Ports of Ostend and Ramsgate welcome new cross Channel freight ferry operator

By | 2017 Newsletter week 41 | No Comments

Seaborne Freight will start to operate an Ostend – Ramsgate ro-ro freight service as from March, using three ships. There will be six departures a day.
Target group is accompanied freight, which means the line goes in competition with Dunkerque, Calais and the Channel Tunnel, but not with nearby port of Zeebrugge.
Four years ago Ostend and Ramsgate lost their ferry links when TransEuropa Ferries went bankrupt. Especially for Ostend, which has a long history of cross-Channel ferry services, this is excellent news.
What do we know so far?

  • The people behind Seaborne Freight have many years of Channel ferry experience (Sealink, SeaFrance, MyFerryLink).
  • One of the ships is the former ro-pax trainferry SEAFRANCE NORD PAS-DE-CALAIS. She has been operating as FRS-owned AL ANDALUS EXPRESS between Motril and Tanger-Med, and is now at anchor near Cadiz.
  • The two other ships have not been revealed yet.
  • In Ostend the service will operate from the former TransEuropa Ferries terminal.

Photo: AL ANDALUS EXPRESS ex SEAFRANCE NORD PAS-DE-CALAIS © FRS