restart swanse cork

[yasmin]

are there amy local support to  a relaunch of the line. I have not being here in a very long time. But things have changed my end. I now manage many investors money. We could finance it 100 %
  What needs to be changed so It can survive this time. Shall it be with ship(s) likr julia
shall it also have a suplement of roro ships please comment

[Kieran]

In reality, I can't see too many people being willing to invest in Cork - Swansea until we know what sort of relationship the UK is going to have with the EU (and Ireland) after next March.

[PaddyL]

are there amy local support to  a relaunch of the line. I have not being here in a very long time. But things have changed my end. I now manage many investors money. We could finance it 100 %
  What needs to be changed so It can survive this time. Shall it be with ship(s) likr julia
shall it also have a suplement of roro ships please comment

Hard to see suitable tonnage being available and hard to see how the circumstances that caused the failure of the last service have changed at all.

[Matt73]

are there amy local support to  a relaunch of the line. I have not being here in a very long time. But things have changed my end. I now manage many investors money. We could finance it 100 %
  What needs to be changed so It can survive this time. Shall it be with ship(s) likr julia
shall it also have a suplement of roro ships please comment

Hard to see suitable tonnage being available and hard to see how the circumstances that caused the failure of the last service have changed at all.

Isn't the size of Swansea harbour a factor in the sort of ship that could be used, assuming all of the above could be resolved?

Matt

[Kieran]

Isn't the size of Swansea harbour a factor in the sort of ship that could be used, assuming all of the above could be resolved?

That's the other issue, there are draft limitations in Swansea (and there is a limit on the berth too). Fishguard would be closer, shorter crossing, and have less restrictions.

[PaddyL]

The last service lacked much freight capacity which meant that it never had a chance to develop much but ports without a port hub at either end always find things more difficult.

Passenger wise, the huge issue Fastnet faced was that passengers compared prices to the Rosslare routes and thought the route was expensive, ignoring the value of a night onboard. 

It's never going to happen simply.

[yasmin]

that  must depend of if we wish to use capital enough to give the line time to develop

[awaityourreply]

It would be wonderful to see a direct passenger car ferry link direct between Cork & UK once again. However, any proposition would need to make commercial sense for all parties concerned. If sailing schedules need to be changed more frequently on a Cork to Swansea route due to tidal restrictions in Swansea at certain times of year, this can result in either slower growth or loss of freight business on the route as road haulage companies need reliability so that they can meet delivery deadlines which is essential. I'm not convinced that a Cork to Fishguard or Cork to Pembroke Dock link would be very popular while both of these options are already possible out of Rosslare Europort in Co. Wexford.

If Duty Free Shopping was to return on Ireland to UK travel following BREXIT, it may be one of the benefits to restarting a Cork - UK service but this is still far too early to predict. Not sure if we will ever see STENA Line or Irish Ferries operating passenger car ferries out of Cork any time soon. I think the last time STENA Line had passenger ferries use the Port of Cork was probably at end of the Irish leg of the 1998 Tour de France before the large entourage then moved on to France. Irish Continental Line/Irish Ferries used to operate an annual seasonal summer service with it's Cork-Le Havre & Cork-Cherbourg services until around 1997 when it's vessel St. Killian II was put up for sale. Maybe P&O Ferries or Brittany Ferries may consider a Cork to UK route if Duty Free Shopping was to be re-introduced in the years ahead. The collapse of the last service run by Fastnet Line makes any resumption of Cork-Swansea link more of a challenge especially for a stand alone operator relying on just one route.

[Steven]

It would be wonderful to see a direct passenger car ferry link direct between Cork & UK once again. However, any proposition would need to make commercial sense for all parties concerned. If sailing schedules need to be changed more frequently on a Cork to Swansea route due to tidal restrictions in Swansea at certain times of year, this can result in either slower growth or loss of freight business on the route as road haulage companies need reliability so that they can meet delivery deadlines which is essential. I'm not convinced that a Cork to Fishguard or Cork to Pembroke Dock link would be very popular while both of these options are already possible out of Rosslare Europort in Co. Wexford.

If Duty Free Shopping was to return on Ireland to UK travel following BREXIT, it may be one of the benefits to restarting a Cork - UK service but this is still far too early to predict. Not sure if we will ever see STENA Line or Irish Ferries operating passenger car ferries out of Cork any time soon. I think the last time STENA Line had passenger ferries use the Port of Cork was probably at end of the Irish leg of the 1998 Tour de France before the large entourage then moved on to France. Irish Continental Line/Irish Ferries used to operate an annual seasonal summer service with it's Cork-Le Havre & Cork-Cherbourg services until around 1997 when it's vessel St. Killian II was put up for sale. Maybe P&O Ferries or Brittany Ferries may consider a Cork to UK route if Duty Free Shopping was to be re-introduced in the years ahead. The collapse of the last service run by Fastnet Line makes any resumption of Cork-Swansea link more of a challenge especially for a stand alone operator relying on just one route.

I wouldn't hold your breath on duty free returning tbh.  Given how hard the EU worked to abolish it I doubt they are about to say to the UK to work away, and here have a free trade deal with unlimited access to services while you are at it!  The UK tax man wouldn't be too pleased either I imagine given how much tax income there is now on alcohol and tobacco.  Returning duty free will be way down the list of priorities.  Just because some of the UK tabloids say its a possibility doesn't make it any more likely to happen!

