The Rosyth – Zeebrugge ferry service was a freight-only service operated by

DFDS DFDS is a Danish international shipping and logistics company. The company's name is an abbreviation of Det Forenede Dampskibs-Selskab (literally ''The United Steamship Company''). DFDS was founded in 1866, when Carl Frederik Tietgen, C.F. Tiet ...

. The service replaced a passenger and freight service that was initially operated by

Superfast Ferries Superfast Ferries is a Greece-based ferry company founded in 1993 by Pericles Panagopoulos, Pericles Panagopulos and Alexander Panagopoulos, Alexander Panagopulos. Superfast Ferries is a member of Attica Group and operates 5 car-passenger fer ...

between May 2002 and September 2008, and then by

Norfolkline Norfolkline was a European ferry operator and logistics company owned by Maersk. It provided freight ferry services on the English Channel, Irish Sea, and the North Sea; and passenger ferry services on the English Channel and Irish Sea; and ...

from 18 May 2009 until 15 December 2010. It was the only direct ferry route between

Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...

and

Continental Europe Continental Europe or mainland Europe is the contiguous mainland of Europe, excluding its surrounding islands. It can also be referred to ambiguously as the European continent, – which can conversely mean the whole of Europe – and, by som ...

. On 20 August 2010 it was announced that the passenger service would end on 15 December 2010, although the freight-only service resumed shortly thereafter. The service was terminated in 2018 following a fire aboard one of the ships. In 2022, it was announced that the Scotland to mainland Europe ferry link would return in 2023 for freight services. A further study was being carried out to determine the feasibility of future passenger business.

Route

The route crossed the

North Sea The North Sea lies between Great Britain, Denmark, Norway, Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium, and France. A sea on the European continental shelf, it connects to the Atlantic Ocean through the English Channel in the south and the Norwegian Se ...

between

Rosyth Rosyth () is a town and Garden City in Fife, Scotland, on the coast of the Firth of Forth. Scotland's first Garden city movement, Garden City, Rosyth is part of the Greater Dunfermline Area and is located 3 miles south of Dunfermline city cen ...

Fife Fife ( , ; ; ) is a council areas of Scotland, council area and lieutenancy areas of Scotland, lieutenancy area in Scotland. A peninsula, it is bordered by the Firth of Tay to the north, the North Sea to the east, the Firth of Forth to the s ...

, Scotland and

Zeebrugge Zeebrugge (; from , meaning "Bruges-on-Sea"; , ) is a village on the coast of Belgium and a subdivision of Bruges, for which it is the modern port. Zeebrugge serves as both the international port of Bruges-Zeebrugge and a seafront resort with ...

Flanders Flanders ( or ; ) is the Dutch language, Dutch-speaking northern portion of Belgium and one of the communities, regions and language areas of Belgium. However, there are several overlapping definitions, including ones related to culture, la ...

Belgium Belgium, officially the Kingdom of Belgium, is a country in Northwestern Europe. Situated in a coastal lowland region known as the Low Countries, it is bordered by the Netherlands to the north, Germany to the east, Luxembourg to the southeas ...

. Near Rosyth, the ferry passed under the

Forth Bridge The Forth Bridge is a cantilever railway bridge across the Firth of Forth in the east of Scotland, west of central Edinburgh. Completed in 1890, it is considered a symbol of Scotland (having been voted Scotland's greatest man-made wonder in ...

Superfast Ferries

Following a detailed consultation and tendering process by the

Scottish Executive The Scottish Government (, ) is the executive arm of the devolved government of Scotland. It was formed in 1999 as the Scottish Executive following the 1997 referendum on Scottish devolution, and is headquartered at St Andrew's House in t ...

, the

Greek Greek may refer to: Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor of all kno ...

shipping company

(owned by the

Attica Attica (, ''Attikḗ'' (Ancient Greek) or , or ), or the Attic Peninsula, is a historical region that encompasses the entire Athens metropolitan area, which consists of the city of Athens, the capital city, capital of Greece and the core cit ...

