News detail

DUNKERQUE-PORT INAUGURATES ITS “IRELAND” TERMINAL
12th october 2021

On Monday, October 11, the Dunkerque-Port “Ireland” Terminal was officially inaugurated in the presence of Thomas BYRNE, Irish Minister for European Affairs; Franck DHERSIN, Vice-President for Transport of the Hauts-de-France Region; Hervé TOURMENTE, Deputy Prefect of Dunkerque; Patrice VERGRIETE President of the Dunkerque Metropolitan Authority; Torben CARLSEN, CEO of DFDS; and Maurice GEORGES, Chair of the Executive Board of Dunkerque-Port.

Brexit, which entered into force last January, has forced the Republic of Ireland to boost its shipping services and its relations with continental Member States. In this context, a Terminal dedicated to the various traffics to and from Ireland was created at the request of the Danish DFDS company, on quayage located in the area of the industrial port area of Dunkerque, in the town of Loon-Plage, Quai de Lorraine.

• ·         The terminal covers 6.8 hectares, and is connected to the RORO 4 linkspan.
• ·         The platform has been designed to serve up to 300 trailers travelling unaccompanied and 3,100 linear meters of parking lines for heavy goods vehicles and vehicles with drivers.
• ·         The floating-type linkspan can berth very large ro-ro ships (35,000 T displacement and up to 30 m in width) and road convoys of up to 220 T.

The DFDS Company has set up reception, control and registration structures for customers. As at the other terminals serving Ireland - which is not part of the European agreements relating to the free movement of persons (Shengen) - users are subject to checks by the border police services. 

On 2 January at 14:00, the "Optima Seaways" ferry left the port of Rosslare (Ireland) for Dunkerque with more than 120 trucks, unaccompanied trailers and drivers on board. The departure officially launched the new DFDS route between Rosslare in Ireland and the new "Ireland" terminal in Dunkerque.

Since then, the sister ships REGINA SEAWAYS and VISBY which operate the 5 round trips per week between Ireland and France. The last ship allocated to the line, the REGINA SEAWAYS is 27 m wide and 199 m long and has 114 cabins. It can load 170 freight vehicles as well as 600 cars and accommodate up to 1,000 passengers.

Today, with a total of 40,000 freight units (trucks and unaccompanied trailers) already reached at the end of September, the Dunkerque-Rosslare line is a resounding success.

Torben CARLSEN, CEO of DFDS: “The new Irish terminal at the port of Dunkerque demonstrates our shared commitment to the continued success of the Rosslare - Dunkerque route, launched in record time to support the supply chain between the continent and Ireland. I should like to take this opportunity to thank those of our customers who have worked with us to make this service a success as well as the port of Dunkerque for having embarked on this new freight line, which at DFDS we are continuing to develop with the recent addition of the 'Regina Seaways' to the route."

Maurice GEORGES, Chair of the Executive Board of Dunkerque-Port, commented: “I am delighted with the excellent results of this Dunkerque-Rosslare line and the inauguration of this new “Ireland” Terminal. It meets the expectations of all those involved in transport between the Republic of Ireland and the countries of the European Union. This particularly innovative line means efficient timing and daily frequency. I should like to warmly thank our partner DFDS for the confidence placed in Dunkerque-Port for many years and renewed with the signing of our partnership charter today”.

• View news in this topic