The European Commission Connecting Europe Facility (CEF) has recently confirmed it will fund a joint programme between Rosslare Europort and the northern French port of Dunkirk, writes Jehan Ashmore.
Rosslare Europort, which is one of the largest and busiest ports in Ireland for direct ropax sailings to the continent, with 36 sailings per week, also links Belgium, Spain, and ports in the UK through South Wales.
The CEF funding at Rosslare will include the extension and upgrade of berth 3 at the Co. Wexford ferry port to accommodate larger vessels and key emission-reducing port infrastructure. This will include berth development and roll-on/roll-off (RoRo) ramps at the southeastern port.
In addition, the installation of onshore power supply in both Rosslare and Dunkirk will be benefiting from a €19.2 million investment. The French port links Rosslare and is served by DFDS, which initially launched a freight-only Brexit bypass route in January 2021. By August the following year, DFDS trailed a passenger service too which remains in place on the 24-hour route connecting mainland Europe and Ireland.
These works, according to Irish Rail (Iarnród Éireann), which is the operator of the port that has routes also connecting Cherbourg, Southampton, Le Havre, Zeebrugge, Bilbao, and Santander, will help to address transport infrastructure resilience and adaptation to climate change.
Currently the port is served by Brittany Ferries, DFDS, Irish Ferries, and Stena Line, in addition to the freight-only operators Finnlines and Neptune Line, which is a specialist in trade vehicles.
