THE Scottish Government will intervene after Forth Ports pulled out of plans for a direct ferry service between Scotland and Europe.
Last week, Forth Ports announced that discussions over restarting a European ferry service at Rosyth in Fife had failed to produce a “long-term sustainable way forward”.
The decision came just months after both the UK and Scottish Government each pledged £3 million towards the infrastructure needed to support the proposed service.
It had been hoped that the funding would help remove one of the remaining obstacles to restoring the route, with Danish operator DFDS repeatedly confirming its plans for a revived service.
But now, in answer to a question from Cowdenbeath MSP David Barratt at First Minister’s Questions, John Swinney confirmed that Jenny Gilruth is set to meet with Forth Ports over the issue.
“The Deputy First Minister is meeting Forth Ports tomorrow to discuss this issue and wider issues of connectivity,” he told MSPs on Tuesday.
Swinney added: “And the Government's commitment to delivering a service of this type remains in place despite the announcement that's been made in recent days.”
When announcing the move to abandon plans last week, Forth Ports said it was based on a “number of important economic factors which unfortunately impact the long-term viability” of the service.
The spokesperson added: “After many months of collaborative dialogue between all the relevant parties to seek a long-term sustainable way forward for the resurrection of a European ferry service at the Port of Rosyth, Forth Ports has confirmed that, after careful consideration, these discussions have not been able to be concluded, such that the service will not restart.”
The National also spoke with the shipping executive who led the attempt to restore the route – Ptarmigan Shipping’s Derek Sloan.
He said the collapse of the plans would be a “huge loss for Scotland”.
“DFDS were still at the table to discuss any of these issues, which unfortunately didn't happen,” he said. “It would have been good for Scotland for all the reasons I've said before – tourism, employment, growth, exports, imports, logistics, all of those things.
“It's obviously a loss for DFDS and Rosyth, but the biggest loss is for Scotland.”
The previous Rosyth-Europe route to Zeebrugge stopped carrying passengers in 2010 before continuing as a freight-only service.
The final sailing took place in 2018 after DFDS withdrew from the route.
Since then, campaigners and politicians – including former SNP MP Douglas Chapman – have repeatedly sought to restore a direct maritime connection between Scotland and continental Europe.
