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Millions given to shipping company with no ships!

(95 Posts)
Anja Mon 31-Dec-18 06:21:55

Proof (if you still need it) that this government is run by a set of incompetents who have totally lost the plot

No Brexit deal awarded to ferry company who owns no ships and has never run a ferry service

Beau Tue 01-Jan-19 15:44:52

Everything I read says February 2019 delayed until March 2019. They are only going to operate 2 ships, rising to 4 by the summer. Their own website says recruitment begins January 2019. Let's just wait and see - the MSM is so pro-Remain that it's hard to see the truth through the webs of lies.

Nonnie Tue 01-Jan-19 15:49:22

I think the delay might be down to dredging the harbour to allow the ships to get in and out.

Sorry Beau MSM? Probably I'm being obtuse.

Beau Tue 01-Jan-19 15:56:49

Main Stream Media - sorry.

Welshwife Tue 01-Jan-19 16:19:26

Which MSM as I have not noticed that at all!

Nonnie Tue 01-Jan-19 17:36:13

Neither have I "Welshwife". I actually think that during the referendum the BBC must have been pro-Leave because they kept showing that awful bus but never said that it was all a lie. At the moment I think they are sitting on the fence.

NotSpaghetti Tue 01-Jan-19 18:20:29

The original ferry service was planned for last year:
theisleofthanetnews.com/2017/10/09/ostend-mayor-announces-plan-for-ramsgate-ferry-operation/

Beau Tue 01-Jan-19 18:26:20

I meant every newspaper, even the Daily Mail now it has a new editor, plus ITV, Channel 4, BBC (so pro-Remain it's laughable - 3 Remainers and 1 Leaver on QT anyone?!) One newspaper is still proLeave but I can't remember if it's the Telegraph or the Express.

NotSpaghetti Tue 01-Jan-19 18:31:07

If you search beyond this you can find the name of the (suggested) first ship. This seems to be a major issue as finding seaworthy "not already in use" vessels is a big issue if it needs to run by March. The one they suggest used to serve the UK, was sold on, did some work in the med, was used for hazardous waste, was brought back into service and was (I think) last used in ?Portugal...
The main thing, I think, is they have previously used Ramsgate for stacking up freight trucks. They can use it for import/export overspill if necessary I suppose.

Beau Tue 01-Jan-19 18:33:40

That's interesting NotSpaghetti - especially that the promise of the new service was used in the Ostend local elections ?
It doesn't sound as though they were basing it on very much though really.
I still say we wait and see - it's only to be used in the 'unlikely event of a no-deal Brexit' anyway. I'm not trusting anything I read anywhere about Brexit, that's probably the safest way. ?

GabriellaG54 Tue 01-Jan-19 23:29:53

Making decisions on the hoof is never a good idea.

crystaltipps Wed 02-Jan-19 06:25:00

Is this anything to do with Failing Grayling?
(Sorry, not on topic- but the throwaway comment above that the MSM is pro remain made me laugh. Most of the newspapers, apart from the Guardian are very pro Brexit, the BBC is known as the Brexit Broadcasting Corporation they had Nigel Farage on so many times even when he retired from UKIP, QT usually awash with pro Brexit views).
Back to topic- Giving a ferry contract to a company with no ferries just increases the beliefs that this is an incompetent government willing to throw money down an empty black hole.

varian Wed 02-Jan-19 19:12:40

Lets just bin brexit and spend the millions saved on the NHS.

NotSpaghetti Thu 03-Jan-19 13:30:32

You couldn’t make it up - in my news feed today:
“Brexit Ferry Firm Accused Of Copying Web Page From A Takeaway Shop”

They have copied the T&C page from a fast food delivery and takeaway website!

grin

Nonnie Thu 03-Jan-19 13:34:21

varian if only. We have already spent millions on Brexit and will either have to continue to pay all the extra civil servants or give them redundancy. The whole fiasco will cost each of us dearly I suspect.

Labaik Thu 03-Jan-19 13:40:43

'I meant every newspaper, even the Daily Mail now it has a new editor, plus ITV, Channel 4, BBC (so pro-Remain it's laughable - 3 Remainers and 1 Leaver on QT anyone?!) One newspaper is still proLeave but I can't remember if it's the Telegraph or the Express.'

...crikey; that must have been to one QT that I missed....shock

Labaik Thu 03-Jan-19 13:42:22

..oh and if The Express and The Telegraph are now pro remain [what about The Sun or have I missed something?] I think it's called 'rats leaving a sinking ship'.

petra Thu 03-Jan-19 14:15:17

I was talking to a friend last night who works in Ramsgate harbour. She said the dredging is starting tomorrow in preparation for these ferries.

Labaik Thu 03-Jan-19 14:54:34

Is this for the ferries that actually exist or the imaginary ones? #findingitallabitsurreal

petra Thu 03-Jan-19 15:19:09

Labaik
I'm sure the ferries exist somewhere, but if this company owns them is another matter. But they have been told that dredging is starting.

Nonnie Thu 03-Jan-19 15:34:53

I do wonder where all the extra capacity is coming from. Businesses are stocking up on parts, where are they putting them? Where are the extra ferries? Unused ones must have been costing someone a lot of money. What about all the extra lorries, where are they coming from? Are there lots of qualified HGV drivers currently unemployed? Where are all the empty warehouses which are to be filled? There must have been a lot of inefficient businesses if there is all this spare capacity!

Wouldn't it be cheaper and simpler to train lots more customs people to avoid the necessity for all this?

NotSpaghetti Thu 03-Jan-19 15:52:23

One ship proposed for the route, was apparently the former Dover-Calais ferry MS Nord Pas de Calais which was built in 1987.
When SeaFrance was liquidated in 2011, Eurotunnel bought it and leased it to MyFerryLink until 2015.
After that it was laid-up and designated for use “for hazardous freight and waste”, before being renamed Al Andalus Express and sent to the Mediterranean. In March 2018 (when the Ostend Ramsgate route was originally planned) it was chartered for two months by Naviera Armas for Las Palmas and Puerto del Rosario.
At that point, Maritime News said “( It) is still one of the prospective ships for the proposed new connection between the Belgian port of Ostend and Ramsgate, in the United Kingdom. But this initiative, carried by Seaborne Freight, a structure created by former executives of MyFerryLink, has fallen behind.”

I haven’t yet Googled the MyFerryLink connection.

Nonnie Thu 03-Jan-19 16:05:41

Bit worrying that it has been used for hazardous waste! Don't know anything about how you prepare such a boat for safely carrying food and/or animals. Hope someone knows what they are doing.

petra Thu 03-Jan-19 17:30:33

Nonnie
The hazardous waste would be in sealed containers.

Nonnie Thu 03-Jan-19 18:00:03

Oh petra I'm not sure that is reassuring!

Labaik Thu 03-Jan-19 18:23:07

Well, at least it's a real ship and not a fictitious one; must look on the bright side y'know...