New Rosslare to Le Havre (Freight-Only) to commence operations in 2022

[awaityourreply]

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/

[DaveW1946]

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.

[giftgrub]

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

[awaityourreply]

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

[Steven]

Sounds a lot like an election candidate trying to boost their profile to me!

[marsav68]

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! 

[ferryfan]

Seems like all these rumours about new routes, some of which sound ludicrous, are nothing more than pure waffle.

[awaityourreply]

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

[larry]

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

[awaityourreply]

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.

[Steven]

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.

[awaityourreply]

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

[bissiere]

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

[bissiere]

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

[bissiere]

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