News on English Channel.
A 22-person crew of seafarers was freed Sunday night by British special forces after migrants had hijacked a tanker vessel in the English Channel.
There is a need for clarification about Brexit, says DFDS Chief Executive Niels Smedegaard, which in the third quarter noted how freight volumes on the English routes are now being affected. "It is a blanket of uncertainty that covers most of Europe right now," he tells ShippingWatch.
Ferry and RoRo operator P&O Ferries transported more lorries across the English Channel in the first half of the year than ever before.
British P&O Ferries is making big inroads into the market for freight between Gothenburg and the UK. The company's service from Gothenburg, which includes reloading, has almost doubled its volumes during the first year.
British P&O Ferries has now had 13 months of high activity in the transport of vehicles on the English Channel, and this is a new record for the ferry operator on the route between Dover and Calais.
2016 could turn become a very good year on the English Channel for DFDS. The carrier is raising the prices on the crossing which, in the second half of 2015, was plagued by occupied ferries, migrant crowds in the tunnel and reduced capacity.
Never before has P&O Ferries transported so many units of cargo across the English Channel as in 2015 in which both the third and the fourth quarters set records. Conflicts during the peak season did not impact the positive developments.
The case concerning ferry operations in the English Channel has been going back and forth for years. MyFerryLink was hoping to operate a ferry on the Channel, but the UK Supreme Court has now confirmed a ruling barring the carrier from doing so.
"We have not been fidgeting with the numbers," says DFDS CEO Niels Smedegaard after the carrier, for the third time this year, upgraded its full-year projections for 2015. Among other factors, earnings on the English Channel have soared after MyFerryLink was forced out.
The dispute on the English Channel was long and hard, and DFDS CEO Niels Smedegaard considered throwing in the towel several times in the process, he says in an interview with ShippingWatch. The opposing party, Eurotunnel, expected the Danish competitor to surrender.
Comprehensive damages to the two coming DFDS ferries, along with delayed delivery to Eurotunnel, have now led to a considerable claim against the French seafarers under SCOP Seafrance. Eurotunnel calculates the combined damages to more than EUR 20 million.
Following a severely protracted process and protests from seafarers, DFDS has now finally taken over the two ferries from carrier MyFerryLink on the English Channel.
The route between Dieppe in France and Newhaven in the UK will not be tendered in 2016, and DFDS will therefore have to shut down its service on the route, says the carrier.
British P&O Ferries, which competes with DFDS on the English Channel, in August noted the highest number of passengers in one month in the past 12 years.
The smoke has cleared on the English Channel after an, at times, violent conflict between the French SCOP seafarers and DFDS - a conflict in which emergency flares as well as chutes were used. But DFDS holds yet another option to limit the seafarers' power.
DFDS does not expect an answer anytime soon to its offer to rehire 202 laid off French seafarers who lost their job in relation to MyFerryLink's closure. But the Danish carrier stresses that the seafarers and SCOP must make the next move.
France's minister of transport, Alain Vidalies, informs that he has spoken to the parties involved in the conflict. New proposals are said to be on the table.
Danish DFDS has discontinued its ferry services between France and the UK after a ferry was hit by flares.
On Monday, DFDS will discuss a plan for the conflict on the English Channel in the French Ministry of Transport.
After comprehensive protests and long negotiations, the DFDS ferry service on the English Channel is now back to normal, according to comments from the carrier to ShippingWatch.
The attempt by DFDS to take over parts of the controversial company SCOP SeaFrance, which has operated ferry services on the English Channel in competition with the Danish carrier, did not come to fruition.
On Thursday, July 2nd, DFDS will take over the two controversial ferries from Eurotunnel, set to operate on Dover-Calais in the English Channel. A French union has warned of protests due to layoffs.
Next week could make the protests this Tuesday against DFDS in the French city of Calais seem like a walk in the park, warns a union boss, who demands that Eurotunnel's deal with DFDS for two ferries be taken off the table by July 1st.
DFDS CEO Niels Smedegaard has met with France's Minister of Transportation to discuss developments in the English Channel. DFDS will ensure 200 jobs for French employees. "No matter what, this will affect employment," Niels Smedegaard tells ShippingWatch.
In spite of strong pressure from employees on the MyFerryLink ferries leased by Eurotunnel to DFDS, there is no alternative to the agreement with the Danish carrier, says the tunnel operator after a tough day with massive unrest at the English Channel crossing.
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