EMEA News
Scottish Ferry Service Threatened by ECA
Freight ferry service to and from Rosyth, Scotland on the North Sea could be put out of business by rising fuel costs as new limits on sulfur emissions take effect in Emissions Control Areas (ECAs), DFDS Seaways, which operates a Rosyth-Zeebrugge route, told local newspaper The Courier.
"The main challenge is the cost of operating the service, and there is no doubt that the upcoming sulphur legislation will lead to an increase in those costs of around 20%, if we were to continue running the service as we do currently," a spokesman for the company said.
"This would unfortunately mean that the route would no longer be commercially viable, and we are therefore looking for ways to reduce the impact of the sulphur rules on the route."
Charles Hammond, chief executive of port operator Forth Ports wrote a letter to the Scottish government saying the Rosyth service would be particularly affected because of its location.
"This has the potential to severely impact on the financial viability of the existing freight ferry service into and out of Rosyth," he wrote.
Martin Reid, the Road Haulage Association's director for Scotland and Northern Ireland, said the higher cost of fuel will have to be passed on to customers.
"There is a limit to how much you can pass on before they refuse to pay it – hauliers are caught between a rock and a hard place," he said.
Alison Johnston, a Green Member of the Scottish Parliament, said reducing emissions from ships is important, but officials must also work to prevent freight from being displaced to the roadways because of rising ferry transportation costs.
"I want to see a much stronger future for our ferry links, so I urge the Scottish Government to provide constructive help to the operators," she said.
DFDS has received some financial help from the European Union (EU) for fitting some of its freighters with scrubbers in response to the new ECA rules, but it has also said it may have to shut some ferry routes down.
