Dover-Calais ferry operators must be wondering if the Dover
Straits should be renamed ‘Dire Straits’ as fares
tumble amid massive overcapacity and falling demand. P&O
Ferries and SeaFrance sailings have also suffered big delays since
February, when a broken ramp cable put one of the large berths in
Calais out of use. With another berth closed for refurbishment,
this left just one of the three berths for large ferries
operational.
P&O Ferries and SeaFrance sailings have also suffered big
delays since February, when a broken ramp cable put one of the
large berths in Calais out of use. With another berth closed for
refurbishment, this left just one of the three berths for large
ferries operational.
P&O Ferries said it lost 20% of sailings in the first
quarter, causing a near 20% drop in passengers and costing the
business more than £5 million.
SeaFrance managing director Robin Wilkins said: “I’m
concerned the collapse of the berth in Calais has dented confidence
in the quality of service ferries offer. I would like the Calais
Chamber of Commerce to take action to rebuild that confidence.”
The refurbished berth reopened on May 17, so delays should now
be at a minimum. Sadly, competition and falling prices are harder
to deal with.
Wilkins added: “The effect of the low-cost airlines on our
business is just a convenient excuse for our problems, which are
more to do with the amount of capacity from Dover and the very
vigorous competitive situation, which has meant a fall in average
revenues.”
Car carryings last year were down just over 3% on 2003 to
3,507,000. Over the period 2000-04, they fell 7%.
After a business review last year, P&O cut its Dover-Calais
service from seven to five passenger ships and cut its daily
crossings to 35. However, Hoverspeed has about 12% more capacity
this summer year-on-year and has added late-evening sailings for
school holidays and the summer peak, while SeaFrance now has a new
1,900-passenger ferry, SeaFrance Berlioz.
There are also Norfolkline services from Dover to Dunkirk,
SpeedFerries from Dover to Boulogne and up to four trains an hour
from Folkestone to Calais/Cocquelles.
P&O spokesman Brian Rees estimated there was still 50%
overcapacity in the market. It is offering all-time-low fares from
£30 one-way. He said: “The restructure has taken £1.5
million out of the business and lets us compete at these prices. It
has been very painful, but it is working.”<
Hoverspeed, which has its own ports in Dover and Calais and has
escaped the berthing chaos, also restructured and offers fares from
£29 one-way.
“Forward bookings are in line with last year but we can’t
get the same prices,” said general manager sales UK David Stafford.
“We have to work a lot harder to make ends meet.
“Prices have flattened out and will start to go up – but
not this year,” he added.
Wilkins said: “Prices won’t ever return to the levels of
three or four years ago. We have seen the end of high levels in the
peak periods.”
Eurotunnel is widely blamed for the situation – it
initiated the race to lower prices – but SpeedFerries, the low-cost
company operating from Dover to Boulogne, is also not too
popular.
Rees said SpeedFerries – with one fast ferry taking 800
passengers and 200 cars on up to five return crossings a day
– was too small to make an impact. But SeaFrance’s
Wilkins said it had “threatened our profitability by implying that
a certain level of fare is profitable”. He added: “Also, it reduced
fares despite promising it would not do so. I don’t mind
competition but it must be fair.”
SpeedFerries launched last May with fares from £50 return,
but now has fares from £19 one-way. Marketing manager Marianne
Illum said the lowering of fares was a reaction to other
companies’ predatory pricing.
She said: “We can do it because we are a low-cost operator. It
hasn’t hit our bottom line, as we are selling more
tickets.”
It is negotiating for a second fast ferry, which could start
this summer. Illum said: “We know how many people we have to turn
away because sailings are sold out, so we are confident we can fill
a second vessel.”
