Guest 673- Registered: 16 Jun 2008
- Posts: 1,388
21 November 2009
06:1433571#1
Dover's plans for second ro-ro terminal put back three years
David Osler, Lloyds List.
Dover Harbour Board is set to push back its £400m ($665m) plans for a second ro-ro terminal and 400 berth marina at Britain's top ferry port, initially pencilled in for 2013, by at least three years. Lloyd's list has learned.
The move is said to reflect a reduction in projected demand for such a facility in the light of the current economic climate, with the rapid expansion enjoyed earlier in the decade no longer regarded as likely to continue.
Some well connected sources in the town have suggested that finance might have proved harder to come by than anticipated, thanks to generally tighter credit conditions, although a DHB spokeswoman indicated that this had not been a factor in the decision.
The four berth terminal, when it finally does come into being, is intended to bring about a significant boost to both trade and tourism links between the UK and continental Europe. However, Dover MP Gwyn Prosser yesterday pointed out that the scheme was part and parcel of wider efforts to regenerate the waterfront in the rundown town in east Kent, and expressed his dismay at the prospect of delay.
A spokesman for DHB confirmed "We are not going to have anything open by 2013. That may have been an earlier assumption in the original documents. In terms of construction, we will be under way in 2013. But it is all down to having the right capacity at the right time. We are in a recession at the moment, but we are expecting to come out of it. It will come down to how much growth we have in the future. It all depends on the market"
Traffic growth has reached double digits in some recent years, injecting a sense of urgency into the plan, but last year traffic actually fell. "The earliest time at which Terminal 2, as the project is known, could be operating is 2014." he said.
A range of funding options have been considered to pay for the four berth terminal, including private capital and pure debt finance. The use of a third-party investor such as an infrastructure fund has been mentioned as one possibility.
The spokesman said at this stage, all options remained open and a proportion of the outlay was likely to come from internal funds. "We are very confident we can get the money we need. We are confident we will be returning to growth in a short space of time and we are going to need to put in the capacity." he added.
Separately, chief executive Bob Goldfield has also dropped his strongest hint yet that the trust board could soon be set for privatisation , telling employees that the question of whether its current status is "any longer appropriate" is now being debated.
In the DHB magazine, WatersEdge, Mr Goldfield wrote " The final area of debate is the fundamental consideration of trust port status and whether that status going forward is any longer appropriate to the port and its strategic plans"
He concluded "As the Chinese often have cause to say: 'We live in interesting times'. There has never been a more appropriate saying for the port of Dover at this time in our history."
Guest 673- Registered: 16 Jun 2008
- Posts: 1,388
21 November 2009
06:5833572#2
The above article is copied from the Dover Ferry Photos forum. This news comes as no surprise whatsoever. I have always thought it unlikely that Terminal 2 would be built at all let alone in the time scale originally envisaged. I have also always had an uneasy suspicion that, were it to be built, it would be doomed to join all the other expensive white elephants that have been built in Dover since the war and gradually fall into disuse.
There are lots of ways of carrying cargo between the UK and the Continent and RORO ferries are an expensive and inefficient way of doing it. In the green future which we aspire to, much more use will have to be made of rail through the tunnel, and of feeder container ships and breakbulk cargoships which will use other ports than Dover. Eurotunnel is already making progress in this direction and starting to make use of the immense unutilised capacity reserved for railfreight. Also, this impoverished country will need to start making things for itself again instead of importing them.
DHB is extending the current Eastern Docks berths to accommodate the new P&O ferries under construction so the Terminal 2 berths are not a requirement in this respect.
DHB is still desperately trying to raise finance for this scheme. They are raising the port useage rates which they charge the ferries, against much protest from the ferry companies. Outsourcing their staff was also probably done with this in mind, again with bitter and acrimonious opposition from the ferry companies. Bob Goldfield has finally come clean that privatisation is what he has in mind. No surprise there, then.
Guest 653- Registered: 13 Mar 2008
- Posts: 10,540
21 November 2009
08:0933579#3
Doesn't sound good news for Dover's future.
There's so much I'd like to put into print, but won't, but I hope this doesn't filter down to the DTIZ.
Roger
Guest 673- Registered: 16 Jun 2008
- Posts: 1,388
27 November 2009
03:0133967#4
An additional report on the delay to the Western Docks redevelopment plans. This time copied from the Brittany Ferry Enthusiasts forum:
Dover puts Terminal Two on hold
From: IFW
Dover Harbour Board (DHB) is not expecting its Terminal Two development to be operational until 2016 at the earliest, because of recession-led traffic declines. DHB, which control's the UK's largest trust port, had initially thought the new £420m (US$704m) terminal would be constructed by 2012 and working at full capacity by 2014. However, following a review of traffic forecasts, DHB said it did not see a need for it until 2016-2018.
Director of port development Mike Krayenbrink (pictured) said: "We are looking to put in the right kind of capacity at the right time. "We are continually monitoring the market and world economic progress, in terms of growth or otherwise. "It is unlikely we will require this [terminal] before 2016 and maybe a bit later, depending how the market does in relation to a return to growth." Krayenbrink added that DHB would still submit a planning application at the end of this year or the start of next. Ferry operators at the port were not surprised by the news.
A P&O spokesman said: "It would be surprising if they did not factor in the economic reality of a huge recession, which is going to put a dent in traffic forecasts. "The issue for us is whether there is adequate capacity at the port. Before the recession hit, we may have wanted them to drive on with the terminal, but the world has changed."
Norfolkline's route director for the Channel, Andreas Teschl, said: "You can always debate projections, but we can all agree that those we are looking at now show slower growth than the projections we saw two years ago. With that in mind, we support the new target date. And I would assume that if the Eastern Docks [the current terminal] layout could be streamlined, it could also be possible to move more volumes through there." Teschl also said that if the terminal was not being built for 2012, DHB should not increase its tariffs next year to build up funds for the development.
