Ferry Boom
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U1VE or six short years ago commercial vehicle ferries were almost in the "rarity " class, except for the established ones between—for instance—the Scottish mainland and the northern isles. Then movement of traffic between the United Kingdom and the Continent grew noticeably and interest gradually focused on the " glamour " ferries between South Coast ports and France and from Tilbury to Antwerp and Rotterdam.
For several years these routes were adequate for the available traffic, even though it was expanding rapidly. But the present has brought about a quite remarkable boom in new ferry services. It might be fair to describe the real turning point of this boom as the inauguration this week by Atlantic Steam Navigation Co. Ltd. of a new service between Felixstowe and Rotterdam. The interest is, of course, in the growth of East Coast ferry services to the Continent thus bypassing, in etTect, the traditional sea outlets for this traffic.
A question has been growing, however. Is saturation point approaching? Provision of these facilities involves extremely heavy capital expenditure on the part of the ferry operator and charges are. on average, competitive.
A survey published in this issue certainly spotlights the position. There are in excess of 70 ferry services from the UK and nearly 30 of them are between this country and either the European mainland or Scandinavia. At least eight more are on the stocks, and these are not all by any means.
To a large extent hauliers and C-licensees can stand on the sidelines in this matter. But they, of all people, should remember that too much competition. produces rate-cutting which, if carried to excess, produces a reduction in standards of service—sometimes more important a factor than price alone.