Drewry sees hope for post-Brexit Dover
The London-based maritime consulting Drewry has analysed the port of Dover's possibilities in a Brexit environment. The firm's study says that the UK port has resilience to cope with "moderate disruption", as Drewry put it, arising from Brexit.
“Handling half of all the freight traffic moved to and from EU, Dover is by far the UK’s largest ro-ro port,” said Tim Power, head of Drewry Maritime Advisors. Dover could cope with a 50% increase in process times in key areas, although traffic peaks (a characteristic of the cross Channel ro-ro trade) would need to be managed.
Moreover, if there were capacity constraints following Brexit, some cargo that did not require high frequency short transit services could be accommodated on unaccompanied trailer and short sea container services, and supply chains would need to be redesigned.
Studies carried out for the port of Dover suggest that not more than 20% of existing traffic would be suitable for re-routing. (kd)