Ferry good news for the Docks

 A passenger ferry service is returning to Sheerness Docks for the first time since 1994
 A fleet of new high-speed ships will also transform the way the port handles fresh fruit and other produce
 Sheerness is set to be the chosen port of entry for visitors to the 2012 Olympic Games
 It will form part of a "motorway of the seas" also involving ports in France, Spain and Norway
 More than 2,000 jobs could be created across Europe

JOBS BOOST : New transport system will be both green and cost effective

Super-fast ferries all set to put docks on the Olympic map

 High speed ships to bring passengers back to Port of Sheerness

by Stuart Somers ssomers@thekmgroup.co.uk

SHEERNESS Docks is set to be the port of entry for visitors to the 2012 London Olympic Games.

It will also see a major change the way it handles fresh produce from the end of next year.

The port is set to play a pivotal role in a new "motorway of the seas" that promises fast craft bringing goods as well as passengers.

Sheerness has been identified as a strategic point of entry for the Olympics following a shipping company’s order for five unique Bateau Grande Vitesse (BGV) ships.

Dover based Chikara Shipping International has signed a letter of intent for the purchase of the high speed vessels that can carry up to 174 trailers or 1,500 passengers and 250 cars as well as 10 coaches.

Sheerness Docks marketing manager Paul Glock said : "This is fantastic news for us and it could revolutionise the way goods are brought to and from the port from across Europe.

"The idea has been two years in the making but it now time to go public because the order for the vessels has now been placed.

“We would need to build a link from the ships to the dockside, probably on the site of the old Olau berth. The project could create 2,000 jobs across Europe and we should know more details in about another month.

"We are the largest fruit port in the UK. Every single supermarket in the country gets fruit via Sheerness. Currently 450,000 refrigerated trailers alone come from Spain.

"This new system would be both environmentally friendly as well as cost effective. It really amounts to a seismic shift in the way produce can be moved."

The stainless steel fast jet monohulled stabilised carriers. with speeds of up to 34 knots, will operate on several routes on the English Channel as well as the North Sea.

Boulogne is set to become a hub port and the journey time between there and Sheerness is expected to take two hours.

Initially, the ports of Boulogne, Sheerness, Drammen (Norway), Santander (Spain) and Vigo (Spain) will be linked in the provision of a high-speed Europeanwide network.

Chikara is so confident of success that is already has an option to buy four more BGVs.

- The last passenger ferry service from Sheerness was the Olau Line super ferries which sailed to Vlissingen in Holland from 1974 to 1994.

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