A business consortium backed by unnamed Norwegian and British investors has been assembled to raise capital to establish a new ferry company to operate a ro/ro freight and passenger service between Bergen and Newcastle. The plan is to open the new route in the first half of 2013.
The consortium hopes to amass £20 million to form the ferry company and purchase or lease one or more ro-ro ferries with a transport capacity for up to 200 containers, 300 cars and 800 passengers.
A business consortium backed by unnamed Norwegian and British investors has been assembled to raise capital to establish a new ferry company to operate a ro/ro freight and passenger service between Bergen and Newcastle. The plan is to open the new route in the first half of 2013.
The consortium hopes to amass £20 million to form the ferry company and purchase or lease one or more ro-ro ferries with a transport capacity for up to 200 containers, 300 cars and 800 passengers.
The project follows a decision by DFDS Seaways to abandon its Bergen-Haugesund-Stavanger to Newcastle route in September 2008, and lease-out the route ship, the 33,575 GRT super ice-class Queen of Scandinavia.
"Sourcing ferries that of the required standard will not be a problem in the present market. It is crucial for the profitability of the planned ferry service that we get the type of vessel that we want and need. Investors in Norway and Britain have already invested, and we are hoping for more to come onboard this venture,” said project leader Ole Warberg.
Initial capital for the project has emerged from business and industry interests in western regions of Norway which having been lobbying for a new Bergen-Newcastle sea-freight service to cater to more localised import and export needs since 2008.
DFDS Seaways attributed higher oil prices and the economic downturn for its decision to abandon the Bergen-Haugesund-Stavanger to Newcastle route. The company reported an operating loss of around £6 million on the route during the first eight months of 2008.
"We had hoped to have the investor consortium in place in July, but this now seems to be a little optimistic. We remain confident we will find enough investors and backers to establish a viable ferry company that is able to operate profitably on this route," said Warberg.
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