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[ July 26, 2024   //   ]

No sooner had P&O Ferries announced that its  freight space charter deal with rival Dover-Calais operator Irish Ferries would go live in  August but DFDS said it would cancel its existing similar deal with P&O.

The Danish-owned operator said that with P&O Ferries’ additional and separate space charter agreement with Irish Ferries, “the terms of a continuing space charter arrangement would change”. It said that “Although the space charter agreement has brought benefits to some freight customer segments, the agreement has also resulted in complexity and constraints. DFDS is in a better commercial position by operating outside a space charter agreement at this point in time.”

DFDS would however continue to welcome collaboration opportunities to improve the efficiency of ferry operations on the Dover Strait,

DFDS’s space charter agreement will end when the contractual notice period is complete at the end of August.

Meanwhile, P&O Ferries chief executive Peter Hebblethwaite said the new  agreement with Irish Ferries would be founded on a ‘load and go, principle, “meaning we will never send out a ship that is not fully loaded for freight at peak. Freight will therefore clear the port at the busiest times up to 25% faster.”

The agreement will commence operation before the end of August, initially for freight customers before being extended to passengers.

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