Demand from Irish hauliers to avoid Brexit delays on the UK landbridge route has spawned yet another ferry service between Ireland and France. Stena Line have announced they are doubling the frequency of their Rosslare-Cherbourg crossing.
According to the Irish Times, the extra ferry means number of services on Stena’s route from Rosslare to France will increase from 3 to 6.
Stena’s announcement comes less than a fortnight after DFDS boasted its new freight ferry route between Rosslare and Dunkerque would offer “paperless transport between EU countries”.
Throughout autumn, Irish Road Haulage Association President Eugene Drennan maintained that the current landbridge route to the European Continent from Ireland cannot now be regarded as the only reliable option for Irish hauliers post-Brexit.
Although travelling from France to Ireland by Ferry can take between 18 and 24 hours, it allows drivers to use their drivers’ hours wisely and to drive to their destination once they are off the ferry. This is something DFDS alluded to this in their press statement two weeks ago:
“Upon arrival in Dunkerque or Rosslare, the drivers will be fully rested and can continue driving immediately and be able to reach many major destinations within their legal driving limit. In addition to this, the sea voyage will reduce the dependency on the UK land bridge and open direct opportunities for trade within EU’s single market.”
Meanwhile, Stena chief executive Niclas Mårtensson says the ferry operator chose to introduce the extra service after listening to feedback from customers:
“listening carefully to feedback from our customers, it has become clear that there is demand for increased frequency on the Rosslare-Cherbourg service, the shortest direct crossing between Ireland and France”.
Photo credit: lhourahane / Wikipedia Commons
