Scotland-France ferry plan faces delays

A new ferry service between Rosyth near Edinburgh in Scotland, and Dunkirk in north France has been delayed over grants.

The service, from Danish ferry company DFDS, was due to start this spring with three crossings a week.

However, the plans have been put on hold as the company seeks a grant from the Scottish government to help it launch the route, reports the Dunfermline Press.

The Scottish government has a policy of trying to boost transport initiatives which take freight and cars off the roads.

A DFDS spokeswoman told The Connexion: “There is no further update at this stage on the potential introduction of a new Rosyth-Dunkirk route.

“DFDS continues to discuss the opportunity with the Scottish government and conversations are ongoing around some of the practical issues which will have to be resolved before any new ferry service can be introduced.

“As it stands the timeframe is currently looking like the second half of 2025.”

Read more: Dozens of new flight and ferry routes for France in 2025

New ferry trade links

If it goes ahead, the project would revive a vital transport link, previously provided by a ferry service between Rosyth and Zeebrugge in Belgium, 90km from Dunkirk. 

This took passengers until 2010, and freight until 2018, when it was stopped after a fire on the DFDS ferry operating the service.

Transport Scotland said it supported the development of Scottish ports and boosting new freight and ferry links between Scotland and Europe.

“We will continue to engage with port authorities and others so Scottish exporters have more direct routes to market,” a spokesperson said.

“However, the Scottish Government cannot subsidise routes in ways which would be anti-competitive, beyond considering the availability of limited grant funding opportunities for freight initiatives.

“Transport Scotland is liaising with DFDS on possible Waterborne Freight Grant funding. We have been clear that any new service will be required to be delivered on a commercial basis.”

Customs issues

At Dunkirk port, deputy managing director Daniel Deschodt told The Connexion the port was “ready and happy” to welcome the new service.

“We have arranged all the customs and veterinary facilities needed for both freight and passenger services,” he said.

“We understand DFDS are in talks with the Scottish government and that at Rosyth there might be some difficulties with all the new customs procedures needed for the ferry but DFDS, our customers, seem confident that they will be overcome.

“Back when the ferry was running from Zeebrugge, a high proportion of the customers were actually French, Belgian or Dutch, going on holiday to Scotland, which is not always the case with the Channel crossings.”

Dunkirk Port opened a new ferry terminal in 2021 to cope with increased traffic between Ireland and France after Brexit, and in 2024 it saw a 22% growth in traffic. 

In 2024, the port saw an 8% increase in roll-on-roll-off traffic between Dunkirk and Dover, with passenger car traffic up 3% on the same route.

Read more: Bordeaux, Marseille, Nice, Brittany; Calls for ban on cruise ships grow in France

Cruise ship ban for Nice

Meanwhile, Nice looks set to ban cruise ships from its famous port this summer. 

The city’s mayor, Christian Estrosi, said he was preparing a decree which he hoped would come into force in July.

Nice municipality took control of both the port and the natural harbour of Villefranche-sur-Mer from the local chamber of commerce last year.

Mr Estrosi said cruise ships were polluting and brought very little to the city “while leaving their rubbish behind”. 

The city would be following in the footsteps of Venice, which banned cruise ships in 2021.