if seatruck had to be sold for parent company needs

[market knowledge]

who would buy them

[IFPete]

Irish Ferries might

[PaddyL]

DFDS

[PaddyL]

Or maybe Cobelfret.

[Matt73]

Stena?

[PaddyL]

Stena?

Stena would never be allowed to take Seatruck.  Last I read their market share was about 20% and Stena's about 45%.

[Steven]

If I was a betting man I would have said DFDS.  They've already publicly stated that they are looking at acquiring other operations, and (although a minor point) it would keep the operation in Danish hands (could DFDS also take on Clipper's other ferry operations as well?).

I agree though that Stena would never be allowed to take over Seatruck.  They would have a HUGE share of the freight market as a result.  As for Irish Ferries, I would have thought the P&O Irish Sea operation would be a more natural fit.  A lot of course would depend on what was sold.  Would ICG be able to raise the finance to take over the operations and vessels in their entirety for example without putting the rest of their operations at risk?  Taking over another operator is a tricky business, as Stena showed with the integration of Sealink BF in the early 90's. I would expect Seatruck is a more efficiently run operation than Sealink was though!

[IFPete]

P&O Irish Sea or P&O itself would be an interesting takeover challenge for Irish Ferries.

Irish Ferries have good management and could make it work , however the investment in new
vessels for Liverpool - Dublin would be a priority.

I could see them re-activating the Troon service using the swift when the swift is replaced.

[TC]

I wouldn't rule out some sort of P&O - Irish Ferries alliance, though I don't think we will be seeing Irish Ferries in Dover anytime soon! It would be interesting to see how they would work the Irish Sea operation.

You could have a situation where Irish Ferries are rebranded "P&O Irish Ferries", the brand dealing with the whole of the Irish Sea, in a similar way to P&O Irish Sea, with the rest of the P&O network, retaining the current P&O Ferries branding. I recall back in the mid 90s, North Sea Ferries were re-branded "P&O North Sea Ferries", perhaps we could see a similar branding arrangement.

I can't see Troon re-opening sadly. The operation was draining Larne, and Express, though in good condition was a fortune to operate. By retrenching to a one route operation, with two conventional ferries, P&O have been able to tackle Stena Line head on, and by all accounts it has worked very well.

[Steven]

Since it has come up in this thread, there have been some quiet rumours of P&O returning to Troon, though I should stress it IS only rumour.  P&O have started running foot passenger day trip offers between Larne and Cairnryan again though, so it seems they have a renewed interest in the passenger market.  They would surely need another vessel to make it work though.

If Irish Ferries and P&O did get together I don't see why Irish Ferries would drop their own branding.  They have a strong brand that they have worked hard to build up, and one which has a patriotic following as well.  I doubt the P&O Ferries brand is held in as high regard on Irish Sea services as it is from Dover and Hull.  They could certainly use a different name on the Liverpool service though for instance (in a similar way to Stena with the former sealink network in the early 90's) until the service was brought up to their own standards.  All mere speculation of course.

Cobelfret taking over Seatruck is an interesting idea.  Especially given they already have services running to the Island.

[NathanBrady]

I wouldn't rule out some sort of P&O - Irish Ferries alliance, though I don't think we will be seeing Irish Ferries in Dover anytime soon

An axis of evil?

[hhvferry]

There was a time in the '90s when Irish Ferries appeared in the main P&O brochure (can't remember but presumably Cairnryan-Larne was in the IF ones as well). Back then they were very comfortable strategic fits for one another, in terms of passenger route network if nothing else. Would P&O as a whole be too big for IF to digest as a takeover target?

[NathanBrady]

Would dey want to take all of P&O?  Thought it was banjaxed?

[Steven]

Would dey want to take all of P&O?  Thought it was banjaxed?

The P&O pension scheme would surely be of concern.  Some say it is much the reason P&O ferries remain a part of DPW.  The ferry business is difficult enough without that huge bill hanging over you!