The head of Rosslare Europort, said Wales should focus on having one ferry port in Pembrokeshire instead of two to run alongside the main Holyhead port, it has been claimed.

As BBC News reports, Glenn Carr, general manager at Rosslare Europort in Ireland, said the move would entice hauliers back to Welsh routes crossing the Irish Sea.

A month into new trading rules with the European Union, freight using Fishguard and Holyhead is "dramatically down".

Rosslare's January traffic to the UK was down 49% on January 2019.

However, its European freight was up 446% as that route allows them stay in the EU and avoid customs documentation.

Traditionally, lorries from Europe with goods for Irish customers have taken a short ferry route into the south east of England, driven across the UK and taken another short ferry to Ireland.

Holyhead, Fishguard and Pembroke Dock have all benefited from this traffic.

But since 1 January, lorry drivers taking that route have to go through two sets of border checks in and out of the UK.

For much more on this story click here. 

Afloat adds the Fishguard-Rosslare route is currently operated by Stena Line whereas Pembroke-Rosslare is served by Irish Ferries. 

Afloat adds the call echoes somewhat that to 1986 when given different circumstance, a short-lived joint service involving rival operators, Sealink British Ferries (successor Stena Line) and B&I Line (ICG acquired /Irish Ferries) together ran on a single route, Fishguard-Rosslare. 

This arose following the failure of SBF to obtain a 'jumbo' ferry on their route, however following the closure of B&I's Pembroke Dock route, an arrangement led for their Innisfallen to operate alongside SBF's St. Brendan on the 'southern' corridor's slightly shorter sea crossing.

This 'temporary' arrangement was to facilitate peak-season demand, however Innisfallen was unavailable due to requirements elsewhere on the Irish State owned company's ferry route network. This forced SBF to charter Prince Laurent from another state operator, RMT based in Belgium.

More on this historic development Afloat will report on as in the 1987 season, St.Brendan returned fresh from refit but notably sporting a joint SBF/B&I Line livery.