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

There appears to be a lack of understanding by a number of transport operators of the legal requirements for the movement of hazardous goods by sea. What makes this so frustrating is the fact that as we live on an island, so how do people expect to get here if not by sea? Eurotunnel cannot take all the various types of hazardous cargo there are, and not every operator uses this service. There are also no tunnel or road connections from the UK to Ireland.

There are different legal requirements for the transportation of hazardous goods by road to those by sea. For example, a truck operator has to run with “orange plates” – the square plates displayed at the front and rear of a vehicle, when a truck is loaded with hazardous goods and operating by road in the UK. However, when the same vehicle wants to travel on a ferry, arrangements need to be made by the ferry operator to stow the vehicle in a particular location on board the ship (depending on the nature of the hazard of the goods on board the vehicle), and dangerous goods placards (haz triangles for those of a particular age) must be affixed to the bulkhead and each side of the trailer (or lorry), the load needs to have been checked by a DGSA (Dangerous Goods Safety Advisor) of the relevant ferry company to ensure the goods can be carried (as not all dangerous goods can be carried on ferries). Oh, and when you arrive at the ferry port if the ADR (Dangerous Goods) paperwork is not correctly completed and signed then you aren’t going anywhere anyway! All of this work is undertaken to ensure that in the event of an incident, such as a fire on board ship (which is probably the most dangerous thing that can occur onboard ship, particularly if the ship is at sea), then the ships crew and emergency teams know exactly what potential hazards they have onboard.

A product that can be carried as “limited quantities” by road, and not require ADR paperwork or “orange plates”, could be classed as hazardous by sea. This is where the help of the DGSA or dispatch department of the consignor company can assist the transport operator to fully understand their legal obligations, and thus help to ensure compliance. Freightlink can also offer help and advice to customers by discussing the product types and quantities to be shipped with ferry operators to check the goods can be accepted for shipment. No operator wants to be sat on the quayside with a load that can’t be shipped and start incurring delays: if the wheels aren’t turning, the vehicle isn’t earning!

Whilst in this country we often bemoan the amount of “red tape” encompassing UK industry in support of health and safety legislation, no one wants to star in their own disaster movie! In the UK we have a government department called the Maritime and Coastguard Agency (MCA), who police and support our shipping industry and ensure compliance with maritime law. The MCA recently held a seminar in the North West of England for the shipping, transport and logistics industries to discuss, amongst other things, the issue of hazardous cargo shipments in UK territorial waters. Freightlink attended this seminar and heard from various MCA, Police and Environment Agency representatives about the damage that can be done to ships, road infrastructure and peoples lives if the carriage of hazardous goods is not undertaken correctly and goes wrong. We left the seminar with one story that will prove that if you get the carriage of dangerous goods wrong, you will need very deep pockets…….

On the 20th November 2008, at Dunkirk, Janusz Gauden, a 56 year old Polish lorry driver arrived and attempted to board a British ferry bound for Dover. He declared that he had 383Kg of dangerous goods (Methyl Methacrylate Monomer Stabilized) on his load but the ferry operator identified that the driver did not have the correct documentation and refused permission to board.

Mr. Gauden then went to Calais where he managed to board a Sea France ferry carrying 228 persons without declaring the goods. The Dunkirk ferry operator had sent an alert to Sea France to be on the look out for the driver but this information arrived after the vessel sailed with the undeclared dangerous goods on board.

The ferry operators informed the Maritime & Coastguard Agency enforcement unit who immediately alerted the Police at Dover Port. The driver was stopped and arrested as the vehicle disembarked from the ferry at Dover. He was later charged with contravening the Merchant Shipping (Dangerous Goods and Marine Pollutants) Regulations 1997 and was bailed to appear at Folkestone Magistrates Court.

On the 27th January 2009, at Folkestone Magistrates Court Janusz Gauden pleaded guilty to the above offences and was fined £2000 and order to pay £3757.98 costs.

In passing sentence the Magistrates said; “This Court takes the safety of the public very seriously. You are an experienced driver and did a deliberate act. You endangered the crew and everyone on board and the potential for disaster was driven by monetary reasons”.

I hope that none of the readers of this blog ever have a visit from the MCA or the Police to explain their companies’ actions in relation to the carriage of hazardous goods by sea.