Messages

I'll take 'things that aren't going to happen' for $100 please

Taking Ulysses as an example for talks sake:

She can carry 240 trucks or 1300 cars, that gives roughly 5.5 cars for every artic space, not even factoring in that she doesnt have mezz decks on lower freight decks, the true ratio would be a good bit lower with a mixed load

If the market could bear your fairytale ideas, they would be reality already but I'd have more luck waging war with the ocean than getting that point home.


*Edited as I'd got deck configuration a bit off, point still stands.

I can not hold here a lesson as in university but i try it to explain short,
example with Irish Ferries France-Ireland on 20.march one-way
1 x 19 m truck = € 1400,- - Driver get (half) cabin for free, free meals, soft-drinks.
OR
10 x cars with 2 people in 10 cheapest inside cabins = 394,- € x 10 = 3940,- + 20 people dinner and breakfast, drinks, shopping onboard etc. . = CIRCA 4500,- .

So DAILY 50 trucks onboard = 70.000,-
OR
DAILY 500 cars onboard = 225.000,- + much much more extra-money because there are not 500 cheapest cabins. Many of the cabins costs much more, the 2-times or 3-times of the price.
So it will be realistic CIRCA 250.000,- 260.000,- 270.000,- = much more money than with 1 truck.

And this the march-price for cars only - in summer it costs much more.
Now we think that there will maybe not 500 cars in winter who want pay ca. 400,-.
So we calculate f.ex. only with 100,- per car in winter instead and only 40,- for meals etc.:

500 x 140,- = 70.000,-
But it will be much more because of the last 200 cars need to book more expensive cabins.

So with a ticket-price car+cabin-package for 99,- the ferry-company would have easy in winter more than the money from the trucks - and in summer they would have MUCH MUCH MUCH more money than from the trucks.
And - nobody from/to Ireland would anymore travel via UK to/from Europe if the car-cabin-package would costs 99,- only. Think 4 people in the cabin = 24,75 per person incl. car and so much luggage as wished - would take a lot of people from the cheap flights also !

This is, what all people need and want, cheap comfortable mass-travel with cars and motor-homes and tourist-coaches on ferries from A to B. And nobody has something against trucks onboard - but all kind of Pax-customers must get much more priority and weight again than today and the last 20, 25 years. The question is not freight OR Pax - but masses of both of them. So the (interior is sadly poor and spartanic) Moby Fantasy/Legacy are from the capacities the right direction, there can be 1000 cars onboard - but also a few hundred trucks. Alternativ Finnsirius with double number of cabins or Viking Glory with 3 freight-decks.
But even not poor freight-ferries with a few free cabins for galactic super-high-prices.

Furthermore bonus for the ferry-companies with many hundred cars onboard: More independent from freight-rates which can go down f.ex. if more competition is on the route or economic problems are in a country. This has happened f.ex. at Dover where Irish Ferries has taken a lot of DFDS freight with lower freight-rates.

It seems you're basing your calculations on 10 cars fitting in a hgv space, meaning the cars would be around 1.9m long?
That's the average height of a standard car, the average length of a car is around 4.5m, you can fit 3-4 cars in the length of an artic depending on gaps and that changes your maths dramatically in favour of why freight takes priority.

Your agenda is completely at odds with market, environmental and social trends but if you are this serious about it please do something to bring it to life and stop shouting into the void.

Not all, but most ferry routes in Europe has lost freight-volumes.
The Ireland-France routes has seen much more ferries (also 100% Roro-freighters) and capacities in the last few years than 6, 8 or 10 years ago. So anytime is not anymore more additional freight to find - so this is the actually situation now.

In long term the best winners will be the companies who offers also a lot of cabins and space for all other customer-groups, cars, motor-homes, caravans, tourist-coaches, motorbikes, foot-passengers, mini-cruise-pensioners etc. . In these groups Ireland is booming every year more by travelers from European countries (Germany etc.). So freight is and stay important for the ferry-companies, but much more money is to get in the other customer-groups.

Check f.ex. only how much money and profit brings 10 cars incl. 10 (or 11) cabins + meals, drinks, shopping etc. onboard - compared with 1 19m truck on the same space onboard with free cabin, meals and drinks for the driver... . This sadly has a lot of ferry-managers not understand until today.

Check how reliably you can fill that 19m space with 10 cars year round, realise that if 1 low paying car takes a slot of that 19m space the freight unit can't travel, the company that owns it takes it's business elsewhere and you lose a year round revenue stream.

Either you have no understanding of business and live in fantasy land or you're a visionary and all the shipping companies are misguided.
I implore you to prove us all wrong and put your business ideas into practice. I'll buy the first ticket for your second season of operation.

I mean this sincerely with your best interests at heart; I really think you need to take a break from all of this over the various forums.
You're clearly very passionate about the subject but you seem to be spending an extraordinary amount of time, effort and torturing yourself about things that matter little In the outside world.
It couldn't be good for your mental health mate.