Rosyth-Dunkirk ferry: MSP welcomes meeting amid speculation of new service

There could be three weekly journeys from the Scottish port to France, possibly starting in the second half of this year.

Annabelle Ewing SNP MSP for Cowdenbeath, raised the issue at the Scottish Parliament and welcomed the meeting. She said: “Dunkirk is France’s third largest port and 20 minutes from France’s most significant fish market, the opportunities for Scotland’s exporters and for tourism of a ferry link from Rosyth to Dunkirk really are significant.”

Ferry services have operated out of Rosyth in the past, but with limited success.

There was a direct connection to Zeebrugge in Belgium which launched in 2002, and while demand in summer was good, a lack of freight crossings saw it cut to just three services a week by 2005. The service was discontinued in 2008, and revived a year later by Norfolkline, a subsidiary of Danish company DFDS, only to be scrapped 12 months later.

Politicians in Fife have long pushed the case for a service to return to Rosyth with plans first mooted in 2022 to sail to Dunkirk. They believe it would have economic benefits with passengers booking and freight trade.

Funding issues have continued to hamper the proposal, but talks have restarted over a proposed weekly service. In November, Dunfermline MP Graeme Downie spoke in Westminster on the launch of the possible route, estimating it would carry up to 79,000 passengers and bring £11.5m to the Scottish economy.

A spokesperson for DFDS said it was continuing discussions with the Scottish government around “practical issues to be resolved before any new ferry service can be introduced.”

“As it stands, the timeframe is currently looking like the second half of 2025,” they added.