Falcon saves Channel link
Page 9
If you've noticed an error in this article please click here to report it so we can fix it.
by Ian Wylie • The FolkestoneBoulogne freight ferry service has been reprieved and might even be expanded following
Falcon Distribution's decision to charter a ship on its own while searching for new partners.
International hauliers had feared that the service would be killed off in November when Hoverspeed announced it was pulling out of its year-old joint venture with Falcon, the Manchester-based firm which sends more than 5,000 of its own trailers on the route each year.
The service has carved out a niche handling unaccompanied and hazardous freight, but Hoverspeed's parent Sea Containers is understood to have been dissatisfied with the return on its investment in the route.
The service was due to close at the end of last month, but Falcon signed an eleventh-hour agreement with Hoverspeed to charter a ferry, the Picasso, and to employ its 50-strong crew and freight office staff.
Mike Rayner, Falcon's financial deputy managing director, says the company has given itself four months to find a new joint-venture partner with a larger ship. The Picasso, which makes four sailings a day, can only handle 32 trailers and Rayner says too many hauliers are being turned away.
"I'm sure there is enough demand for the route, because competitors such as SeaFrance and P&O are too passenger-orientated," he says. "However, it is not a viable service as it stands so this is only a shortterm measure."
According to Rayner, Falcon has already been approached by three ferry operators—two overseas and one UK-based
firm which are keen to introduce roll on/roll off vessels with a capacity of 50-60 trailers.
Falcon believes there could be enough demand to warrant more than one ship on the route, but he warns that hauliers are likely to face rate rises of up to 10% following Hoverspeed's withdrawal. Key customers have already agreed to such an increase, while Falcon's own trucks will be subsidising the service by paying internal charges up more than 10%.