There is agreement on a new ferry route between Roseth (Scotland) and Zeebrugge from 2023, first with freight and possibly passengers later. A new shipping route to Rosslare (Ireland) will start next month.
At the end of 2020, P&O Ferries discontinued the Zeebrugge-Hull service, the only and last passenger mode of transport between Belgium and the United Kingdom. Since then, the Zeebrugge port community has been striving hard for a new service with the UK.
It appears that this has now been found: “Scottish shipping office Ptarmigan Shipping and Danish ro-ro operator DFDS have reached an agreement to create the Zeebrugge and Rosyth line,” says Dirk de Vaux, Mayor of Bruges and vice-chairman of the Port of Antwerp Brugge Board.
Later passengers
“In the first place, only cargo will be shipped, but the parties involved are obliged to further investigate the possibility of passenger transport. This would give a boost to tourism in Bruges and thus throughout West Flanders. After all, the previous ferry connection was good for 250,000 traveler annually,” says de Vaux. Rosyth is 25 km from Edinburgh and 75 km from Glasgow.
The previous ferry connection was good for 250,000 passengers a year
Roro Shipping DFDS is active in Zeebrugge with shipping services to Immingham (England), Gothenburg (Sweden) and Frederikstad (Norway). Until 2018, DFDS had already operated a freight connection between Zeebrugge and Rosyth. But after a fire in the engine room of the Finlandia Seawise ferry, a replacement ship was not found fast enough. When the financial waste proved too great, the Danish shipping company threw in the towel.
Also to Ireland
Also today, Finnish shipping company Finnlines announced that from July 23 a direct line to Rosslare in Ireland will start. The Finnpulp will sail round trip twice a week. It can carry 225 trailers and has a cab that can accommodate twelve drivers.
Finnlines is part of the Italian Grimaldi Group. It has been sailing between Antwerp, Zeebrugge and Cork in Ireland since May last year. This line will soon serve Antwerp and Cork only. All shipments related to Zeebrugge will be transported by the new service of Rosslare’s Finnlines subsidiary. In Zeebrugge, Finnlines has moved its services to Finland and Spain.
