Eurotunnel Expects to Benefit from ECA Cost Increases

by Ship & Bunker News Team
Monday March 23, 2015

Eurotunnel has said it will benefit from the extra costs imposed on shippers by tightened Emissions Control Area (ECA) legislation, The Guardian reports.

CEO Jacques Gounon said he expects to see increasing demand for the company's rail shuttle services as ferry operators are forced to raise prices.

In addition, he said Eurotunnel was deriving increasing revenues from Eurostar, which pays the company for operating its passenger rail services through the tunnel.

Furthermore, Eurostar's proposed expansion plans will create still more traffic through the tunnel.

For shippers the cost of operating in the English Channel has increased since new rules came into force on January 1, this year, requiring them to either burn fuel with a maximum sulfur content of 0.10 percent, or invest in an equivalent emissions reduction technology.

Eurotunnel is currently the owner of the cross-Channel ferry company MyFerryLink, but was recently given a deadline of July 9 by the UK Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) to sell or stop operating the business.

Eurotunnel is said to have received four expressions of interest for the business and hopes to net between €120 million ($128 million) and €150 million ($160 million) from the sale.

"Even if we identify a purchaser for the business, it needs clearance from the CMA," said Gounon, adding "if you have three ships less during the summer, it's going to be very difficult."

Earlier this year, Eurotunnel said MyFerryLink was "an operating and commercial success."