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P&O Ferries dusts down Boulogne terminal

[ June 30, 2015   //   ]

With the Port of Calais strikebound on 30 June, P&O Ferries operated a limited service to Boulogne for outbound traffic only, using some of its older and smaller vessels. Regular ferry services have not operated to the smaller French port for several years.
Port of Dover chief executive told FBJ that services were only able to offload traffic because of the lack of UK Border Force staff at Boulogne (France-bound traffic can clear French immigration and customs through the ‘juxtaposed’ controls in Dover). With DFDS’ Dover-Dunkerque service, which carries around 40% of Dover’s freight, and the Channel Tunnel still operating – although that too was closed for a time after strikers placed burning tyres on the tracks – the port was just about able to cope at present, he said.
That evening, he underlined the importance of the cross-Channel trade to the All-Party Parliamentary Maritime and Ports Group session: “If Dover and Eurotunnel are both closed for 24 hours, the queue of freight would be 150km long.”

 

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