Earlier this week the “Seatruck Progress” arrived in Liverpool on her maiden voyage from FSG Flensburg in Germany. The vessel takes Seatruck’s unaccompanied business plan on the Irish Sea to a whole new level. The 142m long, 24m beam, 4 deck ship dwarfs other ro-ro ships. Capable of up to 25 knots, the new ship will take up to 35 13.5m trailers more than the outgoing “P” class vessels currently operating on the Liverpool to Dublin and Heysham to Warrenpoint routes.

But why would Seatruck put on increased tonnage, in an Irish market that has gone through a period of consolidation and capacity reductions in order that ferry companies can stem big financial losses? The simple answer is economies of scale. Seatruck and FSG have considered every cost in detail to produce one of the most efficient vessels in the world, giving Seatruck the advantage of lower operating costs on one of the most buoyant routes to Ireland. As an example, the hull has not got a single parallel line making it uber efficient at cutting through the water. As can be seen in the photos here, take a look at the classic “coke” bottle shape of the hull.

“Unlike the outgoing “P” class ships the 12 drivers will be in shared cabins, but the size and quality of these cabins means that the drivers will still enjoy the excellent standard they are used to. This is one area where costs were cut. After all Seatruck has got to sweat the asset, and make this pay for the Clipper group.

When DFDS stopped the Birkenhead-Dublin route in February 2011, 145,000 units a year dropped into the market place. P&O reacted earlier this year by putting the “Endeavor” on as a 3rd “shoulder” rated service to grab some of the higher paying overnight driving accompanied traffic destined for Dublin. However, the service offering in Holyhead between Irish Ferries and Stena Line is now better than ever, with a sailing  nearly every 4-5 hours, making is difficult to tempt driver accompanied business to Liverpool.

At a time when hauliers are under enormous pressure with increasing ferry prices (see the Ferry companies put the rate squeeze on for 2012 blog – Dec 08th 2012), now that the “Seatruck Progress” has joined the party, with her sister “Seatruck Power” due within the next 12 weeks, Seatruck will have an even better chance at tempting hauliers & distributors to convert to a more cost effective unaccompanied service into Dublin.

For further news and ferry information – please go to www.freightlink.co.uk

Check out Seatruck Ferries “Seatruck Progress” slide show

In the increasing competitive arena of European transports & distribution, hauliers should consider all the ferry options !

With the economy receding or at best stagnating, manufacturers continue to be under extreme pressure to cut costs everywhere. In January I was with one UK manufacturer talking about ferries. He had told his procurement team to reduce costs by 4% to 7% across the board ! Easier said than done. For the haulier, the main areas for any squeeze are labour costs, fuel costs, vehicle costs and any fixed costs the business may have. For the international haulier, there may be opportunities to squeeze the ferry bills.

Any good business doesn’t permanently close the door on any supplier…you never know when you might need them. Purchasing ferry space is no different. By maintaining volumes on core routes, the relationship with the ferry company remains in tact. However, by utilising the excellent range of long sea freight services that are available, the smart operator can save money in all the right areas.

These freight services were once considered a last resort by many hauliers, with many drivers influencing the decision maker with all sort of excuses and reasons why not to travel.  In the main, those days have long since gone. Looking at the Irish Sea as an example, Norfolk Line and Seatruck provide daily departures to Warrenpoint, Dublin & Belfast (Norfolk Line operate Heysham – Dublin & Heysham – Belfast / Seatruck operate Heysham – Warrenpoint & Liverpool – Dublin). These services are provided by ships that have the ability to keep to schedule, even in poor weather conditions. So the hauliers transport team can relax safe in the knowledge the driver will arrive on schedule (obviously there is no guarantee of any ship keeping schedule to the minute).

Drivers can relax as on board services have dramatically improved when new tonnage has replaced older tonnage. Most of the vessels have single cabins for the 12 drivers (which cannot be guaranteed on any over night Ropax* vessel), T.V.s &  DVD players in the cabins. The catering staff only has to look after the dietary requirements of the ship staff, so as a general rule the freight drivers have a good selection of food cooked to order.

Destinations of freight ferries include:-

• Heysham
• Liverpool
• Belfast
• Warrenpoint
• Dublin
• Killingholme
• Zeebrugge
• Rotterdam
• Ostend
• Purfleet
• Goteborg
• Esbjerg
• Ipswich

When considering ferry routing options, what should tip the scales for any haulier is the fact that when compared to conventional Ropax routes where drivers often share facilities with the passenger market, these routes offer incredible value for money. By the very nature of roll on roll off and passenger carrying ships (Ropax), there are simply rafts of additional costs when operating this class of vessel compared to a freight vessel. Lower operating costs equals lower shipping costs.

So, as I started the blog, hauliers should consider all the ferry options!

* Ropax vessel – roll on roll off ferry capabable of carrying more than 12 paying passengers.

Look on www.freightlink.co.uk / www.freightlink.pl for routes and rate information.