produits de la mer - n°192 - Mai 2019 - 33

Actu ❘ INFOS & DÉCRYPTAGES

[ À SUIVRE DANS PDM ]

A straight crossing between
Ireland and France

Le transporteur finistérien
Mesguen travaille principalement
au Royaume-Uni, en Irlande et en
France. La perspective du Brexit
risque de redessiner ses lignes de
desserte.
« Pour le trafic de produits
de la mer entre l'Irlande et la
France, soit environ un camion
par semaine, nous passions
jusque-là par l'Angleterre. Notre
camion embarquait ensuite à
Portsmouth pour arriver à Caen ou
Roscoff », explique Marc Jézéquel,
responsable produits de la mer
pour les transports Mesguen.
Exemple : un camion vivier prend
le ferry le dimanche soir en
Irlande, puis après avoir traversé
l'Angleterre embarque le lundi
soir pour une arrivée en France le
mardi matin. Or, en cas de Brexit
dur, « notre client devra payer des
taxes supplémentaires, sans parler
des démarches administratives ».
Le transporteur a donc testé
début avril la ligne Cork-Roscoff,
desservie par Brittany Ferries
à raison de deux départs par
semaine en été, dont un départ le
lundi à 22 heures pour une arrivée
le mardi en fin de journée. « La
traversée s'est très bien passée et
nous allons certainement l'utiliser
à nouveau, indique Marc Jézéquel.
Nous pourrons ainsi proposer
à notre client deux options :
traverser l'Angleterre et compléter
son camion avec des crustacés
d'origine anglaise ou charger un
camion complet en Irlande et
prendre ce ferry direct. »

DR

E.C.

While a large proportion of Irish
exports to the continent transit
through United Kingdom,
the prospect of a Brexit without
an agreement puts the spotlight
on the direct shipping lines
between France and Ireland.

O

n the 15th of March, Irish Ferries'
new ferry, the WB Yeats, docked
in Cherbourg. This 195-metre giant has
2,800 metres of car deck space, allowing
165 lorries to be transported, compared
with 60 to 70 for its predecessor, the Oscar
Wilde. "We have more than doubled our
transport capacity," says Nora Costello,
marketing manager for Irish Ferries.
The WB Yeats will carry out up to seven
crossings per week, from mid-March to
September on the Cherbourg-Dublin line.
The Epsilon, which has the same freight
capacity, will take over between October
and mid-March.
"Within the unpredictable context of
Brexit, our carrier customers need constant
service and regular timetables," says Nora
Costello. The company is thus refocusing
its Franco-Irish crossings on Dublin and
Cherbourg, to the detriment of Rosslare
and Roscoff. "The choice of Dublin, the capital, is a request from our customers. The
port of Cherbourg has invested in a special
gateway to accommodate the WB  Yeats
and provides a more central access to the
rest of France," says the manager.
In doing so, the Irish company wishes
to offer "a credible alternative to the landbridge (1), all the more interesting for
fresh products because Dublin-Cherbourg
is one of the shortest lines to reach the
continent, with a 17 hour crossing."
Indeed, the return of customs barriers
would increase transport times and create
additional costs for Irish exporters transiting through the United Kingdom. The
Irish ports and shipping companies therefore have a card to play.
For its part, Brittany Ferries launched a
new Roscoff-Cork-Santander (Spain) offer
in 2018, with two round trips per week.
This effectively strengthens the existing

Ireland exported

320,000 t
of seafood products
in 2017, worth
683 million euros,
26%
of which went
to France.
Source: Eumofa

service between France and Ireland. The
number of lorries shuttled between Cork
and Roscoff has increased from 494 in
the 2016-2017 season to 1,059 in 20172018. The Breton company "no longer
plans to strengthen these two lines in the
near future."
Finally, the third company in this segment, Stena Line, has "not seen any
Brexit effect or increase in demand on its
Rosslare-Cherbourg route" and is therefore not planning to amp it up for the
time being. "Of course, this could change
in the future," adds the company. Wait
and see.
E.C.
(1) Trade route linking Ireland to the mainland via British
roads and ports

DR

Mesguen
en phase de test

The WB Yeats of Irish Ferries can load up to 165 lorries per crossing,
more than twice as many as its predecessor.

[A potential of 3 million tons
of freight ]
◗ According to a survey by the Irish Maritime
Development Office on the consequences of
Brexit, 150,000 Irish heavy goods vehicles and
3 million tons of freight (including 2 million tons
for exports) cross the United Kingdom each year
to reach the European continent. That is 38% of
Irish exports by sea. Fresh products, including
seafood, are particularly affected.
This is mainly due to travel times: an average
of 20 hours between Ireland and the mainland via United Kingdom compared to 40 hours
via direct shipping lines (with a lorry, including
embarkation and disembarkation).

PRODUITS DE LA MER N°192 MAI 2019

❘  33 ❘
produits de la mer - n°192 - Mai 2019

Table des matières de la publication produits de la mer - n°192 - Mai 2019
