Ramsgate (Port)

Latest news

Port of Ramsgate: Ferry expert Bill Moses says new passenger services can attract 500,000 people a year

A ferry expert is hoping to take control of a quiet Kent port and relaunch passenger services after a series of meetings with senior politicians who have backed his idea. Bill Moses, a veteran of 45 years in the industry, has outlined plans for an operator to carry up to 500,000 passengers by its second year of full-time operation at the Port of Ramsgate. The commercial docks have laid largely dormant since TransEuropa Ferries went bust two years ago, owing £3.4 million in unpaid fees to the site owner Thanet council, which wrote off the money. Mr Moses, who was born in Ramsgate, said economic conditions were ripe for a passenger service despite several previous failures, including Sally Line, which he ran in the 1990s. He has had meetings with Kent County Council and Thanet South MP Craig Mackinlay, as well as Thanet council, and says he has attracted interest on the other side of the Channel. "It is surely time to invite local residents to a public meeting to seek their endorsement of proposals for a more professional approach...” - Bill Moses, passenger and freight shipping consultant He said: “My interest and involvement is driven by experience, industry contacts and a heartfelt desire to see Ramsgate fulfil its enormous potential as a ferry port. "I want it to be an economic powerhouse for Thanet with all the jobs and economic gains that would follow. “We have tremendous support from the other side of the Channel. "Unless Thanet District Council provides evidence that a credible ferry operator is in the offing, it is surely time to invite local residents to a public meeting to seek their endorsement of proposals for a more professional approach.” http://www.kentonline.co.uk/kent-business/county-news/port-revival-targets-500000-passengers-43575/

Ramsgate revival with new service to Boulogne

The UK port of Ramsgate has been without a ferry service for two years but the situation will change this autumn when Euroferries begins a new service to the French port of Boulogne.

TransEuropa Ferries disrupts ferry service

The Belgian Ferry Company TransEuropa suspended all sailings between Ramsgate and Ostend this week and went into administration, the Thanet District Council confirmed on Apr 25, 2013. It is understood the company owes the council money. The development means that there is no passenger service out of the Port of Ramsgate. It is believed that about 25 jobs are at risk in the town. The council will continue to be actively seeking to re-establish the route across to Ostend because that is workable, despite the problems encountered by TransEuropa Ferries. TransEuropa had run passenger and freight services between Ramsgate and Ostend for the last 15 years. The company's been running three ships out of the port, one of which was chartered from P&O and ITV Meridian understands that that vessel has been taken back by the company.