Freight traffic between N.Wales and Ireland plunges
FIRMS USING DIRECT SAILINGS TO CONTINENT AFTER BREXIT
FREIGHT traffic to the Republic of Ireland from North Wales and North West England has plunged by more than a fifth since the UK formally left the EU.
Brexit has caused a slump in cargo volume from Dublin to Britain, a report shows.
Freight to Dublin Port from Holyhead, Liverpool and Heysham has dropped by 21%, while direct traffic from Ireland to mainland Europe is up by 36%.
Irish hauliers have been avoiding the Holyhead-DoverCalais route over the past nine months, making use of the dozens of new ferry services to the European mainland that have opened up since January.
There are now 44 direct ferry routes from Ireland to France, Belgium, Spain and the Netherlands. Previously there were 12.
Hauliers are also routing into
Britain via Northern Ireland to avoid Brexit-related bureaucracy.
The report by Dublin Port reveals only half its containers now come from the British ports, compared with 64% before Brexit.
Overall, the port reported a 21% decline in trade with ports in Britain in the first nine months of the year, while there was a 36% increase in business with the EU.
Dublin Port chief executive Eamonn O’Reilly said he believed this would become a “permanent feature” of trade between Britain and Ireland.
He said: “After nine months, the impact of Brexit on the profile of Dublin Port’s trade has become clear, with volumes on unitised services to Great Britain declining by just over onefifth while volumes on services to continental Europe increased by more than a third.”
“The movement of Irish trade to EU markets and away from the UK has also had the effect of reducing the number of trailers that move through Dublin Port which are driver-accompanied.”
Mr O’Reilly added was “creating capacity pinch points” at the port noting two more shipping lines are looking to commence services in Dublin which cannot be accommodated.
Stena Line and Irish Ferries operate four ships on the Holyhead to Dublin route with each ship making two round trips each day. Since Brexit Stena have moved ships to and from the route and during the summer introduced a new service to Belfast at weekends.
Irish Ferries have continued to use both their cruise ferry, Ulysses, on the route supported by the smaller vessel Epsilon.
The company have launched their own cross-channel service from Dover to Calais with two ships operating the busy route.