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Tag: P&O Ferries | Ferry Shipping News

Jul 11
3

Jersey Reviews Failed Joint Ferry Tender

By | 2025 Newsletter week 28 | No Comments

The Government of Jersey’s Public Accounts Committee (PAC) has identified key failings in the joint ferry procurement process with Guernsey.

  • No shared governance or joint evaluation of bids.
  • No use of best practice models from UK/EU.
  • Commercial Services lacked clear oversight role.
  • External consultants were needed due to limited internal capacity.

A formal lessons-learned and benchmarking exercise is recommended by end 2025 to improve future joint procurement.

Section 6.2 (page 44) of the PAC report sheds light on Condor’s role in the failed Jersey–Guernsey ferry procurement:

  • Final Contender: Condor was the only firm remaining in the final stages before being rejected by Jersey, although Guernsey had scored its bid positively.
  • Financial Concerns: Jersey’s officials raised serious issues about Condor’s financial stability. A letter from Condor warned it might need up to £36 million in support to continue operations if unsuccessful in the tender.
  • Guernsey Moves Ahead: Frustrated by delays in Jersey, Guernsey went ahead and awarded their contract to a Condor/Brittany Ferries joint bid, leaving Jersey to launch a separate tender.
  • Resulting Split: Guernsey signed with Brittany/Condor, but Jersey chose DFDS in December 2024, marking the end of Condor’s 60-year continuous service
Jul 11
3

P&O Ferries to Close Teesport–Zeebrugge Route

By | 2025 Newsletter week 28 | No Comments

P&O Ferries has informed staff that its Teesport–Zeebrugge route will close by the end of July, marking the end of its presence in Teesport.

  • The move is part of a strategic shift to focus on Tilbury and Hull.
  • Route vessel NORBAY will be redeployed elsewhere in the network.
  • Zeebrugge-Hull is expected to return to RoRo operations by mid-August. Serving now is container feeder FREYA.

This follows a series of route restructurings on the North Sea.

Aug 31
2

P&O Ferries boosts North Sea freight capacity with new long-term ship charters

By | 2024 Newsletter week 35 | No Comments

P&O Ferries confirmed the addition of RoRo LONGSTONE to its fleet, increasing freight capacity on its route between Tilbury and i Zeebrugge.  

 P&O Ferries will also add the sister vessel to its fleet in late 2025.   

 LONGSTONE’s capacity is over 50% greater than P&O Ferries’ existing vessels on the Tilbury-Zeebrugge route. With 4,076 lane meters, the new ship is the first step of P&O Ferries’ demand-led expansion plan for its North Sea Services and is expected to begin service in early September.    

To complement this maritime expansion, P&O Ferries – with the support of its customers – has expanded its rail handling service in Zeebrugge with new intermodal services to/from Germany and Central Europe. This substantial boost in capacity for P&O Ferries’ Zeebrugge-Tilbury route, supported by the new rail connections, will facilitate smoother trade flows between the UK and Europe.    

 “We are expanding our North Sea network in response to the demand from our customers,” said Peter Hebblethwaite, CEO of P&O Ferries. “This long-term investment is just the first step of our expansion plan for this network. It is about having the right tonnage, underpinned by effective rail handling, to allow our customers to plan new opportunities. Boosting capacity on our routes between Tilbury and the continent of Europe is what our customers need, and will give them even greater direct access to London and its transport connections.”   

 “The efficiency and capacity of the vessel, along with integrated rail services will also help cut the carbon emissions associated with freight movements and reduce road congestion around ports and in the wider catchment area.” 

 “We will deliver significant growth of unaccompanied transportation on the North Sea by offering our customers scalable capacity and the right service package in ports and on our ferries. This contributes directly to the end-to-end logistics service offered by our parent company, DP World (**).”    

 (*) LONGSTONE is the former MARIA GRAZIA ONORATO, and has been a familiar ship in Zeebrugge when on charter to CLdN. Same for sister vessel ALF POLLAK, now renamed LISMORE. 

(**) In April 2024, DP World got a concession for 25 hectares in the port of Zeebrugge, a part P&O Ferries did not use any longer.    

Aug 02
2

End of space charter agreement DFDS – P&O Ferries

By | 2024 Newsletter week 31 | No Comments

DFDS will leave the space charter agreement with P&O Ferries covering the Channel’s Dover-Calais route. 

With P&O Ferries’ recent agreement to enter into an additional and separate space charter agreement with the third ferry operator on Dover-Calais, Irish Ferries, the terms of a continuing space charter arrangement would change. 

The space charter agreement was entered into in May 2021 and will end when the contractual notice period is complete at the end of August 2024. 

Source: DFDS 

Apr 26
1

P&O Ferries must navigate legal changes

By | 2024 Newsletter week 17 | No Comments

President of Brittany Ferries, Jean-Marc Roué, has posted on his X-account a screenshot of a letter written by “Philcrew Management PTE Ltd” to the seafarers of the Dover-Calais ships. Philcrew is a maritime crew management company for P&O Ferries.

