourg route. Stena Line currently has a Rosslare to Cherbourg service running X 3 times per week which was previously operated by the former Celtic Link ferries until around 2014.
There is nothing stopping any haulier using this service upon arrival in Cherbourg,
If hauliers find that Cherbourg becomes far too congested, particularly if the UK ends up crashing out if negotiations with the European Union stall and you are then into a "No Deal Brexit" scenario after December 31st. What then?
Perhaps hauliers might welcome an alternative entry/exit option to the region such as Le Havre as certain produce may only have a limited lifespan thus shortening it's shelf-life when it eventually goes on sale in stores. Add other complications like stormy weather conditions, tidal issues, technical problems with a particular vessel and all the knock-on effects of goods inspections/paperwork etc;
Why on earth would Cherbourg become congested? In its heyday it had significantly more sailings and traffic than it has today and with the number of berths there and the standage space available there is plenty of scope to accept an increased number of sailings.
In a no deal scenario the limiting factor will be where the authorities deploy their resources and that choice will affect all the French (and UK) ports.
c'est vrai je suis de cherbourg avant il y avait les 2 bateaux p&o + brittany ferries avait le purbek et coutances pour le fret et corbière et tregastel pour les passagers + irish ferries avait st killian et st patrick et pandoro avec european diplomat pour l'irelande + sealink southampton stena normandy pour passagers et stena challenger pour le fret 1996
Quote from: hhvferry on February 11, 2020, 05:09:08 AM
Why on earth would Cherbourg become congested? In its heyday it had significantly more sailings and traffic than it has today and with the number of berths there and the standage space available there is plenty of scope to accept an increased number of sailings.
In a no deal scenario the limiting factor will be where the authorities deploy their resources and that choice will affect all the French (and UK) ports.
But we are not back in Cherbourg's heyday so; one cannot really expect things to just kick-start and run smoothly after all that time as that would be naive to assume! Do we even know yet if there is a new plan drafted and ready to run additional sailings or is this a rehash of the previous plans announced - if memory serves me correct the previous UK government administration awarded one contract worth £13.8 million to a firm, Seaborne Freight which had no vessels.
https://www.theguardian.com/politics/2019/feb/09/government-cancels-brexit-ferry-contract-with-no-ship-firm
It's a bit like saying the UK can handle Brexit because the UK left the European Union on 31st of January although; the UK is still bound by European Union rules and continues to pay into the EU budget etc; during the full transition period until 31st December. I would be surprised if they manage to agree a deal in time for the end of the transition period as this will be much more difficult that the EU Withdrawal Agreement which took far too long hence; my lack of confidence in their advance preparations.
On 1st January in the event that a "No Deal" on future trade situation arises with the EU 27 and if the authorities do not deploy their resources effectively enough, you could end up having prolonged delays at the ports, some of which may handle more business than others (albeit less than their "heyday") and if such delays were to become a common occurrence it would be of cold comfort to those hauliers transporting certain items such as perishable produce like fresh food which has a very limited shelf-life by the time it gets to the stores.
A legitimate concern to raise about a particular port(s) in a scenario that has not arisen before as no other "member state" has ever invoked Article 50 and withdrawn from the EU prior to the UK. Would it not perhaps make sense to spread the load to more port options to minimise potential delays...
I can't see either Stena or Irish Ferries leaving Cherbourg any time soon. The livestock trade is quite important and Cherbourg has lairage space (unlike Le Havre to my knowledge). Cherbourg is also soon getting a direct rail service to southern France - run by Brittany Ferries but it will take all trailer traffic - 42 trailers in both directions every day. It's also a shorter sea journey which means less fuel cost.
The Cap Finistere rumour seems to have stemmed in part from the rumour of Stena Superfast X becoming a France ship permanently (well she did in a way, but in this case it's Marseille and Corsica) which was never going to happen. With CF sharing a hull form suddenly she was going to sail to Rosslare in some people's minds as she has successfully berthed in Le Havre of course and X at Rosslare. There WAS a rumour that BF were going to do Rosslare - Le Havre rather than Roscoff at one stage with Kerry though. Le Havre could still happen, but CF is hardly the ideal ship for a year-round service on that route. There's also the fuel penalty of sailing all the way to Le Havre rather than to Cherbourg or Roscoff.
Additionally, Ireland doesn't actually do that much trade with France in the grand scheme of things. Belgium and Holland is a bigger market but there is a direct service (and potentially more to come) to there and the land bridge is quicker - even if accounting for a significant customs delay. Ships only sail at around 20kts and have to go the long way round after all! Is there the demand for another Ireland to France route given Irish Ferries for one seem to drop France first when they are a ship short?
If goods to and from Ireland continue to be treated the same way in France (why wouldn't they?) there's not really any reason there should be any issues at Cherbourg - the GB traffic will likely be segregated and held elsewhere to be checked and sealed. Depending on what is agreed (and something will have to be, even if it's a case of it being imposed by the WTO) it may be a case of everything being done in the U.K. anyway with French officials present if required (in the same way U.K. border force currently carry out checks in France). The bigger worry for many will be checks between Ireland and Great Britain - there's a heck of a lot of meat and produce shipped over to GB daily so checks could be a big blow to the rural economy. The French have their own produce of course and enough to go around that BF was established to ship it to the U.K.!
