NORTH SEA

The Thames sees two operators who have exploited geography and scale economies. Dart Line on the Kent side of the Dartford Crossing is within spitting distance of the Belgian operator, Cobelfret which exploited a small port facility designed to service the newsprint trade at Purfleet. Its close proximity to the M 25 motorway has enabled the United Kingdom's motor industry to achieve two deliveries per day rather than one to Dover where unaccompanied trailers are less than popular. Dart Line operates to Vlissingen in the Netherlands, Zeebrugge in Belgium and a relatively new service to Dunkerque. The longer standing of the two mainly unaccompanied traffic operators, Cobelfret, runs to Zeebrugge and Rotterdam with a new terminal planned for Vlissingen. Despite an aggressive stance, Jacobs subsidiary, Dart Line has suffered from strong competition and pressured rates resulting in the recent loss of control to Bidvest, the South African group. Dart Line is due to leave its original DIFT site, made famous by Kent Line for the newly developed P&O container terminal at the former Shell Haven Oil Refinery site. It will be interesting to see how Bidvest sees the future and to what level it will consider investing in a service, which despite marginal results, has so far benefited from cheap Romanian and Chinese tonnage.

The Haven ports of Harwich, Felixstowe, and Ipswich further up the Orwell have spawned a number of ferry services over the years as wide and varied as P&O and P&O North Sea Ferries from Felixstowe to Rotterdam and Zeebrugge, Norfolkline to Sheveningen in the Netherlands, Mann & Son from Harwich Navy Yard to Turku and Ferryways from Ipswich to Ostend. Hutchison Wampoa's Harwich International is home to DFDS with its Danish and newly troublesome Cuxhaven service and Stena Line's conventional and HSS route to Hook of Holland.

Pride of Rotterdam (P&O North Sea Ferries)

Talk of Norfolkline takes us back to the company's original links with Great Yarmouth until ship size and the constant striving for scale economies resulted in the port being outgrown. It has taken a few years but Great Yarmouth has fought back with an ambitious scheme to construct an outer port capable of bringing back home the operator that originally put the port on the map.

As the distance between the UK coast and Northern Europe widens so the demands of the business require larger vessels in order to improve uplift and sea-keeping capabilites. DFDS Tor Line, Stena Line's relatively new Killingholme service and the recently re-tonnaged Hull services reach and exceed the impressive 4,000 lane metre mark with more of the same on the way.

With slightly more trepidation than its Baltic arrival was viewed by the locals Superfast will undoubtedly spirit away traffic from the North that would otherwise have used one of the existing services. Dependant almost entirely on rates, there are reasons why freight and passenger traffic alike could be persuaded to drive North to Rosyth and still reach their mainland European destination earlier than driving in the right direction. The main issue here is one of subsidy since Superfast will receive a sizeable US$17.6m to share with Forth Ports, owners of the Rosyth facility whilst the competition have no such Brussels handout. Aberdeen traffic destined for mainland Europe that has gradually grown over the years can similary fear the future effects of this fairly formidable Greek offering. The reality is however that the new service will need all the help it can get particularly in early stages of its development. Fuel costs and heavy southbound winter weather conditions will cause it one way or another to suffer discomfort.

The exciting if not puzzling developments on the lifeline trade to Orkney and the Shetlands, often referred to as the Northern Isles, sees an alliance between the Royal Bank of Scotland and Caledonian MacBarayne under the banner Northlink. As nationalisation goes the story so far makes good patriotic Scottish reading, although four ships instead of three and a newbuilding rebuffed at home only to be constructed in Finland, do not bode well for future economics. Smyril Lines troubled newbuilding will soon be due and Northlink would do well to partner them with combined route activity in order to generate much needed revenue.

Lord of The Isles (Calmac)

Mention of Caledonian MacBrayne takes us to the western Isles where 23 islands are linked by 28 ferries to the mainland and each other via 52 ports and terminals. Calmac, as it is affectionately known carries over 5m passengers and almost 1m cars every year and has more would-be suitors than Transmediterranea despite the differences in climate and potential. Brussels rules will see Calmac put out to tender in the near future either in segmental type pieces or, as is more likely, as a whole. Either way Calmac is a way of life, potentially profitable and will probably end up as three divisions covering ownership, with Scottish Executive partners, operation and marketing.

Bill Moses, ferryguide 2002, 47-48 (2002).

02/07/20