Exclusive: LD Lines rules out further network expansion, for now - International Freighting Weekly

Exclusive: LD Lines rules out further network expansion, for now - International Freighting Weekly: "Ferry operator LD Lines has ruled out further expansion of its network after its recent tie-up with Transeuropa Ferries on Ostend-Ramsgate.

LD Lines entered into a vessel-sharing agreement with Transeuropa last week, following the announcement of a similar agreement in September with Celtic Link Ferries to share vessel space on the Cherbourg-Portsmouth and Rosslare-Cherbourg routes.

Under the Transeuropa agreement, LD Lines will look after the passenger traffic and Transeuropa will deal with freight.

MD Christophe Santoni said: “We are not in discussions with anyone else, we are satisfied with the network we have, because we have services ranging from Le Havre to Ostend and Portsmouth to Ramsgate, including Dover and Newhaven.

“We are satisfied with what we have achieved. We will try to go through 2010 with the present freight pattern, because we expect 2010 to be a difficult year, like 2009.

“But we are comfortable with our network and confident we will get through the storm without too much pain. We’ll see what happens in 2011.”

Santoni also explained LD’s rationale behind the two vessel-sharing agreements – they allowed LD Lines to expand its network coverage without putting more capacity into an already over-saturated market. It also was a cheap way of entering a new market.

“We see it [vessel-sharing] as a consequence of that: we believe more consolidation must take place, and that whenever possible, companies must co-operate to optimise services and reduce their costs.

“Whether it will become the norm, I don’t know, but it’s one element of the consolidation that will take place, although that might be many years away.”"