Brittany Ferries sees opportunities in French-Irish route as Stena Line withdraws
Stena Line has dropped the route, but now the competitor is ramping up its activities in exactly the same location.
At the end of September, Stena Line will sail for the last time between Rosslare in Ireland and Cherbourg in France, and almost on the same day, competitor Brittany Ferries is increasing its activities on precisely that route to fill the gap and take over demand.
Upon taking over, the English company is increasing the weekly number of departures from five to seven.
– The news that our competitor was withdrawing prompted targeted efforts to secure port slots and better serve customers in Ireland and France.
– This means more options for holidaymakers and even more opportunities for freight operators looking to bypass the UK entirely, reducing bureaucracy and delays at the British border, says Brittany Ferries CEO Christophe Mathieu.
Stena Line announced in July that the shipping company would discontinue the route.
The reason lies in a strategic adjustment of the shipping company’s operations, where it prefers to focus on ferry traffic in the Irish Sea rather than the longer crossing between Ireland and France.
The company has just announced investments of around £40 million (355 million DKK) in the terminals in Belfast and Liverpool as part of this strategy, as well as upgrades to the port in Welsh Fishguard.
Brittany Ferries entered the Rosslare-Cherbourg route in 2021. This followed Brexit, which created demand for transporting goods bypassing England and instead directly to the European continent from Ireland.
Recently, a third, fourth, and fifth weekly return sailing have been added to the schedule as demand continued to rise—and not just from freight customers.