As for the British Government contingency measures, those have been scaled back significantly. The lorry park on the airfield appears to have been shelved, as has the concrete barriers on the motorway. £50m is being invested in a retractable barrier, however. The council at Ramsgate has withdrawn the funding for maintaining the ferry terminal afaik as well. Current planning appears to be to provide additional capacity on existing services for essential items such as medicines should the worst case scenario occur. To be fair there was only so much a few sailings out of Ramsgate could do - the problem will be customs check capacity rather than ship capacity!
I understand that Irish Road Haulage Association (IRHA) president, Verona Murphy during her term in office was part of a delegation that met with representatives at the Port of Le Havre with a view to exploring a Rosslare - Le Havre link some months ago with BREXIT looming. Verona was recently elected in Ireland's General Election as an "Independent" TD (member of Dáil Éireann) for the Wexford constituency so; I would imagine she will be representing various business interests in the south-east and Wexford which includes future potential links to/from Rosslare Europort.
I recall when the B+I Line withdrew it's Dublin to Liverpool route all those years ago to concentrate on it's Dublin Holyhead and Rosslare Pembroke Dock services, the Dublin Liverpool route was eventually resumed by another operator (now P&O Ferries) and has been running for many years to date. I think the Dublin Liverpool fell out of favour with B+I Line partly because it was a longer crossing than Dublin Holyhead although; there must still a business case to operate the route as otherwise no operator would continue to run a loss making service unless it qualifies for a subsidy of some kind?
Perhaps a Rosslare/Cork to Le Havre service will reopen some day too if the UK landbridge is no longer a viable option after 31st December in the event of no deal or extension of a transition period and transport becomes necessary via the continent directly going forward.
Le Havre and Zeebrugge specifically mentioned as possible new route options being considered ex-Rosslare Europort although; other European ports have not been ruled out as Rosslare Europort has been in negotiations with various shipping lines about it's potential as a gateway to Europe and to the UK," according to Mr Glenn Carr, general manager of Rosslare Europort on the same day (Friday 28th February 2020) that Brittany Ferries launched it's inaugural sailing from Rosslare to Bilbao.
This is the first time Brittany Ferries ran any of it's services from Rosslare, Co. Wexford as it has been only using the Port of Cork's ferry terminal since it first began offering passenger/freight services from Ireland which dates back to 1978.
Unfortunately, the Rosslare Europort/Irish Rail website does not seem to reflect the arrival of Brittany Ferries as a new operator and the website still displays Irish Ferries former routes to both Cherbourg & Roscoff which were axed from Rosslare since 2018!
On Saturday 21st March services will resume on the long established Cork to Roscoff route on Brittany Ferries flagship cruise vessel, MV Pont Aven which will run until late October.
Below is latest speculation regarding a potential Rosslare - Le Havre route with Brittany Ferries...
A second line for Brittany Ferries departing from the port of Le Havre?
In the midst of the Brexit context, the company is working on the subject, and is considering turning to Ireland.
https://static.actu.fr/uploads/2021/01/brittany-ferries-ligne-le-havre-irlande-brexit.jpg
Brittany Ferries is considering the possibility of opening a line between Ireland and Le Havre. (? MC Nouvellon / 76actu)
By MC Nouvellon
Published on 14 Jan 21 at 8:14
"We are in discussions with the commercial services of the Grand Maritime Port of Le Havre" , confirmed Jean-Marc Roue. Asked about the development possibilities towards Ireland l ors of its recent passage through the ocean city , the president of Brittany Ferries explained that the company plancied on the hypothesis of the creation of a second line from Le Havre, already connected to Portsmouth, England.
This time around, it would be a matter of turning "probably to Rosslare" during the year 2021. All with "one ship affected, so probably more than one rotation" per week.
A track opened by Brexit
This would be the third line that Brittany Ferries would charter to Ireland. A long-term reflection, consequence of Brexit, whose border reestablishment has cut off the route of goods that previously passed between France and Ireland via the United Kingdom.
Faced with the changes announced on this "long bridge" circuit which "risked being a little compromised, or put in difficulty", details Jean-Marc Roue, the company had already announced the establishment of a weekly link between Rosslare and Cherbourg. The Le Havre trail is therefore now under study.
Courtesy: actu.fr
Source:
https://actu.fr/normandie/le-havre_76351/la-brittany-ferries-envisage-de-rouvrir-une-ligne-entre-le-havre-et-l-irlande_38678745.html
I understand that a Rosslare to Le Havre (Freight-Only) service is now expected to commence operations for 2022. If it does go ahead, it would be yet another example of the expansion of Direct Freight Routes to the European Continent from Ireland thus avoiding the UK Land-bridge. I'm not aware of any public announcement on the matter at time of posting although; I suspect that this will happen in due course.
Brittany Ferries starting Rosslare/ Le Havre service on 12th November.
https://brittanyferriesnewsroom.com/demand-surge-drives-opening-of-new-freight-link-connecting-le-havre-with-rosslare/