Brexit ferry contract worth £13.8 million ‘awarded to company with no ships’

Ramsgate has not had a cross-Channel service since 2013, when operators TransEuropa collapsed. Credit: PA

Questions have been raised over the Government’s preparations for a no-deal Brexit, after it emerged a £13.8 million contract to run extra ferries has been handed to a company with no ships which has not previously operated a service. Seaborne Freight was one of three companies awarded contracts totalling £108 million last week to lay on additional crossings to ease the pressure on Dover. The company aims to operate freight ferries from Ramsgate to the Belgian port of Ostend, beginning with two ships in late March and increasing to four by the end of the summer. But a Conservative county councillor for the Kent port town said he did not believe it would be possible to set up a new service from Ramsgate by the scheduled date of Brexit on March 29.

The Government's deal aims to ease pressure on Dover in the event of the UK leaving the EU without a deal Credit: PA

And Cllr Paul Messenger questioned whether the Government had carried out sufficient checks on the firm, telling the BBC: “It has no ships and no trading history so how can due diligence be done? “Why choose a company that never moved a single truck in their entire history and give them £14 million? I don’t understand the logic of that.” Seaborne was established two years ago and has been in negotiations about running freight ferries between Ramsgate and Ostend, but no services are currently running. Narrow berths in the port mean there are few suitable commercial vessels available. In a statement, the company said it had been working since 2017 on plans to reintroduce ferry sailings from Ramsgate from early 2019. The business has been “financed by the shareholders” during a development phase involving “locating suitable vessels, making arrangements with the ports of Ostend and Ramsgate, building the infrastructure – such as bunkering – as well as crewing the ferries once they start operating”. It added: “It was intended to start the service in mid-February but this has now been delayed until late March for operational reasons. “This coincides with the Department for Transport’s Freight Capacity Purchase Agreement with Seaborne which is part of their preparations to increase ferry capacity in the unlikely event of a no-deal Brexit.” Ramsgate has not had a cross-Channel service since 2013, when operators TransEuropa collapsed.

Liberal Democrat Sir Ed Davey criticised the decision Credit: Chris McAndrew/UK Parliament