Overwhelming public support for ferry linking south Wales and England

Richard Youle, Local Democracy Reporter

The concept of a ferry linking south Wales with southwest England has been backed by almost everyone who responded to a public consultation.

Swansea Council commissioned the consultation and said some “strong opportunities” had been identified.

But although 98% of the 4,400-odd respondents backed the concept of a fast ferry crossing the Bristol Channel between Swansea and southwest England, according to the council, more feasibility work is needed.

Swansea Council leader Rob Stewart first signalled backing for a hydrogen ferry in April 2022. Early last year a council-funded consultation on the concept got under way.

Supporters back the idea of a quick, environmentally-friendly transport option which would cut out the M4 and M5 and attract potential investment in ports and harbours.

There are questions about where a ferry would berth, how much investment would be needed to update port infrastructure, whether public support would translate into bookings, and how the ferry would attain zero-carbon emission credentials.

Although the consultation’s findings haven’t been made public yet the council said the maritime company that carried it out, Ocean Prime, has progressed work on an interim business case.

Last week it emerged that Devon County Council hadn’t held any meetings with its Swansea counterpart about a hydrogen-powered ferry proposal in the past two years.

Referring to the Ocean Prime consultation work a spokesman for Swansea Council said: “Detailed technical and commercial concept assessments have identified some strong opportunities. The feasibility of these opportunities will be undertaken in the coming months to understand how they might be included.

“This is why Swansea Council has very recently drafted a memorandum of understanding to enable this work to develop further.”

He said the memorandum formalised the collaboration between the council and Ocean Prime and added: “Ocean Prime has met several other regional council experts, including harbour masters, since they first became aware of the project in 2023.

“This has included exploratory talks about various aspects of a ferry concept with North Devon Council, Somerset Council, and Torridge District Council.

“Now that market testing has been carried out in the Swansea area meetings will be arranged between Swansea Council, Ocean Prime, and councils in southwest England to further explore feasibility.”

Demand

Speaking to the Local Democracy Reporting Service in April last year Ocean Prime chief executive Dave Sampson stressed it was very early days and gauging demand for a new service was key. He did though envisage a vessel around 55m long which would take passengers, cars, and some cargo at speeds of up to 40 knots.

Mr Sampson said Swansea was the only firm destination should the initiative progress further. In terms of other locations either side of the Bristol Channel and Celtic Sea further west he said: “We are not ruling anything in or out.”

He also said the intention would be for a ferry service to operate as much as possible rather than just the summer months.

Funding

In 2010 a proposed new fast ferry linking Swansea and Ilfracombe in north Devon, called Severnlink, came close to launching but was hit by funding difficulties.

Last June Swansea Council responded to a freedom of information request by a former Swansea councillor about the cost of the Ocean Prime consultation. The council said it had paid the company £24,995 and hadn’t allocated any further money towards the project.

The findings of the Ocean Prime consultation report are due to be published but no date has been given.