Ferry fiasco now sunk.

[JohnD]

"Officials have admitted they have “run out of time” to find ships to bring extra emergency supplies after a no-deal Brexit, following the Seaborne Freight fiasco.


No “large amount of further additional capacity” will be available across the Channel before the end of March, MPs were told – by either sea or rail.




The admission follows the embarrassment of the cancelled £13.8m contract handed to Seaborne – a firm with no ships – which has sparked calls for Chris Grayling, the transport secretary, to be sacked.


“It would not be possible to complete procurement and make it operational for 29 March,” the Department for Transport’s director general admitted."



Meg Hillier, chair of the Commons Public Accounts Committee (PAC), which is investigating the affair, said: “Just to be clear, you have run out of time.”

https://www.independent.co.uk/news/...TUpYcQbbHoeCgKqiZ-7hQZM-hJA8yKsC9L0coBCoCEK3w

 

[transam]

Well that's that then it would appear that a ferry company that has no ships is not viable .


Tis a strange old world

 

[JohnD]

not viable

And so will other attempts to set up emergency arrangements before Theresa's preferred exit date.

She's wasted more than two and a half years, and isn't yet in the position of having agreed objectives for what the nation wants. Which should have been done before starting the project and giving notice. Now she's just footling around trying to waste the few remaining weeks, taking proposals to Parliament that they will reject, and to EU27 that they will reject.

By trying to appease Rice-Pudd and the fundamentalists she has made her task impossible.

She has given up trying to save the country and is unsuccessfully trying to save the Conservative Party. She was never able to do both.

 

[motorbiking]

There isn't much mention of the fact Seaborne had a backer who did have ships and it was the withdrawal of that arrangement that sunk the prospect.

 

[bernardgreen]

So what will happen to the ships already going back and forth across the channel ? Will they stop operating.......

It does seen that those who want to remain in the EU are digging up every possible scare mongering item to prove that remain was the better option.

 

[motorbiking]

The original concern is that it will take longer to process freight crossing and the best solution would be to increase the use of ports to get greater capacity. It makes some sense, though having used newhaven dieppe a lot, you do spend a lot of time sitting, queuing and waiting, so checks could easily be integrated.

I think the government would have been better to invest in the port via a grant to prep it for ferries rather than do the normal outsource everything and hope.

 

[Mottie]

I thought that if we left under a no deal Brexit, trade and travel between the UK and Europe would all but cease. If so, why do we need these extra ships?

 

[jasonzyx]

There isn't much mention of the fact Seaborne had a backer who did have ships and it was the withdrawal of that arrangement that sunk the prospect.

Seaborne never had secured backing from Arklow. The only thing that was withdrawn was Arklow's interest in the project. The contract was awarded on Seaborne's word that they had backing. Chris Grayling didn't even have the grace to turn up to the Public Accounts Committee, he sent his top civil servant to take the flack.

Sources at Arklow told the Guardian this week that the firm had been in talks with Seaborne Freight twice last year but “never had any agreement” with either Seaborne or the Department for Transport to run a ferry service between Ramsgate and Ostend.

She (Bernadette Kelly) said the department received “intimations” from Seaborne. “So you took the word of Seaborne?” asked the committee’s chair, Meg Hillier. “I would need to check what precise pieces of paper were in play at that point,” Kelly said.
https://www.theguardian.com/politic...e-before-ferry-contract-awarded-says-official​

 

[ellal]

There isn't much mention of the fact Seaborne had a backer who did have ships and it was the withdrawal of that arrangement that sunk the prospect.

Hmm...

"Supposed backer of no-ships Brexit ferry firm denies having a stake...

Sources at Arklow Shipping, which operates 55 dry bulk vessels in northern Europe, said it had been in talks with Seaborne Freight twice last year, but it “never had any agreement” with either Seaborne or the Department for Transport to run a service from Ramsgate to Ostend."

Linky

 

[bernardgreen]

What about those companies who are setting up their own "internal" customs warehouses where all customs procedures are carried out and the goods are then sealed into the transport ( lorry ) and only minimal checks are needed at the UK-EU border points on the channel coasts. In effect the UK-EU border for the goods is located in the company premises between the customs warehouse and the rest of the site separated by a secure barrier.

 

[noseall]

I thought

I guess you didn't 'thought'.
Rather we will still need to import just the same amount post Brexit.
However in the event of a no deal Brexit things are expected to slow down somewhat at our ports. Hence the need for more.

Who cares anyway.

 

[ellal]

What about those companies who are setting up their own "internal" customs warehouses where all customs procedures are carried out and the goods are then sealed into the transport ( lorry ) and only minimal checks are needed at the UK-EU border points on the channel coasts. In effect the UK-EU border for the goods is located in the company premises between the customs warehouse and the rest of the site separated by a secure barrier.

Yeah right...

All have to be overseen by HMRC, and if HMRC doesn't have an agreement with the EU then that goes out of the window anyway...

But were it to theoretically work, how much duplication of standards/regulation do you think will be required when dealing with many more individual countries...

And how much will it cost?

Of course certain people will stand to gain, because with increased complexity comes the increased risk of fraud!

 

[ellal]

However in the event of a no deal Brexit things are expected to slow down somewhat at our ports. Hence the need for more.

Actually if you think about it, more ferries being needed because of the slowness of customs checks will just....

Lead to even more congestion and slow things down even further!

Who cares anyway.

Quitters don't...

The polls tell us that they are happy to endure poverty, see family members lose jobs/homes, and even see a return to the 'troubles' in N.I.

 

[durhamplumber]

they are happy to endure poverty, see family members lose jobs/homes, and even see a return to the 'troubles' in N.I.

Please do not get on the cretinous BAS bus.no frker wants to see the IRA return.

 

[jasonzyx]

What about those companies who are setting up their own "internal" customs warehouses where all customs procedures are carried out and the goods are then sealed into the transport ( lorry ) and only minimal checks are needed at the UK-EU border points on the channel coasts. In effect the UK-EU border for the goods is located in the company premises between the customs warehouse and the rest of the site separated by a secure barrier.

A trusted trader scheme.