Group) were confirmed as the operator of the route. Services commenced in May 2002 using two ships - '' MS Superfast IX'' and '' MS Superfast X'' - to provide an overnight service with a crossing time of 17 hours. Whilst car traffic, particularly in the summer months, proved relatively good, concern mounted that there were insufficient lorries and other freight traffic to make the service viable in the long term. The service was reduced to three times per week in 2005 and Superfast IX transferred to the

Baltic Sea The Baltic Sea is an arm of the Atlantic Ocean that is enclosed by the countries of Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Russia, Sweden, and the North European Plain, North and Central European Plain regions. It is the ...

. In 2006, the sale of ''Superfast X'' was announced and the vessel was replaced with the smaller ''Blue Star I'' - of Superfast's sister company

Blue Star Ferries Blue Star Maritime S.A., operating under the brand name Blue Star Ferries, is a Greece-based company founded in 1993 which provides ferry services between the Greek mainland and the Aegean Islands. Blue Star Ferries is the biggest ferry company ...

(also owned by Attica). In 2008 it was announced that Superfast/Blue Star Ferries would discontinue the service in September.

Norfolkline

The decision to axe the route caused considerable political disquiet in Scotland. The

Scottish Government The Scottish Government (, ) is the executive arm of the devolved government of Scotland. It was formed in 1999 as the Scottish Executive following the 1997 referendum on Scottish devolution, and is headquartered at St Andrew's House in ...

sought to encourage a new operator to take over the route. In late 2008

announced that it would restart the route in May 2009, again using a thrice-weekly overnight service (but extended to 20 hours, rather than the previous 17 hours, to reduce fuel consumption). Like Superfast, the Norfolkline service offered a service for both vehicle and foot passengers. Norfolkline is a

Netherlands , Terminology of the Low Countries, informally Holland, is a country in Northwestern Europe, with Caribbean Netherlands, overseas territories in the Caribbean. It is the largest of the four constituent countries of the Kingdom of the Nether ...

-based subsidiary of the Danish shipping company

and formerly of the

Maersk (), usually known simply as Maersk ( ), is a Danish Freight transport, shipping and logistics company founded in 1904 by Arnold Peter Møller and his father Peter Mærsk Møller. Maersk's business activities include Port operator, port operat ...

Group. On 17 December 2009 DFDS announced that it had agreed to purchase Norfolkline from Maersk. Norfolkline's vessel for the route was the ''MV Scottish Viking'' (which, despite the name, is registered in

Italy Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Italian Peninsula, a peninsula that extends into the Mediterranean Sea, with the Alps on its northern land b ...

). On 5 August 2010 the vessel collided with a small fishing boat off the coast of Scotland, resulting in the loss of the fishing boat and the death of one of the two men aboard the fishing boat.

DFDS Seaways

On 20 August 2010 DFDS announced that the passenger service would end on 15 December 2010, with the service being replaced by a DFDS Seaways freight-only ferry service. The replacement freight-only service was operated with two ferries the Tor Finlandia and the Cimbria Seaways with 4 departures per week. In April 2011, this was reduced to one DFDS Seaways freight-only ferry operating three departures per week. In August 2014, concerns were raised over the future of the Rosyth - Zeebrugge link. Following the signing of a memorandum of understanding between DFDS Seaways, The Scottish Government and Forth Ports Authority, the scheduled services were set to continue. Enhanced freight capacity would be made possible by infrastructure improvements at Rosyth allowing containers to be double stacked. Following an engine room fire on Finlandia Seaways on Monday 16 April 2018. DFDS Seaways announced on 23 April 2018 that the route from Rosyth to Zeebrugge would close with immediate effect as it was not economically viable.

External links

Norfolkline: Rosyth - Zeebrugge routeBBC news report of first crossings by NorfolklineScottish Government press release on the reopening of the ferry service, May 2009

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rosyth - Zeebrugge ferry service Ferry transport in Scotland Ferry transport in Belgium North Sea 2009 in Scotland 2009 in Belgium 2009 in transport 2009 introductions Zeebrugge Rosyth