The subject is the new French law that obliges ferry operators between the UK and France to pay their crew at least the French minimum wage. This law applies to all ships making at least 120 calls a year in French ports. The law comes into force in June 2024.

Under the new regulation, the maximum duration of embarkation is up to 14 days. It also specifies that the duration of the consecutive rest on land will be at least equivalent to that of the embarkation.

The Philcrew letter states, “We expect that our crew scheduling model will soon be adjusted to provide for 2 weeks on and 2 weeks off to accommodate the new French law requirement.

“The upcoming changes in regulations directly affect our operations and crew arrangements, particularly impacting our crew members from Asia and those required to undertake extensive travel periods.”

Link to the relevant document about the social dumping. (in French)

Note: In July 2023, a voluntary charter for the protection of seafarers in the cross-Channel sector has been signed by DFDS, Condor Ferries, Stena Line and Brittany Ferries.

Mar 01
1

P&O Ferries: promising results from its new fuel and energy efficiency initiative

By | 2024 Newsletter week 09 | No Comments

P&O Ferries cut almost 50,000 tons of carbon emissions from its operation in 2023 with the introduction of a new hybrid ferry and its new dedicated initiative to reduce fuel consumption – the Fleet Support Centre for Fuel and Energy Efficiency.

This follows a reduction of over 85,000 tons in 2022, achieved through partnerships with other operators to enable the company to sail less frequently – and other measures to improve the technical efficiency of its vessels.

P&O’s Fleet Support Centre, based at the company’s Dover headquarters, uses the latest SmartShip technology and fuel meters onboard each ferry. This gives the company a wealth of new data that can be used to track and reduce fuel and energy consumption. The ability to see granular data on fuel consumption for each route and vessel allows P&O Ferries to investigate any changes in consumption and see the result of efficiency efforts straight away.

The data also gives deep insight into the impact of different variables such as: the weather, operating system, method of operating the vessel and its schedule.

Since the rollout across the P&O Ferries’ fleet in recent months, the Fleet Support Centre’s new approach has reduced fuel consumption and related emissions on key routes during 2023, with further fuel reductions of 5% expected for 2024.

More details in the press release.

Photo: Simon Boulanger

Jan 12
1

P&O Ferries strengthens North Sea presence with new London – Rotterdam freight route

By | 2024 Newsletter week 02 | No Comments

P&O Ferries will open a new RoRo freight route in the North Sea, between London (Tilbury 2) and Rotterdam (Europoort), starting in March 2024.

This service will complement P&O Ferries’ existing Zeebrugge to London route together with strengthening its rail-connected hub in Rotterdam.

Peter Hebblethwaite, P&O Ferries’ CEO: “The opening of our new route between London and Rotterdam gives P&O Ferries a unique network in the North Sea. We now have five hubs: Hull, Teesport, Tilbury, Zeebrugge and Europoort, connecting the North East and South East of England with the Continent. We will offer our freight customers the earliest arrival on the Thames from Rotterdam, along with swift access to the M25 and terminal rail connections.”

“The opening of the London – Rotterdam route will mark another significant step in our business transformation and further contribute to the end-to-end logistics service offered by our parent company, DP World.”

The route will be served by the Dutch-flagged P&O Ferries vessel NORBANK, which until recently was serving on the Irish Sea, with a capacity of 125 freight units.

Aug 25
0

P&O Ferries will stop Liverpool-Dublin route

By | 2023 Newsletter week 34 | No Comments

P&O Ferries announced in a message that the Liverpool-Dublin route will be axed.

The company says that, earlier this year, the owner of our Liverpool site, Peel Ports, informed P&O that its current berth would no longer be available after the end of 2023.

P&O says it has been looking for solutions, but “no suitable alternative has been offered or found that would enable to maintain the current service into 2024.”

The company is now “beginning a consultation process with the employees affected by the intended closure of this service.”

NORBAY and NORBANK, which currently serve the Liverpool-Dublin route with 24 sailings per week, will be redeployed elsewhere on the P&O Ferries route network in the coming months.

Photo: Wikimedia 2013harry

Jul 07
0

Three-year extensions to key ship charters reinforce P&O Ferries’ commitment to North Sea routes

By | 2023 Newsletter week 27 | No Comments

P&O Ferries extended with 3 years the charter agreement with Bore Ltd on the RoRo vessels NORSKY and NORSTREAM, maintaining its presence on the Zeebrugge-Teesport and Zeebrugge-Tilbury routes for the long term.

P&O Ferries also reinforced its commitment to the Zeebrugge-Teesport route through a separate extension of the FINNPULP charter agreement with Finnlines. The RoRo vessel will continue serving the route on two midweek sailings a week.