Pim de Lange Speaks out on UK Port Plan

From Lloydâs List (www.lloydslist.com)

 

Development of the proposed £32m ($52.8m) Outer Harbour at Great Yarmouth would be the "mistake of the century", ferry boss Pim de Lange told delegates at the Haven Gateway Partnership's annual meeting last Friday.

 

Mr de Lange, Stena Line's area director for the North Sea and Interferry President, said the development, for which East Port Great Yarmouth is seeking substantial public funding, together with the proposed ro-ro service linking Yarmouth and Ijmuiden in Holland, for which Superfast Ferries has been selected as operator, would be "a dead duck".

 

"I am not so worried about East Port as a ferry operator but I worry about it as a taxpayer," he said. "East Port would be the mistake of the century. First of all, if you do the right things everything can be done in this (Haven) area. It would only take £20m to put all the necessary infrastructure in place. 

"Secondly, Ijmuiden is the wrong place. You might get something from Germany but there is DFDS from Cuxhaven to Harwich. Great Yarmouth to Ijmuiden will be a wrong decision because it will be a dead duck." 

A subsidised Great Yarmouth development would lead to a rates battle spreading up and down the east coast, Mr de Lange warned.