[awaityourreply]

Ah, I was not taking my lead argument from the British tabloids or "red-tops" as some people refer to them as I never take their coverage of hard news seriously. Of course, it is by no means certain if Duty Free Shopping might ever return between UK and Ireland as there may be no deal on Britain's exit from the EU in March 2019 and if this happens the UK would be into WTO tariffs which would be unwelcome for all concerned especially for trade with the UK. If it was a concession granted by the EU to the UK in return for other concessions given by the UK side, then it might result in a boom in trade for ferry operators and airlines operating services between UK/Ireland which might also make it more lucrative for an operator to consider a restoration of a Cork UK ferry link.

We will just have to wait and see what happens from the sidelines as March 2019 rapidly approaches us!

[Steven]

Ah, I was not taking my lead argument from the British tabloids or "red-tops" as some people refer to them as I never take their coverage of hard news seriously. Of course, it is by no means certain if Duty Free Shopping might ever return between UK and Ireland as there may be no deal on Britain's exit from the EU in March 2019 and if this happens the UK would be into WTO tariffs which would be unwelcome for all concerned especially for trade with the UK. If it was a concession granted by the EU to the UK in return for other concessions given by the UK side, then it might result in a boom in trade for ferry operators and airlines operating services between UK/Ireland which might also make it more lucrative for an operator to consider a restoration of a Cork UK ferry link.

We will just have to wait and see what happens from the sidelines as March 2019 rapidly approaches us!

I think you miss my point tbh.  For duty free to return the EU would need to agree to it from the perspective of not penalising the U.K. There would be nothing to stop tariffs on goods entering Ireland having been purchased "duty free" anyway, after all the Irish Government would be losing out on tax revenue and not just the British government.  I would hope the restoration of duty free is well down the list of priorities of those doing the negotiating, some cheap booze and fags a couple of times a year is a lot less important than the overall health of the economy.  In any case, if there is going to be any boost from duty free it will surely be the shortest routes that will benefit the most!

[awaityourreply]

Of course you could well be right in relation to the pro and cons even in the unlikely event of a return to Duty Free Shopping in the years ahead following BREXIT from the 29th March next year.

That said, I read an interesting article on a submission to what I believe was intended for the Irish Exporters Association 2018 Conference published in last Saturday's Evening Echo dated: 17/02/18 from Port of Cork commercial manager Captain Michael MacCarthy. I've not found the same article uploaded online to date although; I had read it in hard copy format over the weekend. Basically a huge amount of Irish Agri output originates from Munster but most trade enters/exits via Dublin and there is now a growing argument that if full customs+excise checks need to be re-introduced, the lack of space and traffic congestion at various ports not to mention the loss of time facing haulage operators favours more route options from the south of Ireland especially if you end up with a "hard BREXIT". Another issue raised in the article emphasised the whole EU shift towards lowering/eliminating CO2 carbon emissions where possible to ensure a greener footprint as penalties & fines from the EU are coming down the tracks particularly in areas like transport so; you could begin to see major changes as firms will want to avoid penalties/fines imposed if they fail to comply in the years ahead due to the climate change measures. Captain MacCarthy also made particular reference to a Cork to Bristol ferry link within the article so; I'm not sure if this is something that is likely to materialise in the years ahead but the overall thrust was the imbalance of trade clogging Dublin when other ports in the south of Ireland could ease the burden and it probably makes economic sense once you are into a whole new scheme. Firms will only act if it effects their bottom line on an ongoing basis. Maybe additional links are around the corner for other ports outside Dublin to enable less delays as time costs money. We'll just have to wait and see in the meantime.   

[NathanBrady]

Dis Brexit thing seems to have got a lot of peoples hopes up.  The customs people will be too busy doing the existing ports to set up new check points and staff them.  It will be another thing the new company will have to pay for.

[Steven]

Dis Brexit thing seems to have got a lot of peoples hopes up.  The customs people will be too busy doing the existing ports to set up new check points and staff them.  It will be another thing the new company will have to pay for.

Now there's a point you don't see mentioned.  Back in the "good old days" before the customs union the ferry companies had to pay for customs checks and the like.  Effectively they paid HMRC to inconvenience their customers, at HMRC's own pace.  Let's hope we don't see a return to that, especially given the frequent holdups we already see at places like Calais due to the checks that already take place.

[Collision-course]

Under International rules once the UK leaves the EU, if no trade deal is agreed then duty free sales are permitted once an international frontier is crossed irrespective of who it inconveniences, we will have to see what kind of final Brexit settlement is reached before being able to see what the status of duty free will be (for example right now if there were a no deal scenario a Carlingford Lough ferry would qualify for duty free sales as it crosses an international frontier as ridiculous as that sounds).
I can not see anyone investing in any Ireland - UK service until the final details of Brexit are known, and we are a long way from that yet.
Assuming all goes well with Brexit there is demand for a Cork to UK service, however Swansea is dead as a ferry port, there are a small number of ships in the Blue Star and Hellenic fleets that are suitable for the route but the business case for those ships is questionable at best, essentially Swansea port and its infrastructure belongs to a different era and they just dont build ships like those any more.
The only realistic options for a new UK service out of Cork are direct to the Bristol freight hub with something like a Visentini to undermine the Rosslare operators for unaccompanied freight units (potential new role for MV Connemara when its Brittany Ferries charter is up?) but as a passenger service it would be a long and basic service that I am not sure would attract many passengers.
Other than that if one had REALLY deep pockets you could go toe to toe with Irish Ferries on a Cork - Pembroke service, but you would want a fast ship to enable a viable turnaround time and nerves of steel to go with those deep pockets to take on Irish Ferries in such a direct way.
For the moment the best bet is to watch how fast Cork develops when the city boundary is massively extended next year and what effect that has on Rosslare operations in terms of the pulling power of the Port of Cork once the new Brittany Ferries schedule is bedded in.