The ferry company Stena Line canceled a dozen Britain-Ireland crossings because of a post-Brexit downturn in passenger and freight traffic and also the new COVID travel restrictions.
Between January 8 and January 12, a total of 8 scheduled crossings between Fishguard West and Rosslare Europort Ireland have been canceled.
A further 4 (between Holyhead, Isle of Anglesey, Wales and Dublin Ireland have been scrubbed.
According to Irish Sea trade director Paul Grant, sailings were being reviewed as a result of Coronavirus-related travel restrictions in Ireland and “the decline in freight volumes during the first week of Brexit”.
“Problems in the supply chain have resulted in a significant fall-off in freight volumes this week at our Holyhead and Fishguard ports.”
The UK left the EU in January 2020, entering a stand-still transition period which expired on December 31. Though Brussels and London agreed on a deal to smooth tariff- and quota-free trade, new customs and regulatory checks are required on freight crossing UK-EU borders.
Irish Revenue said that over the first week of the changes many importers had “significantly underestimated what was involved in being Brexit-ready”. In a notice to freight importers, the agency added it would grant “a temporary easement” of some paperwork.